Kai Asakura, Juan Archuleta Victorious at Rizin 42, Title Fight Targeted for July

A big knee to the body gets Kai Asakura the finish, and he will meet Juan Archuleta for the vacant Bantamweight title!

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— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) May 6, 2023

Kai Asakura and Juan Archuleta are expected to square off for the vacant Rizin Fighting Federation bantamweight crown after earning key victories on Saturday.

Asakura (20-4, 12-3 Rizin) made a statement with a third-round stoppage of Yuki Motoya in the Rizin 42 headliner at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. The Tri-Force Akasaka representative put his foe on the defensive with a knee in the clinch while the combatants were engaged near the ropes. Asakura stalked his reeling opponent and threw a couple punches before stepping in with a left knee that folded Motoya (33-10 1 NC, 10-6 Rizin) to the canvas, bringing an end to the contest at the 2:25 mark of Round 3.

Asakura has won four of his last five appearances within the Japanese promotion, while Motoya sees a five-bout winning streak snapped in defeat.

KNOCKDOWN FOR ARCHULETA IN ROUND 2!

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— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) May 6, 2023

In the co-main event, former Bellator title holder Archuleta (28-4, 2-0 Rizin) captured a three-round vedict against two-time UFC veteran Naoki Inoue (16-4, 6-2 Rizin). It was Archuleta’s third victory in a seventh-month span and second consecutive triumph under the Rizin banner. It was revealed during the event that Asakura vs. Archuleta is likely to happen in July.

After being outstruck by Inoue in the opening stanza, Archuleta got stronger as the bout progessed. He sat his adversary down with a right hand in Round 2 and ended the contest by threatening Inoue with an arm-triangle choke that might have forced a tapout were it not for the final bell.

YA-MAN gets the finish against Kota Miura!

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— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) May 6, 2023

In other action: reigning lightweight champion Roberto Satoshi de Souza (15-2, 8-2 Rizin) earned a unanimous verdict against Spike Carlyle (14-5, 1-1 Rizin) in a non-title bout; Ren Sugiyama (1-0, 1-0 Rizin) knocked out Kota Miura (2-1, 2-1 Rizin) with a knee and punches at the 3:13 mark of Round 1 in a featherweight tilt; former UFC flyweight contender John Dodson (24-13, 2-0 Rizin) outpointed Tatsuki Saomoto (18-3, 4-1 Rizin) at flyweight; Kazumasa Majima (15-4, 1-3 Rizin) used a shoulder choke to secure a technical submission victory over Takahiro Ashida (24-13-2, 2-3 Rizin) at featherweight; Yuta Sasaki (24-10-2, 3-4 Rizin) took a three-round verdict against Boyd Allen (16-6-1, 0-2 Rizin) at featherweight; Viktor Kolesnik (24-4-1, 1-0 Rizin) scored a leg-kick TKO against Atsushi Kishimoto (9-7-2, 1-1 Rizin) 2:57 into the second frame at lightweight; Erson Yamamoto (4-5, 3-5 Rizin) defeated Yuki Ito (13-5, 3-1 Rizin) via unanimous decision at flyweight; Takeji Yokoyama (5-0, 1-0 Rizin) submitted Takyua Yamamoto (8-3-1, 0-2 Rizin) with an armbar at the 1:24 mark of Round 1 and Ramazan Temirov (14-2-1, 1-0 Rizin) stopped Yuta Hamamoto (5-3, 0-1 Rizin) with punches 4:06 into the opening stanza of a 127-pound catchweight affair.