By:  | September 6, 2022 10:37 am

Rena Kubota has pulled out of the Rizin super atomweight Grand Prix. She suffered a broken orbital during her quarter final win over Anastasiya Svetkivska last month.

Rizin announced the semi final matchups today and Rena was notable by her absence. She will be replaced by Svetkivska who faces Seika Izawa at Rizin 38 next month.

Izawa (7-0) is probably the favourite for the tournament and will feel she has got lucky with the semi final draw, being matched with one of the losing quarter finalists. The 24 year old is the reigning Rizin super atomweight champion.

Svetkivska (2-1) is the least experienced fighter in the tournament. But she did have a very successful career as an amateur, winning two IMMAF tournaments before turning pro and clearly did some damage during the decision loss to Rena.

Other side

On the other side of the bracket Ayaka Hamasaki has been matched with Si Woo Park. The former has held the Rizin super atomweight title twice but was coming off back to back losses to Izawa coming into the tournament.

Hamasaki (24-5) got back to winning ways with a decision victory over Jessica Aguilar at Rizin 37. She will be facing an opponent who comes into the contest on the back of a good run of recent results.

Park (8-5) has won her last three fights and has beaten two of the biggest stars in the 108lbs division. At Rizin 33 she earned a decision win over Rena and at Rizin 37 she outpointed Kanna Asakura.

Bantamweight bout

As previously announced Kyoji Horiguchi has been matched with Yuto Hokamura at Rizin 38. The former bantamweight champion will be fighting in Japan for the first time in nearly two years.

‘Kintaro’ is coming off back to back losses which makes him a slightly surprising choice of opponent for Horiguchi but the former champion’s stint with Bellator has not gone according to plan. He has lost both his fights for the promotion and will be looking for a first win since 2020.

Super Rizin

This event will take place on the same day as Super Rizin. That event is at a slightly earlier time in order to accommodate the US audience and will be headlined by the exhibition boxing match between Mikuru Asakura and Floyd Mayweather.

Rizin 38, Tokyo, September 25th
Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Yuto Hokamura (Bantamweight)
Si Woo Park vs Ayaka Hamasaki (Super atomweight Grand Prix 1/2 final)
Seika Izawa vs Anastasia Svetkivska (Super atomweight Grand Prix 1/2 final)
Soo Chul Kim vs. Hiromasa Ougikubo (Bantamweight)
Kyohei Hagiwara vs. Chihiro Suzuki (Featherweight)
Juri Ohara vs. Luiz Gustavo (Lightweight)
Shoma Shibisai vs. Cally Gibrainn de Oliveira (Heavyweight)
Kickboxing: Yoshinari Nadaka vs Bandasak So Trakunpet (Catchweight)