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mixed martial arts, MMA, Rizin FF

RIZIN FIGHTING FEDERATION WORLD GRAND PRIX 2017

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Joe Ferraro & Frank Trigg named RIZIN FF World Grand Prix 2017
PPV announcers
Dec. 29 & 31 LIVE on PPV from Japan
NEW YORK CITY(December 14, 2017) – Veteran “Showdown” Joe Ferraro and former MMA fighter John Trigg have been named announcers for RIZIN Fighting Federation World Grand Prix twin shows, highlighted by the return of combat sports superstar Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic,  December 29 & 31, airing live on pay-per-view from Saitama City, Japan.
The Dec. 29 and 31 (1 a.m. /10 p.m. PT start) will be live-streamed worldwide (excluding Japan on the FITE.TV platforms for $19.99 or the two-day RIZIN Pack special offer for only $29.99. Fans may simply download the FITE app – free to download from iTunes and Google Play – and then cast the fight to the big screen by using the instant stream-to-TV function. The FITE app works with any Wi-Fi connected television around the world, iOS and Android devices, as well as streaming devices such as Roku, Chromecast and more. Fans may also watch the fights live on the FITE website atwww.fite.tv from any computer.
Integrated Sports Media will distribute via cable and satellite PPV on New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31 –5:00 a.m. ET / 2:00 a.m. PT start) extravaganza live in North America via iN Demand, Vubiquity, and DISH in the U.S., as well as on SaskTel and Telus in Canada, for a suggested retail price of only $19.95.
Ferraro will handle blow-by-blow responsibilities, while Trigg serves as color commentator. Ferraro has called multiple RIZIN events leading up to the conclusion of its World Grand Prix. Trigg, who is working this RIZIN twin-bill the same month as he made his debut as a UFC referee, was a popular fighter at the highest level of international competition, UFC and PRIDE.
The Dec. 29th winners of the men’s bantamweight quarterfinals will advance to the Dec. 31stwomen’s super-atomweight and kickboxing semifinals and then later in the finals. The Special Added Attraction on that card is a light heavyweight clash between Jiri “Denisa” Prochazka(19-3-0, 16 KO/TKO, 2 SUB), Czech Republic and. Karl Albrelktsson (6-1-0, 2 KO/TKOs, 3 SUB), Sweden.
The finals of the RIZIN World-Grand Prix kickboxing, women’s super-atomweight and men’s bantamweight championships will be preceded by three entertaining matches. Croatian heavyweight “Cro Cop” Filipovic (35-11-0, 27 KO/TKO, 5 SUB) takes on Japanese favorite Tsuyoshi Kosaka (27-19-2, 8 KO/TKO, 6 SUB) in a Special Added Attraction on the Dec. 31stcard. Also, the long-awaited return of Japanese lightweight Takanori “The Fireball Kid” Gomi(18-6-0, 13 KO/TKO, 6 SUB) will be showcased in his throw-down with fellow countryman Yusuke Yachi (18-6-0, 5 KO/TKO, 1 SUB). A women’s match between American flyweights Shinju “Juju” Auclair (1-0-0, 1 SUB) and pro-debuting Chelsea LaGrasse is also on tap.
A special one-day kickboxing tournament will be held Dec. 31st between Japan’s Kazuyuki Fujita and Mitsuhisa Sunabe and undefeated knockout artist (20-0, 16 KOs) Tenshine Nasukawa vs. TBA with the winners facing off in the championship round on the card’s championship final.
All fights and fighters are subject to change.
INFORMATION:
Twitter: @FiteTV, @IntegratedPPV
mixed martial arts, MMA, Rizin FF

RIZIN FIGHTING FEDERATION WORLD GRAND PRIX 2017

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RIZIN Fighting Federation
World Grand Prix 2017 action to close 2017 MMA season
 
