The ongoing Floyd Mayweather saga has somewhat overshadowed the rest of the Rizin 14 card. But, regardless of whether the boxer puts in some sort of appearance or not, there will be actual fights at the Saitama Super Arena on December 31st with two of them announced today.
Kanna Asakura (13-2), who won the Rizin atomweight Grand Prix last year, will put her eight fight winning streak on the line against Ayaka Hamasaki (16-2). The former has held the Invicta FC atomweight title and is 15 years older than her opponent with this bout pitting two of the best fighters in the division’s history together.
In Japan the MMA community is still reeling from the news of Kid Yamamoto’s death. In this context it is fitting that his nephew should feature on one of the biggest cards of the year with Erson Yamamoto (2-3) set to face seasoned veteran Kazuyuki Miyata (15-9) in a featherweight fight.
This will be the retirement fight for Miyata. The 41 year old K-1 and Dream veteran has faced a who’s who of Japanese opponents including Tatsuya Kawajiri, Hiroyuki Takaya, Caol Uno, Norifumi Yamamoto and Genki Sudo but will be calling time on his career after this bout.
Miyata faced Kid Yamamoto at a K-1 Hero’s card in 2006 and was stopped by a flying knee just four seconds into the opening round. Twelve years later ‘Little Hercules’ has been matched with Yamamoto’s nephew and the significance of this piece of MMA history will be lost on no-one at the Saitama Super Arena.
Rizin FF 14, Tokyo, December 31st
Boxing exhibition: Tenshin Nasukawa vs Floyd Mayweather (Openweight)
Kanna Asakura vs Ayaka Hamasaki (Atomweight)
Kazuyuki Miyata vs Erson Yamamoto (Featherweight)
