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It will be a busy time in Sapporo, Japan this Saturday when RIZIN 43 takes place from the Makomanai Sekisui Heim Arena on Saturday night. Back for the first time since early May, the top Japanese MMA promotion has a lot to offer this weekend, including a title fight and many returning notable names.
Bloody Elbow will have live coverage of the entire evening of action, providing you with results, highlights, and more throughout the night and morning.
Koike loses belt one day before RIZIN 43
RIZIN 43 gained some last-minute drama on Friday, as Kleber Koike was stripped of his featherweight belt after missing weight for his main event bout against Chihiro Suzuki. The bout will proceed on Saturday and Suzuki could still earn the title if successful in his performance, but under no circumstance can Koike leave the venue this weekend with a belt still around his waist.
The featherweight title bout is just one of many bouts expected to go down on Saturday. The promotion has a lengthy 17-bout lineup set to take place, including five kickboxing bouts and 12 MMA fights.
Veteran Yusuke Yachi will make his return in the co-main event, making his first appearance of the year against Bellator alum Zach Zane. And in the bout before then, heavyweight veteran Hideki Sekine will take on Mikio Ueda.
RIZIN 43 is part of a busy Japanese combat sports week
It’s a busy week for Japanese combat sports fans. K-1 legend Takeru is making his return to action in France this weekend, and a high-profile boxing match (which coincidentally also had some weigh-in drama) between Kazuto Ioka and Joshua Franco is scheduled to take place in Tokyo as well. RIZIN 43 is certainly part of that schedule, with a lot to offer from Sapporo.
RIZIN 43’s main card will start early on Saturday morning, at 1 a.m. ET. If you want to watch the show, an English feed will be available on FITE. Viewers in Japan will be able to watch the card for free via Youtube – a rare treat offered by the promotion. However, that opportunity isn’t available if you aren’t in the country.
If you aren’t able to watch along this Saturday, we have all the results and information you need to stay in the know. And if you want an article to check on while watching along, we can be that as well! Below is a feed that will update throughout the night with results and highlight clips of the action from Japan.
Quick Results, highlights!
Main Card (1 a.m. ET / 2 p.m. JST) (FITE)
- RIZIN Featherweight Championship: Kleber Koike vs. Chihiro Suzuki via Submission (Armbar) at 2:59 in Round 1 (Koike scored a submission against Suzuki, but had a no-contest result due to Koike missing weight for the bout.)
- Lightweight: Yusuke Yachi def. Zach Zane via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 2:50 in Round 1
- Heavyweight: Mikio Ueda def. Hideki Sekine via TKO (Strikes) at 0:22 in Round 1
- Featherweight: Hiroaki Suzuki def. Taisei Nishitani via TKO (Strikes) at 0:56 in Round 1
- Bantamweight Kickboxing: Hiroki Suzuki def. Genji Umeno via KO (Flying Knee) at 2:34 in Round 2
- Catchweight 161 lbs Kickboxing: Minoru Kimura def. Daryl Lokoku via KO (Left Hook) at 1:09 in Round 1
- Featherweight: Yuta Kubo def. Takeaki Kinoshita via split decision
- Strawweight: Saori Oshima def. SALT via Submission, Armlock at 1:16 in Round 1
- Featherweight: Suguru Nii def. Tateo Iida via TKO (Strikes) at 2:32 in Round 1
- Featherweight: Tetsuya Seki def. Raiki Endo via unanimous decision
- Bantamweight: Joji Goto def. Trent Girdham via Submission (Spine Lock) at 2:34 in Round 2
- Bantamweight: Aoi Kuriyama def. Marina Kumagai via TKO, Strikes at 2:48 in Round 1
- Flyweight Kickboxing: Kensei Yamakawa def. Ryoga Hirano via TKO (Strikes) at 1:22 in Round 2
Opening Fights (11:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. JST)
- Lightweight: Toshiki Watanabe def. Kento Azumi via Submission, Kneebar (RD 1)
- Catchweight 121 lbs: Suguru Hayasaka def. Daiki Maruyama via Submission (Arm Triangle Choke) at 3:33 in Round 1
- Bantamweight Kickboxing: Aito def. Ryuya Koide via TKO (Punches) at 1:55 in Round 1
- Flyweight Kickboxing: Syouki Hoshikubo vs. Ganbare! Furukawakun via No Contest (Hoshikubo won the bout via decision, but had a no-contest result due to missing weight)
Feel free to join us in the comment section if you’re watching along. I’ll personally be adding some observations in the section as the night progresses.