Kizaemon Saiga to face Seiichiro Ito

At today’s Rizin FF press conference it was announced that Kizaemon Saiga (3-2) will face Seiichiro Ito (11-1) in a flyweight contest. Saiga fights out of Reversal Gym Shinjuku Me, WE and is coming off of a win in his last Rizin FF contest via brutal TKO. The current ZST Flyweight champion fights out of Reversal Gym Yokohama Ground Slam locally. Ito is well known to Japanese fans and has the edge in total bouts & victories but this will be only his 3rd bout outside of the ZST organization and one has to wonder if that will affect him in this matchup.

During the press conference, Saiga described Ito as a “Mini Tokoro” which made Ito flattered, saying that he will take that as a compliment since Tokoro is the fighter who Ito has looked up his entire career. Ito described Saiga as being physically strong, due to the fact that he trains with Tokoro on a regular basis and knows it’s not easy to sweep Tokoro like Saiga did in their previous matchup.

Ito is entering the RIZIN ring as a ZST champion to make a statement, and Saiga will face him to prove everybody that he belongs in the RIZIN ring. Saiga stated that he is confident of being the best striker in the Flywieght division and hopes that Ito is not looking to hug and hump. Ito responded by saying that grappling is not all about lay and pray, there are definitely ways to display entertaining ground skills which he is going to show during the fight.

Either way this should deliver a solid fight between 2 fighters with significant accomplishments in respected fields. Expect a high paced fun scrap and an exciting scramble when it hits the ground.

Rena Kubota gets an opponent

Previously announced for Sunday April 16th Rizin FF in Yokohama was the participation of Rena Kubota (3-0) at 49kg catch weight but no opponent was confirmed at that earlier time. That has changed. Stepping into the ring across from the undefeated Kubota will be Budapest, Hungary’s Dora Perjes (7-1). Perjes fights out of Bardosi Martial Arts and brings 7 submission wins and a 100% submission finish rate into this bout. Her last bout was a defeat, after reeling off 7 straight wins to start her career, so she will be looking to make a solid comeback and statement in her first Rizin FF bout. Kubota fights out of Caesar Gym/AACC and is no stranger herself to the submission game with 2 of her 3 wins coming via submission including a stunning flying armbar.
Doors open at 1:30PM with Opening Ceremony at 3:00PM on Sunday April 16^th at the Yokohama Arena.