Rizin Landmark, Vol. 7 Scheduled for Nov. 4 in Azerbaijan

Rizin Landmark, Vol. 7 truly earns its name, as it will mark the promotion’s first foray outside Japan.

The latest iteration of Rizin’s Landmark series is slated to go down at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan on Nov. 4. According to a press release from the promotion, the host country will be represented in five out of the 10 total fights, all set to take place after the intermission. The event will stream on pay-per-view through Fite.tv.

The five Azerbaijani fighters on the card include featherweight champ Vugar Karamov and former lightweight titleholder Tofiq Musayev, as well as Mehman Mammadov, Tural Ragimov and Nariman Abbasov, who will take on opponents from Japan, the USA, South Korea and Russia respectively. All fights will be contested under Rizin rules, which allow kicks and knees to the head of a grounded opponent.

Karamov will defend his strap in the main event of the night against Chihiro Suzuki (11-3) of Japan. Karamov dethroned Mikuru Asakura via first-round submission back in July to be crowned the new champ while also extending his winning streak to four, including three finishes.

Meanwhile, Suzuki is riding the momentum of a seven-fight unbeaten run topped off by a highlight-reel knockout win over Bellator MMA featherweight champ Patricio Freire in July. In a bout that was finalized on short notice, Suzuki knocked out “Pitbull” in the first round in arguably the greatest upset in Bellator and Rizin’s cross-promotional history.

Musayev will take on Japan’s Koji Takeda (15-5) in the co-main event. Musayev has gone 2-2 in his last four outings with all of them ending in stoppages. In his most recent fight back in July, the Azerbaijani scored a second-round knockout over Akira Okada of Japan. Meanwhile, his opponent Takeda is coming off consecutive decision losses against Gadzhi Rabadanov and Luiz Gustavo.