A featherweight title fight headlines Rizin 46. Chihiro Suzuki is putting his belt on the line against Masanori Kanehara at the Ariake Arena on April 29th.
Suzuki (12-3-0-1) shocked the world by knocking out Patricio Freire at Super Rizin 2. After causing one of the biggest upsets of 2023 he was handed an immediate title shot.
Suzuki travelled to Bauku for Rizin Landmark 7 and finished reigning champion Vugar Karamov in the opening round. He was crowned as the featherweight champion and defends his belt for the first time this month.
Kanehara (31-14-5) will be competing as a professional for the 50th time. He is a former Sengoku featherweight champion and had a stint in the UFC, the 41 year old earned his title shot with four straight wins.
本当に遅い時間までLIVE観戦していただきました皆さん、ありがとうございました。
初の海外大会で思う様に進められなかった事が多く、色々行き届かない点がありましたことを、この場を借りてお詫びします。… pic.twitter.com/g39deP0fYF— 榊󠄀原信行 Nobuyuki Sakakibara (@nobu_sakakibara) November 4, 2023
Bantamweight bouts
The co-main event pits two Japanese bantamweights together. Former featherweight champion Juntaro Ushiku (23-10-1) will be competing at the weight or the first time and has been matched with former wrestler Shinobu Ota (5-3).
Also in the bantamweight division newly crowned Road FC bantamweight Grand Prix winner Soo Chul Kim (21-7-1) returns to Rizin after a two year absence. The Korean has been matched with reigning bantamweight King of Pancrase Taichi Nakajima (17-12-1).
Rizin 46, Tokyo, April 29th
Chihiro Suzuki (c)vs. Masanori Kanehara (For featherweight title)
Juntaro Ushiku vs. Shinobu Ota (Bantamweight)
Taichi Nakajima vs. Kim Soo-chul (Bantamweight)
Makoto Shinryu vs. Lee Jun-hyun (Flyweight)
Yang Ji-yong vs. Kazuma Kuramoto (Bantamweight)
Yoshiki Nakahara vs. Viktor Kolesnik (Featherweight)
Sora Yamamoto vs. Ilkhom Nazimov (Featherweight)
Ryo Takagi vs. Taisei Nishitani (Featherweight)
