Rena Kubota will rematch Lindsey VanZandt in a catchweight contest at Rizin 20 on December 31st. The two first fought at Bellator 222 with the American scoring a submission win.
Rizin announced the matchup on Twitter yesterday:
Additional fight announcement for RIZIN.20
Lindsey VanZandt vs. RENA
🎟️ https://t.co/VYvwCQXU37#RIZIN #RIZINFF #RIZIN20 pic.twitter.com/9b92cZmrRL
— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) December 3, 2019
Rena (9-3) had never fought outside of her native Japan prior to that contest at Madison Square Garden. It was a disappointing defeat but she has the opportunity to avenge it at the Saitama Super Arena on New year’s Eve.
This time the roles are reversed. It is VanZandt (7-2), who has spent her entire career competing in the U.S., who will be travelling overseas to fight for the first time.
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.
Kai Asakura is currently without an opponent after Kyoji Horiguchi suffered a serious knee injury. But there will be at least one title bout on the card with 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
Ayaka Hamasaki (c) vs. Seo Hee Ham (For Super Atomweight Title)
Patricky Freire vs. Luiz Gustavo (Lightweight Grand Prix Semi Final)
Johnny Case vs. Tofiq Musaev (Lightweight Grand Prix Semi Final)
Patrick Mix vs. Yuki Motoya (Bantamweight)
John Macapa vs. Mikuru Asakura (Featherweight)
Rena Kubota vs. Lindsey VanZandt (Catchweight)
