By:  | December 10, 2023 5:42 pm

K-1 Rebirth 2 was held at the Edion Arena in Osaka. There were some real upsets on the card with three titles changing hands and some local favourites suffering surprise defeats.

Super flyweight champion Kana was originally announced to be facing a mystery opponent. When the identity of the challenger was revealed to be Antonia Prifti fans were somewhat underwhelmed.

The Greek fighter was clearly not the favourite as Kana looked to defend her title for the fourth time. At the start of the opening round they traded low kicks with both showing off impressive speed and footwork.

Prifti was the busier of the two and was clearly not intimated by her opponent’s reputation. She consistently put together combinations of punches and kicks, never giving Kana a chance to settle and making the most of her reach advantage.

New champion

Kana tried switching stance at the start of the second round but was on the receiving end of more punches and low kicks. Prifti was mixing in straight knees and teeps just to keep her opponent guessing.

Kana tried taking the fight to Prifti in the final round but kept walking into those straight punches. There was only one winner and all three judges scored the fight for the Greek fighter who is the new K-1 flyweight champion.

Best of the rest

The only title holder to successfully defend a belt was bantamweight champion Toma Kuroda who beat compatriot Issei Ishi. Perhaps the biggest upset of the night occurred when current super featherweight champion Leona Pettas was beaten by Remi Parra in a non-title match.

The co-main event was a somewhat controversial match with Hasan Toy defending his middleweight title against Shintaro Mitsukura. It was declared a draw initially with the Japanese fighter winning by split decision after an  extra round

In the main event reigning K-1 super welterweight champion Hiromi Wajima defended his super welterweight title against Ouyang Feng. The Japanese fighter was dropped in the second round and beat the count but the contest was called off after the Chinese fighter put him down a second time.

K-1 Rebirth 2, Osaka, December 10th
Ouyang Feng def. Hiromi Wajima via KO (Right cross) at 2:13 of R2
Shintaro Matsukura def. Hasan Toy via Extra round Decision (Split)
Rémi Parra def. Leona Pettas via Decision (Majority)
Akihiro Kaneko def. Lan Shanteng via Decision (Unanimous)
Liu Ce def. Seiya Tanigawa via KO (Right cross) at 2:38 of R1
Kyo Kawakami def. Toma Decision (Unanimous)
Meison Hide Usami def. Kaito via KO (Punches) at 1:05 of R2
Hayato Suzuki def. Toyoki via TKO (Middle kick) at 0:44 of R3
Toma Kuroda (c) def. Issei Ishii via Decision (Unanimous)
Antonia Prifti def. Kana via Decision (Unanimous)
Saho def. Li Lishan via Decision (Unanimous)
Miyuu Sugawara def. Lucille Deadman via Decision (Unanimous)
Shota Yamaguchi def. Ryunosuke Hoshi via TKO (Punches) at 1:00 of R3
Riki Matsuoka def. Jomthong Strikergym via Decision (Unanimous)
Tatsuya Oiwa def. Yuto Shinohara via KO (Right cross) at 2:15 of R1
Shoki Kaneda def. Dausayam Wor Wanchai via TKO (Punches) at 2:17 of R1
Tatsuya Tsubakihara def. via Kensuke via Decision (Unanimous)
Riku def. Abiral Ghimire via Decision (Unanimous)