Danny Sabatello wins title, Seika Izawa stays undefeated at RIZIN NYE show
Danny Sabatello and Saika Izawa had to dig deep to come out victorious in their respective title bouts on RIZIN Shiwasu no Cho Tsuwamono Matsuri, the promotion’s traditional New Year’s Eve show Wednesday in Saitama, Japan.
Ahead of the event, Sabatello boasted he will defend the RIZIN bantamweight title 87 times should he win it, and the first part is accomplished as he became the bantamweight champion with a split decision victory over Naoki Inoue.
Inoue had a better start in the fight as he landed jabs and leg kicks that rocked Sabatello and had him off balance. Sabatello decided to go for a takedown and worked to take the back, a situation Inoue couldn’t escape. Sabatello slammed the champion head-first on the ground, but Inoue reversed beautifully to get to top control. The non-strop scramble on the ground ended as Inoue returned to his feet with Sabatello glued to his back, and they exchanged positions before the round ended.
Round 2 began with Inoue kicked driving more jabs into the face of the challenger, and Sabatello again shot for a takedown. The longtime Bellator contender took Inoue’s back and landed short punches to score points before going for a rear-naked choke, but Inoue again escaped and reversed to top position. It was then Inoue’s turn to land punches and knees to the head before taking Sabatello’s back and working from there for the remainder of the round.
Sabatello came out more aggressive in the final round with wild strikes instead of shooting immediately, but eventually used his wrestling for a takedown and attacked with an anaconda choke. Inoue escaped once again, but Sabatello slammed him back on the ground. They scrambled for positions with half a round left, and Sabatello landed a good elbow when they separated from a clinch on the feet. Back to the ground, Sabatello unleashed a violent attack with ground-and-pound, soccer kicks, and flying stomps for a strong end to the match.
They went the distance, and two of the three judges scored the close match in favor of Sabatello, the new RIZIN bantamweight champion.
“Japan, this is the best day of my life,” Sabatello said after the victory. “Thank you all for being part of this historical event. You guys are the absolute best. This is a historical night and its only going to get better.”
The outspoken fighter wasted no time pointing at the man he wants first as challenger in RIZIN, too.
“Ryuya Fukuda is a bitch,” Sabatello said.
Fukuda, a former title challenger in RIZIN, fought earlier on the card and knocked out Tatsuya Ando to rebound from a loss to Inoue in July.
The first title match of the night was one of the most anticipated bouts for the local crowd as Japanese greats Seika Izawa and Rena Kubota competed for the super atomweight belt. The champion Izawa, 17-0 going into the event, had to dig deep to retain her title.
Kubota declined to touch gloves before the match began and knocked Izawa down with with a perfect left hook early in the fight. She immediately went the ground-and-pound, but then opted to stay standing and chop at Izawa’s legs instead. Izawa got back to her feet and shot for a takedown, putting Kubota on her back and threatening with armbars while landing hard punches to her head. Izawa had a rear-naked choke locked in but time ran out.
The champion wasted no time on the feet in Round 2, taking Kubota down in a matter of seconds, and attacked with a guillotine choke from north-south position. Kubota tried to defend, but it was only a matter of time until Izawa adjusted her position and forced the tap.
Check the complete RIZIN Shiwasu no Cho Tsuwamono Matsuri results below.
- Razhabali Shaidulloev def. Mikuru Asakura via KO — Round 1, 2:54
- Ilhom Nazimov def. Roberto Satoshi via KO — Round 1, 0:13
- Hiromasa Ougikubo vs. Yuki Motoya via unanimous decision
- Danny Sabatello def. Naoki Inoue via split decision
- Seika Izawa def. Rena Kubota via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 2, 1:58
- Kleber Koike def. Vugar Karamov via unanimous decision
- Ryuya Fukuda def. Tatsuya Ando via KO — Round 2, 3:02
- Kyoma Akimoto def. Suguru Nii via KO — Round 1, 3:44
- Karshyga Dautbek vs. Yuta Kubo ends in no contest (eye poke) — Round 1, 3:15
- Makoto Takahashi def. Hiroya Kondo via unanimous decision
- Joji Goto def. Jose Torres via split decision
- Tatsuki Shinotsuka def. Daichi Tomizawa via KO — Round 2, 3:22
- Tatsuya Saika def. Noah Bey via KO — Round 2, 0:32
- Ryoma Shishimoto def. Ryusei Ashizawa via submission (armbar) — Round 1, 0:25
- Enzo Massami Iamazato def. Yuri Suda via submission (armbar) — Round 1, 3:15
Category: General Sports
