Rizin 40 tales place in Tokyo tomorrow and every single fighter made weight. In total there are 15 fights booked for the Saitama Super Arena and they all got the green light after this morning’s weigh in.
The card is divided into two sections. The regular Rizin 40 event gets underway first and will be headlined by the final of the super atomweight Grand Prix
Seika Izawa takes on Si Woo Park. The former tipped the scales at 48.80kgs while the latter was 48.70kg.
Nobuyuki Sakakibara was understandably delighted and praised the professionalism of his fighters:
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Promotional rivalry
After the completion of the Rizin 4o card there will be a special Bellator vs. Rizin section with five fights taking place. The main event pits Roberto de Souza against A.J. McKee in a lightweight showdown.
De Souza is the reigning Rizin lightweight champion and he came in at 70.85kg which is very slightly over the limit but within his allowance for a non title fight. McKee is the former Bellator featherweight champion and he came in at 70.2kg.
De Souza’s teammate Kleber Koike Erbst will also be representing Rizin and he weighed 65.9kgs. The Braziliaj faces compatriot Patricio Freire who tipped the scales at 65.8kgs.
We still don’t know the identity of Ren Hiramoto’s opponent. He weighed 69.99kg but the weight, as well as the name, of the fighter he will be facing in a special rules bout remains a mystery.
Rizin 40, Tokyo, December 31st
A.J. McKee (70.20kg) vs. Roberto de Souza (70.85kg)
Kleber Koike Erbst (65.90kg) vs. Patricio Freire (65.80kg)
Kyoji Horiguchi (56.65kg) vs. Hiromasa Ougikubo (56.90kg)
Juan Archuleta (60.80kg) vs. Soo Chul Kim (60.70kg)
Gadzhi Rabadanov (70.75kg) vs. Koji Takeda (70.85kg)
Seika Izawa (48.70kg) vs. Si Woo Park (48.80kg)
Tsuyoshi Sudario (117.95kg) vs. Junior Tafa (108.75kg)
Naoki Inoue (60.85kg) vs. Kenta Takizawa (60.85kg)
Yuki Motoya (61kg) vs. Rogerio Bontorin (60kg)
Daison Nobumitsu: (70.90kg) vs. Johnny Case: (70.95kg)
Hideo Tokoro (56.70kg) vs. John Dodson (56.90kg)
Noah Bey (71kg) vs. Sho Patrick Usami (70.9kg)
Ren Hiramoto (69.99kg) vs ?
Yusji (61.65kg) vs. Tatsuya Nakazawa (61.95kg)
Yoshiki Nakahara (65.9kg) vs. Chihiro Suzuki (65.85kg)
