Rizin Fighting Federation’s Tokyo Dome Event Moved from May 23 to June 13

Yogibo presents #RIZIN28 and #RIZIN29 at the Tokyo Dome and Maruzen Intec Arena Hall respectively, Bantamweight Japan GP opening round confirms fight schedule, Yachi gets current SHOOTO Champion. https://t.co/YOvVSGXwSp

— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) April 25, 2021

Rizin Fighting Federation’s upcoming event scheduled for the Tokyo Dome will take place a few weeks later than originally anticipated.

Rizin CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara recently announced that the card, which was originally slated for May 23, will now take place on June 13 in hopes of allowing more fans into the venue.

“The Japanese government has declared the state of emergency in four cities starting April 25 to May 9, which will significantly affect the May 23 Tokyo Dome event. Therefore we have decided to push back the event to June 13,” Sakakibara said. “MMA will be making its return after 18 years, and we want to put in as many spectators as possible for such a historical moment. Right now we would only be able to put in 5,000 spectators, but we are hoping that by June 13, we would be able to put in 50 percent capacity, which will be about 25,000 people. Our production team is working hard to give you the best experience at the Tokyo Dome, so I hope you all stay tuned.”

As a result of the change, the numbering convention for the next two Rizin events will be a little bit confusing. The postponed card will remain Rizin 28 on June 13, while Rizin 29 will take place two weeks prior as originally scheduled on May 30.

“I know this may be confusing but since we have already started to sell tickets to both events, we will be sticking with these event numbers,” Sakakibara said. “Anybody who has already purchased tickets for Rizin 28 and cannot attend the new date, we will happily make refunds.

Both upcoming events will feature opening round matchups in the promotion’s bantamweight grand prix. The following pairings will take place at Rizin 28: Kai Asakura vs. Shooto Watanabe; Naoki Inoue vs. Shintaro Ishiwatari; Hiromasa Ougikubo vs. Takeshi Kasugai and Yuki Motoya vs. Ryo Okada. Meanwhile, four other matchups are set for Rizin 29: Yuto Hokamura vs. Kuya Ito; Takafumi Otsuka vs. Hiroki Yamashita; Kazuma Kuramoto vs. Alan Hiro Yamaniha and Kenta Takizawa vs. Masakazu Imanari.

Two new bouts were announced for Rizin 29: Yusuke Yachi vs. Yuki Kawana and Rikuto Shirakawa vs. Jin Aoi. Rizin 29 is also expected to include a one-night kickboxing tournament, with participants to be announced in the coming weeks.