An undefeated Russian light heavyweight has been added to the Rizin 17 card. Ivan Shtyrkov, who was recently released by the UFC following a potential USADA violation, has been matched with Hoon Kim.
As usual the promotion took to Twitter to announce the matchup:
Additional fight announcement for RIZIN.17
Ivan Shtyrkov vs Hoon Kim
🎟️https://t.co/nL4iEoHfYWhttps://t.co/rjUxJomZZS#rizinff pic.twitter.com/vOQW5apDVe
— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) July 4, 2019
Shtyrkov (16-0-1) signed with the UFC but never actually got to appear in the octagon. He had been scheduled to face Devin Clark at UFC on ESPN+ 7 but withdrew from the fight citing illness.
His management subsequently announced that Shtyrkov had parted ways with the UFC after testing positive for a banned substance. Meanwhile Kim (10-12-2) is a former Road FC middleweight challenger who has spent the majority of his career at 170lbs.
As previously announced Tatsuya Kawajiri faces Ali Abdulkhalikov in a lightweight bout at the Saitama Super Arena on July 28th. Meanwhile Satoru Kitaoka has been matched with Johnny Case in the same division.
The card will also feature Ulka Sasaki, Shintaro Ishiwatari, Yuki Motoya, Hiromasa Ogikubo, Mikuru Asakura, Yusuke Yachi, Vitaly Shemetov, Jake Heun, Ham Seo-Hee and Mizuke Hirota.
Rizin 17, Tokyo, July 28th
Ulka Sasaki vs. Shintaro Ishiwatari (Bantamweight)
Yuki Motoya vs. Hiromasa Ogikubo (Bantamweight)
Yusuke Yachi vs. Mikuru Asakura (Lightweight)
Jake Heun vs. Vitaly Shemetov (Heavyweight)
Ivan Shtyrkov vs. Hoon Kim (Light Heavyweight)
Ham Seo Hee vs. Tomo Maesawa (Super Atomweight)
Mizuke Hirota vs. Roberto de Souza (Lightweight)
Satoru Kitaoka vs. Johnny Case (Lightweight)
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Ali Abdulkhalikov (Lightweight)
Kickboxing: Kevin Ross vs. Daiki Watabe (Featherweight)
Kickboxing: Taiga Kawabe vs. Hikaru Machida (Bantamweight)
