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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Kai Asakura has a new place to call home after announcing during Sunday’s RIZIN 47 card in Tokyo he has vacated the RIZIN 135-pound title to join the UFC. The two-time RIZIN champion went 13-3 under the company’s banner and leaves to the UFC after winning back-to-back bouts over Yuki Motoya and Juan Archuleta, regaining his belt in December 2023.

The UFC has yet to officially announce the signing and a date and opponent for Asakura’s octagon debut.

“I am giving up my belt and going to the UFC,” Asakura said. “I think there will be an announcement form the UFC soon, but it’s official that I’m going. This should be exciting news, but right now I feel very lonely. I believe that thanks to RIZIN, I who was originally no one, was recognized as a fighter, a martial artist, a man. And last year, on New Years’ Eve, it was Mr. Sakakibara who accepted my selfish request to go to the UFC without a single defense. I would like to thank Mr. Sakakibara from the bottom of my heart for his support. Thank you very much.”

Asakura has also defeated the likes of Kyoji Horiguchi, Manel Kape and Ulka Sasaki inside the RIZIN ring since joining the company in 2017.“There’s a regret that I lost three main games in a row on New Years’ Eve, but I also became a champion twice,” Asakura said. “I love RIZIN and its fans. I will definitely become a champion at UFC and I will bring fans from all over the world with me, so make sure to look forward to it. I hope you will continue to support me.”

Watch Asakura’s speech below.

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Saturday’s UFC event in Louisville, Kentucky was headlined by a middleweight bout between fourth-ranked Jared Cannonier and seventh-ranked Nassourdine Imavov.  

Cannonier entered the fight riding a two-fight win streak.  After losing to Israel Adesanya for the 185-pound championship at UFC 276 in July 2022, Cannonier rebounded with wins over Sean Strickland and Marvin Vettori.  He was looking to extend his winning streak at the Yum! Center against Imavov.  

Imavov made the walk to the octagon coming off a close decision win over Roman Dolidze and looking to pick up the biggest win over his career.  

Cannonier landed to the body with a right hand after missing with a combination.  Imavov connected with a counter left off a leg kick by Cannonier.  Imavov landed a right hand and the two cliched.  Cannonier tripped Imavov to the canvas.  Imavov got back to his feet and the two separated.  Cannonier targeted Imavov’s leg with a kick followed by another one.  Imavov responded with a leg kick.  Cannonier backed Imavov up with a combination.  

With two minutes remaining in the first round, Imavov caught a leg kick and took Cannonier down.  Cannonier got back to his feet and the two clinched.  Cannonier remained in the clinch perhaps to slow Imavov down a bit.  Imavov defended a takedown attempt.  The round ended with the two in the clinch along the cage.  MMAWeekly scored the round 10-9 for Cannonier.  

Cannonier delivered a leg kick to start the second frame.  Imavov responded with a jab.  Cannonier continued to invest in leg kicks.  Cannonier connected and quickly changed levels looking to get the fight to the ground.  He pressed Imavov against the cage but backed away.  At distance, the two exchanged jabs and Cannonier clinched.  Imavov landed a right hand and began to pressure Cannonier.  Cannonier initiated the clinch and the two worked for position along the cage.  Imavov landed an elbow and a right hand as the round ended.  MMAWeekly scored the round 10-9 for Imavov.  

Cannonier began the third round with a clean right hand.  He went to the body with a right hand.  Imavov clinched after absorbing a right hand.  He drug Cannonier to the canvas but Cannonier quickly got back to his feet.  Cannonier reversed the position along the cage.  Imavov turned Cannonier and the two separated.  Cannonier delivered a hard leg kick that buckled Imavov’s leg.  He clinched and pressed Imavov against the fence before backing away.  Cannonier sprang forward with a right hand.  Imavov’s jab forced Cannonier to clinch.  They separated with seconds remaining.  MMAWeekly scored the round 10-9 for Cannonier.  

Cannonier landed a left hand to start the fourth.  He connected with a back elbow and Imavov tied him up.  The separated and Imavov landed a right hand that staggered Cannonier.  He landed another right hand.  Cannonier is in big trouble.  Imavov delivered a knee.  Cannonier fired back and the referee stopped the fight.  It was a terrible stoppage.  Cannonier was on his feet with his hands up and intelligently defending himself.  

The official time of the stoppage was 1:34 of the fourth round.  

I mean, this is really awful. Watching live, I thought Cannonier lost a mouthpiece or something. He was robbed here. I’d love to understand why Herzog, who is typically solid, made this call. One of the worst in recent memory. https://t.co/WxvbM19l75

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) June 9, 2024

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Nassourdine Imavov scored the biggest win of his career in the UFC Louisville main event but not without some controversy along the way.

Of course none of that was his fault but Imavov appeared that he was cruising towards a knockout over Jared Cannonier when referee Jason Herzog stepped between the fighters and stopped the action at 1:34 in the fourth round. The end came after Imavov cracked Cannonier with a devastating right hand that put the one-time title challenger on wobbly legs.

