Knockdown Daily 9/20/21: RIZIN Results & A Look At The Week Ahead
We take a look at the week ahead in the Monday edition
Welcome to the Monday edition of the Knockdown Daily. Along with the usual week preview, today’s issue has a recap of last night’s RIZIN card.
News
Kai Asakura, Naoki Inoue, Hiromasa Ougikubo and Kenta Takizawa Secure Spots In RIZIN Bantamweight GP Semi-Finals
Semi-finalists for RIZIN’s Bantamweight Grand Prix were determined at the promotion’s event on Sunday afternoon. RIZIN 30, which took place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, included quarter-final bouts in what started as a 16-man tournament a few months back.
Kai Asakura, Naoki Inoue, Hiromasa Ougikubo and Kenta Takizawa ended up walking away with semi-final spots in the tournament. They’re now expected to return on New Year’s Eve, where the final two rounds of the bracket will play out.
Asakura had a successful performance in the main event, taking a unanimous decision win over Bonzai Jiu-Jitsu trained Alan Yamaniha. The former RIZIN Bantamweight Champion had a strong start to his fight and used his stand-up skills to get the nod on scorecards.
Inoue’s undefeated RIZIN run continued in his tournament bout, using a kick-heavy gameplan to defeat Kintaro via decision. Inoue has now won all five of his RIZIN appearances.
Ougikubo picked up a victory over a fellow veteran in his tourney fight, defeating Takafumi Otsuka on scorecards.
Takizawa earned a massive upset victory in his bout, finishing Yuki Motoya in the first round with a flurry of punches. The Pancrase veteran now has a positive promotional record of three wins and two losses.
A full report on RIZIN 30 can be read here.
Here are the quick results for the card:
Main Card (1:00AM EDT / 2:00PM JST) (Live-Now / RIZIN Live)
Bout 1: Panchan Rina def. Momoka via Decision, Unanimous (Kickboxing Bout)
Bout 2: Shoji Maruyama def. Chihiro Suzuki via TKO, Strikes (RD 1) (MMA Bout)
Bout 3: Shinobu Ota def. Yuta Kubo via Decision, Unanimous (MMA Bout)
Bout 4: Yoshinori Horie def. Ulka Sasaki via Decision, Unanimous (MMA Bout)
Bout 5: Yusuke Yachi def. Koji Takeda via Decision, Unanimous (MMA Bout)
Bout 6: Ayaka Hamasaki def. Emi Fujino via Decision, Unanimous (MMA Bout)
Bout 7: Kenta Takizawa def. Yuki Motoya via TKO, Strikes (RD 1) (RIZIN Bantamweight Grand Prix Quarter-Final)
Bout 8: Hiromasa Ougikubo def. Takafumi Otsuka via Decision, Unanimous (RIZIN Bantamweight Grand Prix Quarter-Final)
Bout 9: Naoki Inoue def. Kintaro via Decision, Unanimous (RIZIN Bantamweight Grand Prix Quarter-Final)
Bout 10: Kai Asakura def. Alan Yamaniha via Decision, Unanimous (RIZIN Bantamweight Grand Prix Quarter-Final)
Kris Moutinho Out of October 23rd Fight, Replaced By Jonathan Martinez
Kris Moutinho’s return to the UFC cage won’t be coming soon after all. The bantamweight has reportedly been removed from his October 23rd bout against Aaron Phillips due to injury and will be replaced by Jonathan Martinez.
News of the change was first reported by Nolan King of MMA Junkie. The new pairing joins a UFC card that does not have a confirmed location currently.
It is not known at the moment what injury specifically forced Moutinho off the card. The CES and CFFC alum was looking to bounce back from his UFC debut, which was a third-round stoppage loss against Sean O’Malley.
Martinez is taking the booking after an early September matchup against Marcelo Rojo fell through. He’ll be coming back from a finish loss he took in March against Davey Grant.
Now with a new opponent, Phillips will be hunting for his first UFC win. He returned to the promotion last year, getting submitted in a bout against undefeated prospect Jack Shore. His two stints in the promotion have resulted in three losses.
‘Contender Series’ Winners Albert Duraev and Jailton Almeida Booked For First UFC Bouts
The first UFC fight for “Dana White’s Contender Series” standouts Albert Duraev and Jailton Almeida are already set. The prospects are expected to debut in the coming months on UFC cards that do not have a confirmed location at the moment.
Duraev To Face Veteran Di Chirico
Duraev will have a big test in his first UFC bout, fighting Alessio Di Chirico at UFC’s October 30th pay-per-view event. News of the matchup was first reported by Brett Okamoto of ESPN.
Duraev had a quick win on last week’s “Contender Series” episode, submitting Caio Bittencourt in the first round with a neck crank.
The signing of Duraev has been met with some criticism. Journalist Karim Zidan noted earlier in the week that Duraev voiced his support last year for an 18-year-old student in France who beheaded his teacher.
Di Chirico will be looking to bounce back from a head kick knockout loss he suffered in August against Abdul Razak Alhassan. The 31-year-old has lost four of his last five bouts, although he earned a stoppage win early this year against Joaquin Buckley.
