Rizin 15 April 21st Yokohama

Horiguchi coming off of arguably the biggest win of his career, so they give him a guy coming in with two straight losses. Typical Rizin.
 
Fun fights so far! Let's see if Jiri can learn from that hilarious first fight with Queen Mo
 
leto1776 said:
Horiguchi coming off of arguably the biggest win of his career, so they give him a guy coming in with two straight losses. Typical Rizin.
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I agree they should have had Nguyen try to rebound first, maybe give Ulka the title shot instead. But it's going to be very entertaining regardless.
 
leto1776 said:
Horiguchi coming off of arguably the biggest win of his career, so they give him a guy coming in with two straight losses. Typical Rizin.
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When you're booked as frequently as he is it's not going to be easy finding an elite contender every time, especially when RIZIN's roster is so small
I imagine Horiguchi-Kai Asakura is their long term play here later in the year, provided Kai beats Sasaki and Horiguchi comes out of his Bellator fight in good nick
 
leto1776 said:
Horiguchi coming off of arguably the biggest win of his career, so they give him a guy coming in with two straight losses. Typical Rizin.
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Well, think about what RIZIN likes and values. And consider their options. Ben 10 is an exciting fighter, just coming fresh off the UFC. On paper, it's a more exciting fight than Ulka (someone above suggested Ulka)... They want exciting fights. Plus, there really isn't many options for them. At least that as we can tell at the moment. We don't really know who they're looking to sign and what UFC vets or other top flyweights are going to fight in RIZIN. What's the best possible fight they could have made? Yuki Motoya rematch? ... This is new and more interesting. I definitely understand the expectation of only "super fights" for Horiguchi now, but RIZIN isn't really in a position to do that.
 
SouvlakiSpaceStation said:
Well, think about what RIZIN likes and values. And consider their options. Ben 10 is an exciting fighter, just coming fresh off the UFC. On paper, it's a more exciting fight than Ulka (someone above suggested Ulka)... They want exciting fights. Plus, there really isn't many options for them. At least that as we can tell at the moment. We don't really know who they're looking to sign and what UFC vets or other top flyweights are going to fight in RIZIN. What's the best possible fight they could have made? Yuki Motoya rematch? ... This is new and more interesting. I definitely understand the expectation of only "super fights" for Horiguchi now, but RIZIN isn't really in a position to do that.
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“Super fights” (and no two people seem to have the same definition of super fight) is one thing. Giving him a guy with two straight losses is another. They did the same thing with Kanna between the two Rena fights.

There’s record building and there’s record padding. This is the latter, and I’m a fan of Ben 10.
 
leto1776 said:
“Super fights” (and no two people seem to have the same definition of super fight) is one thing. Giving him a guy with two straight losses is another. They did the same thing with Kanna between the two Rena fights.

There’s record building and there’s record padding. This is the latter, and I’m a fan of Ben 10.
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I don't think it's record padding as much as it's giving Kyoji a fresh and interesting opponent as new fighters navigate over from the UFC.
 
leto1776 said:
“Super fights” (and no two people seem to have the same definition of super fight) is one thing. Giving him a guy with two straight losses is another. They did the same thing with Kanna between the two Rena fights.

There’s record building and there’s record padding. This is the latter, and I’m a fan of Ben 10.
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I don't think this is record padding. He's still a respectable fighter. It's not like he lost to scrubs. According to UFC rankings, Formiga is #1 in the Flyweight division right now, just under Cejudo. Reis is #6. So he lost to two top guys, regardless of how accurate those rankings are lol. I see your point, but who would you suggest as an alternate? Every other option would seem like "record padding"... Maybe that's a testament to Kyoji's skill.

He just beat the Bellator Bantamweight Champion, it seems weird for him to fight a top bantamweight contender from Bellator. Idk. To me, it just seems weird to complain about matchmaking in this instance since there isn't another clear contender. Or a clear fight that should have been made instead. "THAT was the fight to make, this guy is on a 10 fight win streak and signed with RIZIN, why did they choose Ben 10 instead?"... But this isn't the case here. lol.
 
