By:  | September 30, 2022 2:05 pm

The full fight card for Rizin Landmark 4 was unveiled this afternoon and it will feature the return of a Japanese legend. Ikuhisa Minowa will be returning after nearly two years away from the ring.

Minowa (65-44-8) has not fought since his loss to Tsuyoshi Sudario at Rizin 26 in 2020. The 46 year old appeared to have retired but he will be making a comeback at Rizin Landmark 4 on November 6th.

Minowaman has been matched with fellow veteran Kiyoshi Kuwabara (16-12) in an openweight bout. The latter has been out of action for even longer, he was last seen losing to Roque Martinez at Rizin 12 in 2018.

Veteran grappler

Veteran grappler Mazakazu Imanari (39-21-2) will also be on the card. The 46 year old will be competing at featherweight and faces Kazumasa Majima (14-4) who will be looking to snap his three fight losing skid.

In the super atomweight division Satomi Takano (16-13) has been given another opportunity to impress after losing to Kanna Asakura on her Rizin debut. She takes on Laura Fontoura (7-1) who was also eliminated from the 108lbs Grand Prix in the opening round.

Kickboxing star

As previously announced Ren Hiramoto, who has had mixed results in his MMA career so far, will have another opportunity to impress when he faces Satoshi Yamasu at Rizin Landmark 4. The event is set for the Dolphins Arena in Nagoya.

Hiramoto (1-2) came into MMA with a big reputation having had a successful career as a kickboxer and challenging for the K-1 lightweight title in 2019. He made his debut at Rizin 26 amid great fanfare but was stopped in the second round by Kyohei Hagiwara who took him down and pounded him out.

He made his sophomore appearance at Rizin Landmark 2 and only fared marginally better, dropping a decision to Chihiro Suzuki. For his third MMA fight he was matched with a fellow kickboxer and this time Hiramoto finally managed to win, albeit by the narrowest of margins.

 

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First victory

At Rizin 36 he took on Hiraoki Suzuki, a kickboxing veteran who had made his MMA debut the previous year. Hiramoto prevailed by way of split decision to finally register his first victory as a mixed martial artist.

At Rizin Landmark 4 he has been matched with former Deep featherweight champion Satoshi Yamasu (10-6). The 32 year old has been a full time mixed martial artist for nearly a decade.

He comes into this contest on the back of two wins. At Rizin 28 he beat Noah Bey by split decision to secure his first ever win for the promotion, having previously been stopped in the opening round by Mikuru Asakura.

At Rizin 34 in March he secured a very impressive first round victory, finishing Hagiwara with a triangle armbar. He has been in with current Rizin featherweight champion Juntaro Ushiku and is much more experienced than his opponent.

Rizin Landmark 4, Nagoya, November 6th
Ren Hiramoto vs. Satoshi Yamasu (Featherweight)
Masakazu Imanari vs Kazumasa Majima (Featherweight)
Ikuhisa Minowa vs Kiyoshi Kuwabara (Openweight)
Satomi Takano vs Laura Fontoura (Super atomweight)
Callyu Gibrainn vs Satoshi Kamiyama (Heavyweight)
Jin Aoi vs. Hiroaki Suzuki (Featherweight)
Yusaku Nakamura vs. Takaki Soya (Flyweight)
Yuki Motoya vs Kazuma Kuramoto (Bantamweight)
Mamoru Uoi vs. Ji Yong Yang (Bantamweight)
Alan Yamaniha vs. Yasuhiro Kawamura (Bantamweight)
Junya Hibino vs. Riku Yoshida (Bantamweight)
Kenta Kubo vs. Hideyoshi Okamoto (Flyweight)