RIZIN FF ANNOUNCES
RENA KUBOTA VS. HANNA GUJWAN
FOR NEW YEAR’S MEGA-EVENT

   

PROLONGED INJURY FORCES WITHDRAWAL OF WANDERLEI SILVA FROM OPEN WEIGHT TOURNEY

Plus:
Tatsumitsu Wada vs. Kai Kara France in flyweight battle
MMA debut of kickboxing phenom Tenshin Nasukawa

TOKYO – December 14, 2016 – RIZIN FF announced today that shoot boxing champion Rena Kubota (2-0) will face off in a 108-pound catchweight contest with fellow unbeaten Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) upstart Hanna “Tyson” Gujwan (1-0), and that Wanderlei Silva has withdrawn due to the prolonged injury of his shoulder, from the second stage of the historic, 16-man open weight tournament that picks up in the quarterfinal stage of action on Thursday, December 29 at Saitama Super Arena in Japan.

Addtionally, the combat sports federation announced a flyweight (125 pounds) matchup between Tatsumitsu Wada (16-8-2) and Kai “Don’t Blink” Kara-France (12-5, 1 NC), the much-anticipated MMA debut of kickboxing superstar Tenshin Nasukawa (0-0) against an opponent to be announced and the debut of the new RIZIN FF round card girl models.

The 18-year-old Nasukawa of Matsudo, Chiba, Japan is a high school student who enters the RIZIN FF ring with an unblemished, 17-0 (13 KO’s) kickboxing record.

Rena Kubota vs. Hanna Gujwan

The 5-foot-3 25-year-old Kubota of Osaka, Japan is a three-time shootboxing tournament champion who holds a career record of 25-5-1 in the sport, with 5 of her wins having come by way of knockout.

Kubota is coming off a dominant, first round (4:50) submission (guillotine choke) victory over women’s wrestling pioneer Miyu Yamamoto at the RIZIN FF event at Saitama Super Arena on September 25.

Gujwan of Rzeszow, Poland is a 5-foot, 24-year-old competitor who earned her second professional combat sports career win in a kickboxing rules contest against Paulina Maj on September 10, taking a unanimous decision from Maj.

Prior to the conquest, Gujwan notched a second round (2:43) submission (rear-naked choke) of Diana Tapalaj on April 1.

Tatsumitsu Wada vs. Kai Kara France

Making his RIZIN FF debut with five consecutive wins under his belt and eight victories in his last nine starts, the 5-foot-8, 28-year-old Wadaof Kofu, Yamanishi, Japan has been on fire for the last three years.

Wada is ranked as high as top 60 in the world and top 5 in Japan in the flyweight division. Four of the five wins in his latest streak have come by way of (T)KO or submission.

Likewise, Kara-France of Auckland, New Zealand boasts a top 60 world ranking and will put a five-fight win streak on the line.  The 5-foot-5, 23-year-old was victorious in four of these bouts via first round (T)KO.

To date, 9 of Kara-France’s 12 career wins have come via (T)KO or submission.