SouvlakiSpaceStation said:
I don't think this is record padding. He's still a respectable fighter. It's not like he lost to scrubs. According to UFC rankings, Formiga is #1 in the Flyweight division right now, just under Cejudo. Reis is #6. So he lost to two top guys, regardless of how accurate those rankings are lol. I see your point, but who would you suggest as an alternate? Every other option would seem like "record padding"... Maybe that's a testament to Kyoji's skill.

He just beat the Bellator Bantamweight Champion, it seems weird for him to fight a top bantamweight contender from Bellator. Idk. To me, it just seems weird to complain about matchmaking in this instance since there isn't another clear contender. Or a clear fight that should have been made instead. "THAT was the fight to make, this guy is on a 10 fight win streak and signed with RIZIN, why did they choose Ben 10 instead?"... But this isn't the case here. lol.
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How about a fighter coming off a win? That’d be a start.
 
Asurah said:
Light Heavyweight Title Fight
King Mo vs Jiri Prochazka II

Kyoji Horiguchi vs Ben Nguyen

Kai Asakura vs Ulka

Mikuru Asakura vs Luiz Gustavo

Koji Takeda vs TBA

All just confirmed
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Really good card.
 
leto1776 said:
There’s record building and there’s record padding. This is the latter, and I’m a fan of Ben 10.
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Yeah maybe. But Horiguchi knows he's the face of the franchise. They're probably paying him good money.

Meanwhile over in the UFC Conor gets a title shot if he beats a guy ranked 9th.
 
Okajima said:
Yeah maybe. But Horiguchi knows he's the face of the franchise. They're probably paying him good money.

Meanwhile over in the UFC Conor gets a title shot if he beats a guy ranked 9th.
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Dana always keeps his promises right?

Id rather see the result of that bout first instead of seing McGregor in title contention.

Also, yeah... As much as i like ben 10, i dont see any reason for him being fighting horiguchi these days...
They should have matched him with Manel kape. It would be an interesting bout IMO.
 


Rizin just drops another Confession video, the subbed version should arrive soon.

Also there is a teaser for behind the scenes of Tenshin VS Floyd. Look like there is some drama
behind the scenes (of course it is handwrap again), they will probably use it to explain why Tenshin performed so poorly, so they could still hype his kickboxing fight this March.
 
Okajima said:
Yeah maybe. But Horiguchi knows he's the face of the franchise. They're probably paying him good money.

Meanwhile over in the UFC Conor gets a title shot if he beats a guy ranked 9th.
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Yep, RIZIN has been marketing him like crazy. I think the recent fights have catapulted Horiguchi to sports star status in Japan. The shorts and shirt he wore during RIZIN 14 is now going for 7.5k USD (LOL). He got to hang out with the Gaki/Downtown guys on variety shows alongside olympic gold medalists and baseball stars. Apparently he placed first for fighter of the year (all inclusive, including MMA, kickboxing and sumo), second is Tenshin and third is Takeru. Also, his upset of Darrion Caldwell was fight of the year, while his kickboxing fight with Tenshin placed second, third is kickboxing bout between Takeru vs. Koji.

It's pretty insane given JMMA fighters/fights never sees themselves in the top 5 in recent years. Maybe all we need is a few more Horiguchis for a JMMA revival.

Best fighter 2018 poll source:
https://www.:eek::eek::eek::eek::ee...tonews/photonews_nsInc_201902010000144-1.html

Best fight of 2018 source:
https://www.:eek::eek::eek::eek::ee...tonews/photonews_nsInc_201902010000144-2.html
 
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Leaving the UFC is definitely the best decision Kyoji has ever made. I doubt he would ever get a second title shot there.
 
ichibang said:


Rizin just drops another Confession video, the subbed version should arrive soon.

Also there is a teaser for behind the scenes of Tenshin VS Floyd. Look like there is some drama
behind the scenes (of course it is handwrap again), they will probably use it to explain why Tenshin performed so poorly, so they could still hype his kickboxing fight this March.
Click to expand...

I'm pumped for the Rise 58kg tournament that includes Tenshin. It will be broadcast on Abema, which is a big step up the promotion.


That second weekend has that event, plus the superior kickboxing event K-1: K’Festa and Deep/Jewels.
 
I read somewhere that RIZIN is looking to book current DEEP Lightweight Champion Koji Takeda vs. Damien Brown for this card. Pretty interesting!
 
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