This past weekend, Rizin held Rizin 51 from Nagoya at the newly opened IG Arena. Drawing a reported crowd of 17,000, the show had many highlights. They ranged from the finals of the heavyweight Grand Prix, the semi-finals of the flyweight Grand Prix, two title fights, and one of the craziest fights of the year.
Rizin 51: Genji Umeno
Genji Umeno went to war with Ryusei Ashizawa in a FOTY candidate at Rizin 51. Photo courtesy of Rizin FF.
Genji Umeno (2-0) has joined the long list of kickboxers who have transitioned to MMA. Some have been successful while others have failed to adapt to the multilayered sport. Umeno looks to be the former, having won this, his second MMA fight. He took on former K-1 kickboxer Ryusei Ashizawa, who entered this match with four MMA fights, having won two.
In one of the craziest back-and-forth fights of the year, these two went swinging as soon as the bell rang. Umeno proved to be the more versatile fighter, being able to take down Ashizawa and trying to submit him with a guillotine and triangle choke.
But the momentum shifted in the third round. Ashizawa knocked down Umeno and delivered some foot stomps to his head. He made one crucial mistake. He grabbed the ropes, which is against the rules. The ref called for a break and gave Ashizawa a yellow card. The yellow card cost him a point and a percentage of his purse.
The two continued to fight strongly back and forth, and the fight ended with both men battered and exhausted.
Umeno always had the dangerous Muay Thai striking in his arsenal, but since transitioning to MMA, he has shown an evolving grappling and submission game. Considering that is the hardest aspect of MMA to adapt to, if he continues evolving at this current pace, he’ll be a well-rounded MMA fighter in no time.
A good opponent would be another kickboxer turned MMA fighter, Kouzi. The two have a history in kickboxing, so there is a built-in storyline for their potential fight.
Rizin 51: Razhabali Shaydullaev
Razhabali Shaydullaev can’t be stopped! Photo courtesy of Rizin FF.
33 seconds. That is all Rizin featherweight champion Razhabali Shaydullaev (16-0) needed for his first title defense. “You can’t beat him! You can’t stop him,” yelled Michael Schiavello on commentary after Shaydullaev improved his undefeated record to 16-0. Among the other crazy stats of Shaydullaev include finishing every opponent and has YET to see a third round.
As soon as the round began, you could see Shaydullaev had the utmost confidence in what could be his toughest fight to date. All it took was a right cross to knock down Kolesnik. He swarmed on top of him, under-hooked his shoulder to prevent him from defending himself, laid some ground and pound, and the ref waved off the fight.
Shaydullaev is one of the top five fighters outside the UFC. The guy is no longer a prospect. It’s not about whether he will win, but how he will win. He is leagues above the competition at 145 in Rizin. The only fight that would make sense is to take on his toughest challenge yet: lightweight champion Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza. If he defeated Satoshi, it would be the crowning achievement of his career so far.
Rizin 51: Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza
Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza once again proved he is the most dominant lightweight in Rizin, successfully defending his title once again. Photo courtesy of Rizin FF.
Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza (20-3) has been on a tear in the lightweight division. He has finished all his opponents but one and had successfully defended his title for the fifth time. The question was would he choose to strike with striker Yoshinori Horie or use his bread and butter elite jiu-jitsu.
As soon as the fight started, Souza dived in for a takedown and backpacked Horie. It was then a matter of time before Satoshi sank in a rear-naked choke for the win in just under two minutes.
Satoshi’s development as an MMA fighter has been remarkable. Near the beginning, his striking was tepid and timid. He was also afraid to get hit. But he has now become a man with hands of stone, and if he doesn’t feel like striking, he’s always got jiu-jitsu to depend on.
As stated before, the fight to make is a superfight against Razhabali Shaydullaev. It would be both a great test for the fighters and could be one of the most high-level superfights of all time.
Rizin 51: Yuki Motoya
Yuki Motoya (39-13, 1 NC) is the prime example of teaching a dog new tricks might not always be the best. At one point, he fell too much in love with his striking and it caused him to lose fights that he perhaps should have won. Once he fell back on his elite MMA grappling, he started to pick up major wins over high-level competition, including a lot of younger guys who you might have expected to beat him.
In his Flyweight Grand Prix semi-final fight against Makoto Shinryu, Motoya was able to out-grapple and out-strike the former CFFC champion. He was able to take down, sweep, and take the back of Shinryu multiple times.
Motoya will now go on to face Hiromasa Ougikubo in the Flyweight Grand Prix finals.