Kota Miura recently got to share a ring with Buakaw Banchamek and it didn’t go too well for the mixed martial artist and pinup. Next month he will get to be on the same fight card as Floyd Mayweather when he fights at Super Rizin.
Miura has been matched with Bunchuai Phonsungnoen, a journeyman boxer, in a fight that will have ‘special MMA rules’:
Additional fight announcement for Super RIZIN
Kota Miura vs. Bunchuai Phonsungnoen#RIZIN #SuperRIZIN pic.twitter.com/TrG4vTJdoy
— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) September 6, 2022
Football legend
Bunchuai holds a boxing record of 4-1-2 but has never won a fight outside of Thailand. He reached the last 16 in the IFMA World Youth Championships in 2017 but there isn’t much information available about his Muay Thai career.
Miura is best known for being the son of local football legend Kazuyoshi Miura. His dad scored 55 goals for the Japanese national team and is one of the best players the country had ever produced.
He made his MMA debut at Rizin 33 and won by soccer kick. The 20 year old was then invited to face Buakaw in an exhibition kickboxing match in Bangkok and was knocked out.
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Female following
With 732,000 followers on Instagram the Japanese star clearly has an appeal that goes well beyond the realm of kickboxing or MMA. It turns out he has a big female following in Thailand and was getting more attention than Buakaw ahead of their fight.
If Buakaw was jealous then he would soon get his revenge. The bout was billed as an exhibition but the Muay Thai veteran did not hold back and finished the mixed martial artist in the third round.
It will be interesting to see exactly what the ruleset is for his sophomore Rizin appearance. Bunchuai does not appear to have any previous MMA experience although he has clearly competed in boxing and MMA.
A set of rules which allowed submissions would clearly give Miura a big advantage. But if the Thai fighter gets to use his striking skills for at least a round it could be another tough test for the fighter and heartthrob.
Super Rizin is set for September 25th and will be headlined by the exhibition boxing match between Mikuru Asakura and Floyd Mayweather. That event is likely to take place at a slightly earlier time than normal in order to accommodate the US audience.
Super Rizin, Tokyo, September 25th
Exhibition boxing: Mikuru Asakura vs. Floyd Mayweather (Unknown)
Mixed rules: Kota Miura vs. Bunchuai Phonsungnoen (Featherweight)