Almeida To Meet Marques In November
Almeida’s first UFC challenge will come on November 13th, facing Danilo Marques on a “Fight Night” card, per Marcelo Barone and Zeca Azevedo of Combate.
Almeida secured a submission win on the September 14th episode of the “Contender Series,” handing Nasrudin Nasrudinov his first pro loss with a second-round rear naked choke.
The win continued a streak of victories that started in 2018 and is now a total of nine fights.
Marques suffered his first UFC loss in his most recent bout, getting finished by Kennedy Nzechukwu in June. Before then he had scored two wins in the promotion.
A Look At The Week Ahead
There are big fights at every level of MMA this week. At the highest level, UFC champions will compete on Saturday night. But earlier in the week are “Contender Series” and LFA cards that provide crossroad prospect matchups, and ONE Championship will also offer up some of their best talents on Friday morning.
Tuesday
Dana White’s Contender Series: Season 5 Episode 4
UFC will present another episode of “Dana White’s Contender Series” on Tuesday night. This week’s episode includes an undefeated main event, as UAE Warriors and Brave CF alum Hashem Arkhagha faces AJ Dobson. Other prospects to look out for are Santo Curatolo, Michael Morales and Theo Rlayang.
The show also includes Jacob Rosales and Steven Nguyen, who are returning to the show in a second attempt to join the UFC roster.
Location: UFC APEX, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Main Card (8:00PM EDT / 5:00PM PDT) (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass Canada)
Bout 5: Hashem Arkhagha (6-0) vs. AJ Dobson (5-0) (Middleweight)
Bout 4: Michael Morales (11-0) vs. Nikolay Veretennikov (9-3) (Welterweight)
Bout 3: Steven Nguyen (7-1) vs. Theo Rlayang (5-0) (Featherweight)
Bout 2: Kleydson Rodrigues (6-1) vs. Santo Curatolo (6-1) (Flyweight)
Bout 1: Jacob Rosales (13-6) vs. Victor Martinez (12-4) (Lightweight)
Friday
ONE Championship: Revolution
ONE Championship will present three title fights on Friday morning from Singapore. Sitting at the top of the lineup is 170-pound MMA champ Christian Lee, who will meet rising Korean contender Ok Rae Yoon - a fighter who has picked up two wins since joining the promotion earlier this year.
125-pound champ Joshua Pacio and Muay Thai champion Capitan Petchyindee Academy are also expected to compete. On the main card, former champ Martin Nguyen will compete for the first time since losing his belt in 2020.
Lower on the card, grappling expert Marcus Buchecha will get his MMA debut against Anderson “Braddock” Silva. Undefeated strawweight prospect Victoria Lee will also return in search of her third pro win.
Location: Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore
Main Card (8:30AM EDT / 8:30PM SGT) (Bleacher Report App / Youtube)
Bout 11: Christian Lee (15-3) vs. Ok Rae Yoon (15-3) (ONE MMA Lightweight Championship) (170 lbs)
Bout 10: Capitan Petchyindee Academy vs. Mehdi Zatout (ONE Kickboxing Bantamweight Championship) (145 lbs)
Bout 9: Joshua Pacio (19-3) vs. Yosuke Saruta (21-9-3) (ONE MMA Strawweight Championship) (125 lbs)
Bout 8: Martin Nguyen (13-4) vs. Kim Jae Woong (11-4) (155 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 7: Amir Aliakbari (10-2) vs. Anatoly Malykhin (9-0) (265 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 6: Victoria Lee (2-0) vs. Victoria Souza (5-0) (115 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Lead Card (6:30AM EDT / 6:30PM SGT) (Bleacher Report App / Youtube)
Bout 5: Lito Adiwang (12-3) vs. Hexigetu (8-4) (125 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 4: Petchdam Petchyindee Academy vs. Taiki Naito (135 lbs) (Muay Thai Bout)
Bout 3: Marcus Buchecha (0-0) vs. Anderson Silva (3-1) (265 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 2: Petchtanong Banchamek vs. Zhang ChengLong (145 lbs) (Kickboxing Bout)
Bout 1: James Yang (0-0) vs. Roel Rosauro (5-3) (155 lbs) (MMA Bout)
LFA 115: Silveira vs. Cummins
Undefeated talents Josh Silveira and Tee Cummins will be matched on Friday night, competing to become the next LFA Light Heavyweight Champion. Their fight headlines a card that includes other prospects like Jordan Heiderman, Lucas Clay, Edwin Cooper Jr., Mando Gutierrez, and more.
