Ashizawa Outclasses Tanaka, Karamov Submits Horie at Rizin 41

Ashizawa is in the flow..

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Ryusei Ashizawa and Koji Tanaka put on a show in their bantamweight kickboxing clash at Rizin Fighting Federation 41 on Saturday.

“Kouzi” displayed some traditional offense with his punches in the Rizin 41 headliner at Maruzen Intec Arena Osaka in Osaka, Japan, keeping the center of the ring for the majority of the bout. In turn, Ashizawa was lighter on the feet and attacked from unorthodox angles, mixing kicks, spinning-back strikes and knees to the body. The pair went toe-to-toe for three rounds, with Ashizawa having plenty of success with his knees, forcing Tanaka to lower his guard and expose himself to his opponent’s punches. Ashizawa’s attacks were particularly effective in the third frame, where he showcased the variety of his striking skills. While Tanaka survived to hear the final bell, he ended the fight with a cut on his right eye. When the dust settled, the cage announcer appointed Ashizawa as the winner via split decision, as one of the ringside judges scored the clash in favor of Tanaka.

Vugar gets the tap, and makes his intentions clear on what he wants next!

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In the main mixed martial arts attraction, Vugar Karamov imposed his will over Yoshinori Horie in a featherweight tilt. Karamov (18-4, 4-1 Rizin) effortlessly switched between striking and grappling in the opening frame, keeping Horie (12-4, 3-1 Rizin) on his toes with his varied arsenal. The Azerbaijani fighter scored a perfectly-timed counterpunch that dropped his foe in the final seconds of the opening round, nearly finishing Horie in the process. Karamov heavily relied on his wrestling in the second frame, but Horie was able to resist his foe’s attacks. A successful double-leg takedown from Karamov was the turning point of the fight, as it eventually led to him taking Horie’s back. Once in the favorable position, Karamov sunk in a rear-naked choke attempt tight enough to force Horie to tap at the 3:21 mark of Round 2. Karamov celebrated his fourth promotional victory by asking for a shot at the 145-pound championship.

K-Taro Nakamura settles the welterweight debate in the 2nd round with an outstanding KO!

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Elsewhere, 170-pounder Keita Nakamura (36-11-2, 1 NC; 2-0 Rizin) crushed Kiichi Kunimoto (20-10-2, 1 NC; 3-2 Rizin) with a soccer kick-punches combination 49 seconds out of the gate in Round 2; and flyweight Makoto Takahashi (16-1-1, 3-0 Rizin) submitted Daichi Kitakata (20-12-1, 2 NC; 1-2 Rizin) via arm-triangle choke at 1:17 of the second period.

Before the intermission, Kyohei Hagiwara (7-7, 6-5 Rizin) upended Kyle Aguon (14-12, 1-4 Rizin) on all scorecards at the end of a hard-fought 145-pound clash; Koichi Ishizuka (19-5-1, 1-0 Rizin) edged Yuto Hokamura (14-13-2, 2-5 Rizin) thanks to a narrow split decision at bantamweight; 155-pounder Kyung Pyo Kim (12-4, 1-0 Rizin) forced Sho Patrick Usami (6-2, 2-1 Rizin) to tap with a rear-naked choke at 3:33 of Round 1; Mehman Mamedov (6-6, 1 NC; 1-1 Rizin) stopped Yusaku Nakamura (17-10-1, 5-5 Rizin) with punches 23 seconds out of the gate in their 125-pound tilt; in a bantamweight kickboxing clash, Shun Onishi (2-0 Rizin) crushed Motoki (0-2 Rizin) in Round 1; and Sota Kimura (1-0 Rizin) stopped Shingeki no Yuki (0-1 Rizin) in the third fame of their 147-pound kickboxing bout.