Tofiq Musayev will return to Japan to compete on the Super Rizin 2 card. The lightweight Grand Prix winner has been matched with Akira Okada at the Saitama Super Arena on July 30th.
Musayev has not fought for the promotion since 2021. He was submitted by Roberto de Souza in a lightweight title fight at Rizin 24 and promptly signed for Bellator afterwards.
He has enjoyed mixed fortunes competing in the US. Musayev needed just 27 seconds to knock out Sidney Outlaw on his Bellator debut but was stopped by Alexander Shabliy in his sophomore appearance.
Musayev (20-5) has a big reputation in Japan having won five fights out of six for Rizin. Okada (19-9-4) was recently crowned the interim Pancrase lightweight champion and has won six out of his last seven fights.
𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗠𝗔𝗗𝗘.@Tofiq__Musayev stops @SidOutlaw in the 1st round of his Bellator debut! Was @PatrickyPitbull watching that one? 👀#Bellator283 is LIVE on @SHOsports. pic.twitter.com/ZBQ9xtqBZd
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) July 23, 2022
Title fight
A title fight will headline the Super Rizin 2 card. Seika Izawa will be putting her super atomweight belt on the line when she faces Claire Lopez at the Saitama Super Arena on July 30th.
Izawa won the Rizin super atomweight Grand Prix last year. She is coming off a submission win over Suwanan Boonsorn at Deep-Jewels 41 in a non title fight.
Lopez submitted Rena Kubota at Rizin Landmark 5 in April. Her reward is a shot at the undefeated champion in what will be just the French fighter’s second appearance in the Rizin ring.
💥💥決定カード💥💥#超RIZIN2 powered by #UNEXT#BellatorxRizin2
👑女子スーパーアトム級タイトルマッチ
🟥伊澤星花 @starflower2525
RIZIN女子ｽｰﾊﾟｰｱﾄﾑ級王者
ーー🆚ーー
🟦クレア・ロペス @clairelopezmma📅7/30(日)12:00開始~
🏟さいたまｽｰﾊﾟｰｱﾘｰﾅhttps://t.co/QxThrciLuK pic.twitter.com/tjC6TIJnIQ— RIZIN FF OFFICIAL (@rizin_PR) June 16, 2023
Famous brothers
Kai Asakura will be looking to recapture the Rizin bantamweight title. He has been matched with Bellator’s Juan Archuleta in a fight that will have the vacant belt on the line.
His brother will also be on the card. Mikuru Asakura will be looking for his fourth straight win when he faces Vugar Karamov who has won three in a row in a featherweight fight.
In the welterweight division UFC and ONE Championship veteran Daichi Abe will be looking for his fourth straight Rizin win. He lost his Deep welterweight title recently and faces Brazilian submission specialist Igor Tanabe in a middleweight match.
In the bantamweight division Kenta Takizawa takes on Shinobu Ota. The former is coming off losses to Naoki Inoue and Kai Asakura and will be hoping to get back to winning ways here.
Super Rizin 2, Tokyo, July 30th
Seika Izawa (c) vs. Claire Lopez (For Rizin super atomweight title)
Kai Asakura vs. Juan Archuleta (For Rizin bantamweight title)
Mikuru Asakura vs Vugar Karamov (Featherweight)
Tofiq Musayev vs. Akira Okada (Lightweight)
Daichi Abe vs. Igor Tanabe (Middleweight)
Kenta Takizawa vs. Shinobu Ota (Bantamweight)
Yuki Ito vs. Hiroya Kondo (Catchweight)