Imavov followed up with a calculated combination while being careful not to let Cannonier catch him with something huge while he was wounded but still dangerous. As the offensive onslaught continued, Cannonier was turning his back and trying to find some breathing room but he was still very much conscious and on his feet yet Herzog felt like he saw enough to stop the contest.

The crowd at the KFC Yum! Center was none too happy with the decision but Imavov felt like Herzog was only doing his job.

“I was ready to continue the fight if the fight was willing to continue,” Imavov said after the win. “The referee, that’s his job, that’s what he does on a daily basis. So I think he did the right decision but I was ready to keep going if that was the decision.”

Prior to the questionable stoppage, the middleweights had gone back and forth through the first three rounds with some very close moments during the fight.

Cannonier came out head hunting in the opening round but he also turned to the clinch to slow down Imavov, who showed good speed in the early exchanges. The middleweights were definitely willing to trade fire on the feet with Imavov catching Cannonier with a slick 1-2 combination and then the one-time title challenger hammering him right back with a pair of stiff punches of his own.

While Cannonier was doing a good job inflicting damage on the feet, he kept returning to his clinch to grind on Imavov and possibly wear him down during a five-round fight. When he finally broke free, Imavov snapped off some of his best punches with a slick combination that had Cannonier backing up.

As the fight continued, Imavov started finding a consistent home for a stinging right hand that kept tagging Cannonier on the chin. In return, Cannonier exploded forward with big, heavy shots that forced Imavov to stay wary from overextending himself in those exchanges.

The right hand truly paid off in that fourth round when Imavov stunned Cannonier with the well-timed counter shot that set up the finish. Imavov said afterward that he actually identified that tendency in Cannonier’s game, which exploited during the fight.

“I knew what I was doing,” Imavov said. “I have a lot of experience fighting five round fights. I knew I wanted to pace myself. The goal was to accelerate during the fight in order to finish him at one point.

“We worked a lot on that [right hand] with the team. We worked a lot on this hole in the game in order to counter it.”

It certainly appeared like Imavov was going to get Cannonier out of there but it was unfortunate timing that Herzog stopped the fight rather than allowing the France based fighter to continue his assault to leave no question. Either way, Imavov got a huge win to add to his resume as he becomes the first middleweight to earn a finish over Cannonier and now he’s gunning for a rematch with a former champion.

“My goal is to get the belt,” Imavov said. “I’d like to fight Sean Strickland in Paris. So Sean Strickland, if you want to do it, come to Paris and we’re going to fight together.”

Their first encounter actually took place at light heavyweight with Strickland earning a unanimous decision win back in January 2023. Imavov would obviously like to run it back but it remains to be seen if Strickland has any interest in answering that call.

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Bonus Report
| BJPenn.com

UFC

Kai Asakura is a Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter.

Late Saturday night (June 8, 2024), during the RIZIN 47 broadcast, former PRIDE head honcho and current RIZIN President Nobuyuki Sakakibara announced that his Bantamweight champion, Asakura, has relinquished his title and will be departing for UFC.

MMAMania.com can confirm that UFC is looking for a top-five matchup for the Japanese fighter.

Asakura, 30, had an incredible career in RIZIN, going 13-3 and winning the Bantamweight championship twice. The Japanese fighter has a 76% finish rate with 13 knockouts. He has knockout wins over Bellator fighters Kyoji Horiguchi and Juan Archuleta. He holds a victory over current UFC Flyweight title contender Manel Kape.

His three RIZIN losses were to Horiguchi, Kape, and Hiromasa Ougikubo.

Asakura’s addition to UFC’s Bantamweight division is huge and opens up many fun matchups.

UFC has lacked Japanese fighters in its promotion for several years (except for Tatsuro Taira, who will headline UFC Vegas 93 next week), so Asakura is much needed.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Ryan Garcia continues to make headlines for the wrong reasons.

On Saturday, Garcia was arrested for felony vandalism at the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills, CA, per a report by TMZ Sports, which included a video of Garcia being escorted out of the hotel by police and put in a squad car.

This is just the latest incident in a year that has been fraught with controversy for Garcia. Prior to his April boxing match with Devin Haney, Garcia seemingly courted trouble, claiming he was kidnapped by the Illuminati, claiming he has proof aliens exist, accusing Haney of working with Victor Conte for performance-enhancing drugs, and then missing weight for his fight. The situation escalated to the point that the New York State Athletic Commission even requested a mental health evaluation.

Garcia then went on to upset Haney, scoring three knockdowns in the fight, and “King” quickly claimed that all the pre-fight hoopla was an act to mess with Haney. But in May it was revealed that Garcia tested positive for the banned substance ostarine in his fight-related drug tests, with his B-sample confirming the positive test, though he and his team deny any intentional wrongdoing.

In California, any act of vandalism that results in $ 400 or more of damage can be charged as a felony and is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine of not more than $ 10,000.

The 25-year-old is 25-1 in his boxing career and previously held the WBC interim lightweight title from 2021 to 2023.

Update from TMZ: Garcia’s attorney, Darin Chavez, tells us … “[Ryan] was taken by the BHPD to a local hospital for evaluation and treatment and to our knowledge, may be charged with public intoxication.”

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