Carwin enters 16-man open weight tourney as a wildcard,
Kawajiri faces featherweight opponent to be announced

PLUS:
Miyuu Yamamoto vs. Andy Nguyen
Hideo Tokoro vs. Erson Yamamoto
Rena Kubota, Kanako Murata and Kanna Asakura all tabbed for action over the course of three days to close out 2016

TOKYO – October 27, 2016 – RIZIN FF announced today at a press conference, a pair of massive fighter signings – heavyweight Shane Carwin (12-2) and featherweight Tatsuya “Crusher” Kawajiri (35-10-2) – both of whom will make their respective debut for the combat sports federation during its three-day New Year’s Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) extravaganza at Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo, beginning Thursday, Dec. 29.

Effectively ending his retirement that he announced three years ago, the 41-year-old Carwin of Denver, Colo. will enter the coveted open weight tournament as a wild card and will face an opponent to be announced. The heavy-handed powerhouse’s entry into the single-elimination affair marks the completion of the 16-man tournament field.

Carwin catapulted to stardom between 2008 and 2009, winning each of his first five contests in the UFC by way of brutal first-round knockout. His fifth victory in the Octagon, a thunderous knockout (punches) on Frank Mir, earned Carwin the interim UFC heavyweight championship on March 27, 2010.

To date, all 12 of Carwin’s professional wins have come by way of (T)KO or submission inside of the first round of action. Five of these victories occurred in less than one minute.

In what effectively will be his homecoming party, the 38-year-old Kawajiri, a famed, 16-year veteran of the sport who hails from Inashiki, Ibaraki, Japan, will square off with an opponent to be announced.

Kawajiri established himself as a force while tangling with elite level competition in several of Japan’s world-class promotions, including PRIDE Fighting Championships, DREAM, Dynamite!! and Shooto, where he was crowned world lightweight champion after scoring a second round (3:11) knockout (punches) on Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro on December 14, 2004.

Kawajiri also boasts victories over fellow stars Yves Edwards, J.Z. Cavalcante, Josh Thomson, Drew Fickett and Joachim Hansen.

Additionally, it was announced at the press conference that Miyuu Yamamoto (0-1) will return to action to face Andy Nguyen (3-3) in a women’s atomweight (105 pounds) contest and, that Yamamoto’s son, Erson Yamamoto (1-1), will battle Hideo Tokoro (33-29-2) in a 136-pound catchweight affair.

Miyuu of Kanagawa, Japan is a 41-year-old, three-time champion in women’s freestyle wrestling and sister of retired MMA icon Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto who made her much-anticipated MMA debut at the RIZIN FF World Grand Prix 2016: Opening Round event on September 25, 2016. She was submitted via guillotine choke at the hands of shoot boxing champion Rena Kubota in the first round (4:50) of their matchup.

The 34-year-old Nguyen (3-3) of Myrtle Beach, S.C. is coming off a King of the Cage atomweight championship victory over Cassie Robb, whom Nguyen stopped by way of TKO (punches) in the fourth round (4:13) of their matchup on October 8.

Nguyen has produced all three of her professional career victories to date by way of TKO with flurries of punches.

The 20-year-old Erson of Kanagawa notched his first career MMA win at the same RIZIN FF event where his mother made her debut on September 25. Erson edged out a split decision over Kizaemon Saiga to even his overall record following a debut defeat at the hands of Kron Gracie on December 31, 2015.

Tokoro of Gifu, Japan will look to rebound from the loss he suffered to Gracie on September 25. One bout prior to the matchup with Gracie, Tokoro notched a first round (5:16) submission (armbar) of Saiga on December 29, 2015.

It was also announced that Kubota (2-0) will square off with an opponent to be determined during the three-day span of RIZIN FF fights at the close of December, as will junior Olympic wrestling medalist and unbeaten MMA upstart Kanako Murata (4-0) and atomweight newcomer Kanna Asakura (5-1).