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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

RIZIN closed the year with a night of wild finishes in Saitama, Japan, and crowned Kyoji Horiguchi its first-ever flyweight champion, defeating Makoto Shinryu in a rematch in the main event of RIZIN 45 at the Saitama Super Arena.

The first bout between the two took place in July and ended in just 25 seconds when an accidental eye-poked resulted in a no-contest. This time, Horiguchi and Shinryu put on a wild contest for as long as it lasted.

The fast-paced opening round had multiple submission attempts for both sides but the finish came in the second stanza, when Horiguchi took the back and landed punches to open space for a rear-naked choke.

Kai Asakura was crowned the bantamweight champion by flooring Juan Archuleta with a vicious knee to the body in the co-main event.

Archuleta missed weight for RIZIN 45 and was in no position to win the match — a victory would be automatically overturned to a no-contest — but he still went for a wild brawl in round one, receiving an yellow card for landing punches after the bell.

Asakura and Archuleta returned to round two looking for blood, and the Japanese talent hit with a strike to the body for the victory and reclaim the belt.

The second-to-last match of the card had former champions Kleber Koike and Yutaka Saito clashing for a better position in the featherweight rankings, and Saito fought a smart strategy in the first couple of rounds but decided to shoot for a takedown in the third, allowing Koike to secure a guillotine choke and put him unconscious.

In the early portion of the show, former RIZIN bantamweight champion Hiromasa Ougikubo rebounded from a three-fight skid against Archuleta, Horiguchi and Soo Chul Kim with a unanimous decision victory over former UFC contender John Dodson in a flyweight match-up.

Pound-for-pound great Seika Izawa retired 49-year-old Miyuu Yamamoto with a rear-naked choke finish, extending her MMA record to a perfect 12-0, seven of those under the RIZIN banner.

Mikio Ueda kept the action going with a head kick KO of heavyweight Tsuyoshi Sudario, plus Shinobu Ota and Igor Tanabe securing slick submissions. Watch the finishes, and check the complete RIZIN 45 results below.

Main card

Kyoji Horiguchi def. Makoto Shinryu via submission (rear-naked choke) — Round 2, 3:44
Kai Asakura def. Juan Archuleta via TKO — Round 2, 3:20
Kleber Koike def. Yutaka Saito via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 3, 1:21
Ren Hiramoto def. Ya-Man via unanimous decision
Seika Izawa def. Miyuu Yamamoto via submission (rear-naked choke) — Round 2, 0:37
Mikio Ueda def. Tsuyoshi Sudario via TKO — Round 2, 0:55
Hiromasa Ougikubo def. John Dodson via unanimous decision
Vince Morales def. Yuki Motoya via unanimous decision
Shinobu Ota def. Ryusei Ashizawa via TKO — Round 1, 2:21
Kouzi def. Kota Miura via TKO — Round 2, 0:59
Igor Tanabe def. Shinsho Anzai via submission (rear-naked choke) — Round 1, 1:32
Hiroya Kondo def. Jo Arai via TKO — Round 2, 2:53
Yuta Kubo def. Rukiya Anpo via submission (rear-naked choke) — Round 1, 4:28

Preliminary Card

Suguru Nii def. Satoshi Yamasu via KO — Round 2, 1:03
Tatsuki Shinotsuka def. Daichi Tomizawa via unanimous decision — kickboxing
Ryujin Nasukawa def. Jongmin Shin via TKO — Round 2, 2:16
Joe Hiramoto def. Yushi Sakura via unanimous decision

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USA Boxing announced that it will begin accepting transgender athletes to the sport.

According to a new ‘Transgender Policy‘ written in August 2022 and to be officially implemented on January 1, 2024, transgender boxers will undergo consistent testing and be required to meet a series of conditions to become and remain eligible. In one example, a biological man who identifies as a transgender woman must have undergone gender reassignment surgery and have a testosterone reading of fewer than five nanomoles per liter for two years prior and through competitions.

Conversely, a biological woman who identifies as a transgender man must also be post-op and have a testosterone level of higher than ten nmol/L for two years prior and through competitions.

Any transgender boxer who is found in violation of the policy will be suspended from competing for one year.

