The year 2019 was the 5th year in the history of the

Rizin Fighting Federation Rizin Fighting Federation (Rizin FF or Rizin) is a Japanese mixed martial arts organization created in 2015 by the former Pride Fighting Championships and Dream Stage Entertainment president Nobuyuki Sakakibara. Rizin was founded to be the sp ...

, a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

promotion based in Japan. The season started with Rizin Fighting Federation in Yokohama. It started broadcasting through a television agreement with

Fuji Television JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network ...

. In North America and Europe Rizin FF is available on PPV all over the world and on

FITE TV Fite (stylized as FITE by Triller) is an American digital video streaming service launched on May 20, 2012, that is dedicated to combat sports-related programming (including boxing, mixed martial arts, and professional wrestling). The network dis ...

Background

Nobuyuki Sakakibara is a Japanese businessman and mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter. He is known for his executive role in Dream Stage Entertainment, including its promotions Pride Fighting Championships and Fighting Opera Hustle, and works as the current preside ...

announced that Rizin will do 6 events in 2019: April, June, July, August, October, and the usual December 31 show. He also announced that they will do a lightweight Grand Prix this year.

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media conglomerate Paramount Glob ...

CEO

Scott Coker Scott Coker (born October 3, 1962) is an American mixed martial artist, Taekwondoin, former movie stuntman, and combat sports promoter. He is the founder and former CEO of MMA promotion Strikeforce and the current President of Bellator MMA. Bac ...

has announced that he will be sending

Patricky Freire Patricky Freire (born January 21, 1986), known professionally by his ring name Patricky Pitbull, is a Brazilian mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist currently competing in Bellator MMA, Bellator's Lightweight (MMA), Lightweight division, wher ...

to participate in the opening round. Rizin's Lightweight grand prix will begin on October 12 at the

Osaka-jo Hall is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and it played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Layout The main tower ...

, with the four opening rounds bouts of the tournament bracket. The semifinals and finals will be held on Dec. 31, at Saitama Super Arena.

List of events

Title fights

Rizin Lightweight Grand Prix

8-Man Lightweight Grand Prix Participant

* Hiroto Uesako * Damien Brown *

Johnny Case Johnny Case (born June 28, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Lightweight division of RIZIN. A professional since 2007, he formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Professional Fighters Leagu ...

* Roberto de Souza *

Tatsuya Kawajiri is a Japanese mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division. He is a former Shooto Lightweight Champion, and has also competed in the UFC, PRIDE, DREAM, Strikeforce, ONE FC, and Rizin Fighting Federation. Kawajiri also parti ...

* Luiz Gustavo

Rizin Lightweight Grand Prix bracket

Rizin 15 - Yokohama

''Rizin 15 - Yokohama'' was a

Combat sport A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the opp ...

event held by the

on April 21, 2019 at the

Yokohama Arena is an indoor arena located in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The capacity of the arena is 17,000 and was opened in 1989. The arena was modeled after US sports venue Madison Square Garden in New York City. It is a five-minute walk from th ...

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of ...

, Japan.

Background

A light heavyweight bout between RIZIN top contender

Jiří Procházka Jiří Procházka (; ; born October 14, 1992) is a Czech mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. He was the ...

and former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion

Muhammed Lawal Oklahoma State Cowboys Central Oklahoma Bronchos Muhammed Lawal (born January 11, 1981), also known as "King Mo", is an American professional wrestler and retired mixed martial artist currently signed to Major League Wre ...

will serve as the Rizin 15 - Yokohama main event. The bout will crown the inaugural RIZIN Light Heavyweight champion.

Ulka Sasaki Ulka may refer to: * Ulka Gupta (born 1997), Indian film and television actress * Ulka Sasaki (born 1989), Japanese mixed martial artist * DRDO Ulka, Indian air-launched expendable target drone * BNS Ulka, establishment of the Bangladeshi Navy ...

has been forced to withdraw from his schedule fight against Kai Asakura due to a visceral infection and Justin Scoggins has stepped in as a replacement. Unfortunately, Scoggins has suffered a knee injury during training and has been unable to compete, that forced his fight against Kai Asakura to be cancelled. Shinju Nozawa-Auclair was supposed to face Saray Orozco. However, Nozawa-Auclair suffered an ankle injury during training and was forced to withdraw from the fight. Kanako Murata has stepped in on short notice against Orozco.