Location: Menominee Nation Arena, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA
Main Card (9:00PM EDT / 8:00PM CDT) (UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 15: Josh Silveira (5-0) vs. Tee Cummins (4-0) (Vacant LFA Light Heavyweight Championship)
Bout 14: Chad Johnson (6-2) vs. Jordan Heiderman (4-0) (Heavyweight)
Bout 13: Jake Kozorosky (5-1) vs. Lucas Clay (7-1) (Lightweight)
Bout 12: Edwin Cooper Jr. (4-1) vs. Maximillian Fuentes (4-1) (Featherweight)
Bout 11: Bryan Bautista (4-1) vs. Mando Gutierrez (5-1) (Bantamweight)
Bout 10: Roland Dunlap (2-0) vs. Branko Busick (2-2) (Middleweight)
Bout 9: Kathryn Paprocki (3-1) vs. Hilarie Rose (5-3) (Strawweight)
Preliminary Card
Bout 8: Jeff Jepsen (6-3) vs. Tyus White (4-0) (Flyweight)
Bout 7: Miguel Sanson (0-0) vs. Braden Pagaoa (1-0) (Flyweight)
Bout 6: Zachary Vaci (2-1) vs. Reshal Malik (3-2-1) (Bantamweight)
Bout 5: Kyles Vang (0-0) vs. Quang Le (0-0) (Bantamweight)
Bout 4: Dylan Diebitz (3-0) vs. Jackson McVey (3-1) (Amateur Middleweight)
Bout 3: Andy Foss (3-1) vs. Anteze Howard (1-0) (Amateur Featherweight)
Bout 2: Gabriel Wanderley (4-1) vs. Pierre Hampton (6-1) (Amateur Bantamweight)
Bout 1: Herbert Rogers-Williams (5-1) vs. Aleksander Keca (5-4) (Amateur Welterweight)
Saturday
UFC 266: Volkanovski vs. Ortega
Beginning their final stretch of pay-per-view events this year, UFC is scheduled to hold UFC 266 on Saturday. The event is the end of their “International Fight Week,” which has been taking place annually in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, for years.
In the main event, Brian Ortega will get his second chance at attaining a belt when facing UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski. The co-main event will see Valentina Shevchenko attempt to continue her dominant run as UFC Flyweight Champion when fighting Lauren Murphy.
Fan-favorite Nick Diaz is also expected to make his first appearance since 2015, fighting veteran Robbie Lawler in a five-round contest.
As is usually the case for PPV UFC events, notable matchups are up and down the card. On the prelims, Diaz protege Nick Maximov will make his UFC debut, undefeated lightweight Uros Medic will return, and quickly rising heavyweight Chris Daukaus will look to continue his winning streak.
Location: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Main Card (10:00PM EDT / 7:00PM PDT) (PPV)
Bout 14: Alexander Volkanovski (22-1) vs. Brian Ortega (15-1) (UFC Featherweight Championship)
Bout 13: Valentina Shevchenko (21-3) vs. Lauren Murphy (15-4) (UFC Flyweight Championship)
Bout 12: Robbie Lawler (28-15) vs. Nick Diaz (26-9) (Welterweight)
Bout 11: Curtis Blaydes (14-3) vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruick (12-2) (Heavyweight)
Bout 10: Jessica Andrade (21-9) vs. Cynthia Calvillo (9-2-1) (Flyweight)
Preliminary Card (8:00PM EDT / 5:00PM PDT) (ESPN / TSN 4)
Bout 9: Marlon Moraes (23-8-1) vs. Merab Dvalishvili (13-4) (Bantamweight)
Bout 8: Dan Hooker (20-10) vs. Nasrat Haqparast (13-3) (Lightweight)
Bout 7: Shamil Abdurakhimov (20-5) vs. Chris Daukaus (11-3) (Heavyweight)
Early Prelims (6:00PM EDT / 3:00PM PDT) (ESPN / UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 6: Manon Fiorot (7-1) vs. Mayra Bueno Silva (7-1-1) (Flyweight)
Bout 5: Nick Maximov (6-0) vs. Karl Roberson (9-4) (Middleweight)
Bout 4: Uros Medic (7-0) vs. Jalin Turner (10-5) (Lightweight)
Bout 3: Matthew Semelsberger (8-3) vs. Martin Sano (4-2-1) (Welterweight)
Bout 2: Roxanne Modafferi (25-18) vs. Taila Santos (17-1) (Flyweight)
Bout 1: Omar Morales (11-1) vs. Jonathan Pearce (10-4) (Featherweight)
Quick Jabs
Brave CF Makes Debut In Poland: Brave CF will head to Poland for the first time on Saturday, hosting Brave CF 54 in the country. The card will be headlined by Brave CF Lightweight Champion Amin Ayoub and promotional vet Ahmed Amir. In the co-main event, super-prospect Mohammad Mokaev will meet Bellator alum Blaine O’Driscoll.
Future FC Returns: Brazilian MMA promotion Future FC will hold their first numbered event in over a year this weekend, presenting Future MMA 13 on Friday. Undefeated featherweights Gabriel Santos and Gabriel Alves Braga are set to headline the card.
Veteran Hill Returns To Home Country: Continuing their busy return schedule in 2021, Canadian promotion Unified MMA will hold an event on Friday night. WSOF and “Ultimate Fighter” alum Mike Hill will return to action in the main event, meeting 165-pound champ Shane Campbell - who will be returning after nearly two years outside of the cage.
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