However, boxers under 18 must compete in the category aligned with their biological sex. Still, adult boxers can switch to the category of their preferred gender, so long that they meet the requirements.

“The purpose of this policy is to provide fairness and safety for all boxers,” the organization told the Daily Mail in announcing the new rule.

USA Boxing Will Likely Stand alone in its decision

USA Boxing’s decision will certainly spark some backlash, particularly as multiple international organizations, including the World Boxing Council, have sought to establish a separate category specifically for trans athletes to compete.

“It is the time to do this, and we are doing this because of safety and inclusion,” WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman told Telegraph. “We have been the leaders in rules for women’s boxing — so the dangers of a man fighting a woman will never happen because of what we are going to put in place.”

Sulaiman added that trans entrants identifying as women have overwhelming male physical advantages and thus, should not be allowed to compete against cisgender women.

“In boxing, a man fighting a woman must never be accepted regardless of gender change,” he said. “There should be no gray area around this, and we want to go into it with transparency and the correct decisions. Woman to man or man to woman transgender change will never be allowed to fight a different gender by birth.”

Popular female boxer and former IBF bantamweight world champion Ebanie ‘Blonde Bomber’ Bridges pulled no punches in her take on the controversial ruling, saying:

I wonder if these people in USA boxing who agreed to this were women who have sparred a man the same size as them that’s not held back on them and felt the difference in speed and power and punch resistance…. And that’s with big gloves and head gear.. I f*cken doubt it prob a bunch of c*nuts who’ve not even boxed lol

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Doubt
| BJPenn.com

RIZIN Fighting Federation’s New Year’s Eve fight card is off and running … and it’s been violent.

Satoshi Yamasu was on the wrong end of a brutal second-round knockout tonight (Sat., Dec. 30, 2023) when Suguru Nii landed an overhand right that shut Yamasu’s light off immediately from inside the famous Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Check out the brutal knockout below.

The first round between the featherweights was competitive, with Yamasu getting the better of the exchanges. Yamasu was constantly chopping Nii’s leg down with great success, but it was a naked leg kick that ultimately led to him getting knocked unconscious.

Nii (17-12) is riding a five-fight win streak with five finishes since he suffered a three-fight skid.

Yamasu (13-8) has now dropped two straight and is 2-4 in his past six fights and will look to snap the dreaded losing streak like he has in the past.

RIZIN 45 is headlined by former UFC and Bellator fighter Kyoji Horiguchi and Makoto Shinryu in a rematch for the inaugural RIZIN Flyweight championship. The pair of fighters fought back in July at Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN 2, but the fight lasted 25 seconds due to an accidental eye poke, and it was deemed a no-contest.

Keep it locked at MMAMania.com for more RIZIN 45 highlights.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Undefeated UFC featherweight contender Ilia Topuria has officially entered the Conor McGregor sweepstakes.

McGregor has been absent from the Octagon after suffering a devastating loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021. Since then, fans have been chomping at the bit to find out when the former two-division titleholder would make his long-awaited return. McGregor recently teased a big announcement for New Year’s Day, with many suspecting, or at the very least hoping, that it will pertain to his quote-unquote “greatest comeback in combat sports history.”

McGregor is still expected to fight former Bellator MMA champion ‘Iron’ Michael Chandler in 2024, but with no official announcements thus far, it’s always possible that the UFC could pivot to a completely different fight for the Irishman. Of the names on that short list, Ilia Topuria is likely not one of them, but that didn’t stop the Spanish standout from shooting his shot on social media.

“Topuria vs McGregor #ufcspain,” Topuria wrote on X.

Will Ilia Topuria Dethrone ‘The Great’ in 2024?

Currently, Ilia Topuria is gearing up for his first shot at a world title as he is set to square off with reigning featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. The two 145’ers will headline UFC 298 on February 17 as the promotion returns to Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

With 14 straight victories, six of those coming under the UFC banner, ‘El Matador’ established himself as the next man in line with an impressive unanimous decision victory over former interim title challenger Josh Emmett in June.

If Topuria manages to knock off Volkanovski in impressive fashion, his chances of bagging a fight with McGregor could vastly improve. But it would be foolish of Topuria to look past one of the pound-for-pound greatest fighters in UFC history.

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