Results

Rizin 16 - Kobe

''Rizin 16 - Kobe'' was a

event held by the

on June 2, 2019 at the

World Memorial Hall or World Hall is a multi-purpose arena located in the Chūō-ku Ward of Kobe, Japan. It has a maximum capacity of 8,000 people and is optimized for large-scale meetings, sport events, trade shows and concerts. It is located on the artificial isl ...

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, w ...

, Japan.

Background

ISKA The ISKA (originally International Sport Karate Association, later also called the International Sport Kickboxing Association) is one of the major international bodies regulating sport karate and kickboxing matches, and is based in the Unite ...

Featherweight Ahmed Ferradji was scheduled to defend his title against Tenshin Nasukawa at RIZIN 16, but Ferradji withdrew from the scheduled fight. As a result, ISKA has stripped the title from Ferradji and ISKA Bantamweight Champion Martin Blanco has stepped in on short notice to face Nasukawa for the vacant ISKA Featherweight World Title. Kizaemon Saiga was scheduled to face Kunitaka Fujiwara at RIZIN 16, but was not medically cleared for the event due to vision issues. Stepping in on a few days' notice to fight Fujiwara was the former K-1 Krush champion Ryuji Horio.

Results

Rizin 17 - Saitama

''Rizin 17 - Saitama'' was a

event held by the

on July 28, 2019 at the

Saitama Super Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Chūō-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It opened preliminarily on May 5, 2000, and then was officially opened on September 1 of the same year. Its maximum spectator capacity is 36,500, making ...

in Saitama, Japan.

Background

Daiki Watabe was due to fight Kevin Ross in a kickboxing bout, but the American fighter withdrew due to a hand injury. Watabe instead faced the Bolivian fighter Hideki, who stepped in on 3 weeks notice for this encounter.

Results

Rizin 18 - Nagoya

''Rizin 18 - Nagoya'' was a

event held by the

on August 18, 2019 at the

Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium , also known as , is a multi-purpose gymnasium in Nagoya, Japan, built in 1964. Overview Located on the site of the secondary enclosure of Nagoya Castle, it is host to numerous concerts and events. The gymnasium has 4,375 fixed seats, and can ...

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most p ...

, Japan.

Background

Marcos de Souza, was set to fight at RIZIN 18, but his debut was pushed back because of an injury. Kazuma Sone was expected to face Erson Yamamoto, But plans have changed for undisclosed reasons. That forced the fight to be cancelled. Justin Scoggins has stepped in as a replacement.

Results

Rizin 19 - Osaka

''Rizin 19 - Osaka'' was a

event held by the

on October 12, 2019 at the Edion Arena in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

, Japan.

Background

Rena Kubota's original opponent, Shawna Ram suffered a concussion during training. Alexandra Alvare steps in to face Kubota. Shintaro Matsukura originally supposed to face Takuma Konishi but he suffered an eye injury. His teammate, Hiroya, will be the replacement to face Konishi.

Results

Rizin 20 - Saitama

''Rizin 20 - Saitama'' was a

event by

that took place on December 31, 2019 at the

Saitama, Japan is the capital and the most populous city of Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Its area incorporates the former cities of Urawa, Ōmiya, Yono and Iwatsuki. It is a city designated by government ordinance. Being in the Greater Tokyo Area and lyin ...

Background

Kyoji Horiguchi is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently competing in Bellator MMA and Rizin FF in the Flyweight division. He is the former bantamweight champion in both organizations. As of December 13, 2022, he is #6 in the Bellator Bantamweight Ranking ...

was scheduled to defend his RIZIN Bantamweight Championship against Kai Asakura on this card. However, Horoguchi pulled out of the fight in mid-November citing a knee injury that is expected to keep him out of action for approximately 10 – 12 months. In turn, his bantamweight title has been vacated.

Results

References

External links

Official event

{{2019 in mixed martial arts Rizin Fighting Federation 2019 in mixed martial arts 2019 in Japanese sport 2019 sport-related lists