Kai Asakura finally has an opponent for Rizin 20. He will rematch Manel Kape in a fight that will have the bantamweight title recently vacated by Kyoji Horiguchi on the line.
Asakura (14-1) and Kape (14-4) first fought at Rizin 10 with the Japanese fighter winning by split decision. Since then he has won four fights out of four for the promotion while the Portugese bantamweight has won three out of four.
The third title fight sees Jiri Prochazka (25-3-1) defend his light heavyweight strap against promotional newcomer C.B. Dolloway (17-9). The challenger has not fought in over a year since being released by the UFC.
Meanwhile Satoshi Ishii (22-10-1) will be fighting for the seventh time this year. The Olympic gold medal winning judoka has been matched with Jake Heun (14-9) in a catchweight contest.
Two seasoned Japanese bantamweights are set to collide when Shintaro Ishiwatari (26-7-4) faces Hiromasa Ogikubo (19-4-2). Both men are coming off wins at Rizin 17.
As previously announced Yuki Motoya and Mikuru Asakura will both be in action at Rizin 20. The former faces Patrick Mix in a bantamweight bout while the latter has been matched with John Macapa on the featherweight division.
The other title bout on the card sees Ayaka Hamasaki defending her super atomweight strap against Seo Hee Ham. Meanwhile Patricky Freire faces Luiz Gustavo and Johnny Case takes on Tofiq Musaev in the semi finals of the Rizin Lightweight Grand Prix, which will conclude on the same night.
Rizin 20, Tokyo, December 31st
Kai Asakura vs. Manel Kape (For Vacant Bantamweight Title)
Ayaka Hamasaki (c) vs. Seo Hee Ham (For Super Atomweight Title)
Jiri Prochazka (c) vs. C.B. Dolloway (For Light Heavyweight Title)
Patricky Freire vs. Luiz Gustavo (Lightweight Grand Prix Semi Final)
Johnny Case vs. Tofiq Musaev (Lightweight Grand Prix Semi Final)
Vitaly Shemetov vs. Simon Biyong (Light Heavyweight)
Soma Shibisai vs. Sergey Shemetov (Heavyweight)
Jake Heun vs. Satoshi Ishii (Catchweight)
Patrick Mix vs. Yuki Motoya (Bantamweight)
John Macapa vs. Mikuru Asakura (Featherweight)
Rena Kubota vs. Lindsey VanZandt (Catchweight)
Shintaro Shiwatari vs. Hiromasa Ogikubo (Bantamweight)