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic & Takanori “The Fireball Kid” Gomi return New Year’s Eve
Dec. 29 & 31 LIVE on PPV from Japan
NEW YORK CITY (December 11, 2017) —International mixed-martial-arts and kickboxing fans can close out the 2017 season in grand style, viewing double-barreled RIZIN Fighting Federation World Grand Prix action, highlighted by the return of combat sports superstar Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic,December 29 & 31, airing live on pay-per-view from Saitama City, Japan.
The Dec. 29th winners of the men’s bantamweight quarterfinals will advance to the Dec. 31st women’s super-atomweight and kickboxing semifinals and then later in the finals (see below).
The Special Added Attraction on the Dec. 29thcard is a light heavyweight match between Jiri “Denisa” Prochazka (19-3-0, 16 KO/TKO, 2 SUB), Czech Republic vs. Karl Albrelktsson(6-1-0, 2 KO/TKOs, 3 SUB), Sweden.
The Dec. 29 and 31 (1 a.m. /10 p.m. PT start) will be live-streamed worldwide (excluding Japan on the FITE.TV platforms for $19.99 or the two-day RIZIN Pack special offer for only $29.99. Fans may simply download the FITE app – free to download from iTunes and Google Play – and then cast the fight to the big screen by using the instant stream-to-TV function. The FITE app works with any Wi-Fi connected television around the world, iOS and Android devices, as well as streaming devices such as Roku, Chromecast and more. Fans may also watch the fights live on the FITE website at www.fite.tv from any computer.
Integrated Sports Media will distribute via cable and satellite PPV on New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31 –5:00 a.m. ET / 2:00 a.m. PT start) extravaganza live in North America via iN Demand, Vubiquity, and DISH in the U.S., as well as on SaskTel and Telus in Canada, for a suggested retail price of only $19.95.
“We’re excited to close the year with two entertaining events, RIZIN World Grand Prix 2017, plus the return of international MMA stars Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Takanori “The Fireball Kid” Gomi,” said Flipps Media Co-founder and CEO, Kosta Jordanov. “These events will cap of our very successful combat sports programming in 2017.”
“We’re happy to bring this New Year’s Eve event from Japan, featuring ‘Cro Cop’ and the RIZIN World Grand Prix finals to American and Canadian combat sports fans,” Integrated Sports Media president Doug Jacobs remarked. “This is a rare opportunity for North American MMA and kickboxing fans to watch some of the best international fighters.”
The finals of the RIZIN World-Grand Prix kickboxing, women’s super-atomweight and men’s bantamweight championships will be preceded by three entertaining matches. Croatian heavyweight “Cro Cop” Filipovic (35-11-0, 27 KO/TKO, 5 SUB) takes on Japanese favoriteTsuyoshi Kosaka (27-19-2, 8 KO/TKO, 6 SUB) in a Special Added Attraction on the Dec. 31stcard. Also, the long-awaited return of Japanese lightweight Takanori “The Fireball Kid” Gomi(18-6-0, 13 KO/TKO, 6 SUB) will be showcased in his throw-down with fellow countrymanYusuke Yachi (18-6-0, 5 KO/TKO, 1 SUB). A women’s match between American flyweights Shinju “Juju” Auclair (1-0-0, 1 SUB) and pro-debuting Chelsea LaGrasse is also on tap.
A special one-day kickboxing tournament will be held Dec. 31st between Japan’s Kazuyuki Fujita and Mitsuhisa Sunabe and undefeated knockout artist (20-0, 16 KOs) Tenshine Nasukawa vs. TBA with the winners facing off in the championship round on the card’s championship final.
All fights and fighters are subject to change.
 
RIZIN WORLD GRAND PRIX MATCHES
Men’s Bantamweights
Ian “Uncle Creepy” McCall (13-5-0), USA vs. Manel Kape (8-1-0), Angola
Kyoaji Horiiguchi (20-2-0), Japan vs. Gabriel Oliveira (10-0-0), Brazil
Takafumi Otsuka (23-13-0), Japan vs. Khalid Tahna (11-0-0), Germany
Shintaro Ishiwatari (23-6-0), Japan vs. Kevin “The Macine Gun” Petshi (12-3-0), France
Women’s Super-Atomweights
Rena Kubota (5-0-0), Japan vs. Irene “La Nina” Rivera (7-4-0), Spain
Kanna Asakura (9-2-0), Japan vs. Maria Oliveira (10-2-0), Brazil
Kickboxing
Yamato Fujita, Japan vs. Mitsushisa Sunabe, Japan
Tenshin Nasuikawa, Japan vs. TBA
INFORMATION:
Twitter: @FiteTV, @IntegratedPPV
mixed martial arts, MMA, Rizin FF

RIZIN FF ANNOUNCES THE RETURN OF KAZUYUKI FUJITA; WILL FACE NEW YEAR’S EVE GRAND PRIX TOURNAMENT RUNNER-UP JIRI PROCHAZKA IN NAGOYA, JAPAN ON APRIL 17

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Kazuyuki Fujita will return to MMA action in the RIZIN FF ring on Sunday, April 17. Fujita held up a poster board with an image of his opponent, recent RIZIN FF Grand Prix tournament runner-up Jiri Prochazka, at a press conference today to announce his matchup. Photo credit: RIZIN FF

Plus: Allan Nascimento squares off with
fellow flyweight sensation Yuki Motoya

TOKYO – March 16, 2016– RIZIN FF, the combat sports promotion led by former PRIDE FC head Nobuyuki Sakakibara, announced during a press conference today, the return of all-time fan favorite Kazuyuki “Ol’ Ironhead” Fujita (15-10), who will take on recent RIZIN FF Grand Prix tournament runner-up and dangerous knockout artist Jiri “Denisa” Prochazka (16-3-1), in a heavyweight Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) contest at the 10,000 capacity Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya, Japan on Sunday, April 17.

Also announced today for the “Top Presents RIZIN Fighting Federation I” extravaganza next month, was a flyweight (125 pounds) matchup between submission ace Allan “Puro Osso” Nascimento (14-3) and red-hot championYuki Motoya (15-4, 1 NC).

Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Jiri Prochazka

During his memorable 16-year career in the fight game, the 6-foot, 45-year-old Fujita of Funabashi, Chiba, Japan has collected two major, professional wrestling championships and faced off with nearly every rival force of his era in MMA’s heavyweight division, including former pound-for-pound king Fedor Emelianenko, Mirko Cro Cop, Wanderlei Silva and Mark Coleman, while competing under the elite promotional banners of PRIDE FC, K-1 and Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye.

Fujita’s notable victories include a first round (6:46) TKO (corner stoppage) of“The World’s Most Dangerous Man” Ken Shamrock, a first round (8:25) KO (punch) of James Thompson and unanimous decisions over Gilbert Yvel and two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) tournament winner and NCAA Division I National Wrestling Champion Mark Kerr.

The 6-foot-4, 23-year-old Prochazka of Hosteradice, Czech Republic is coming off a breakthrough performance in which he scored a first round (1:36) TKO (head kick and knee strikes) of Olympic Judo Gold Medalist Satoshi Ishii in the quarterfinal stage of the RIZIN FF eight-man Grand Prix elimination tournament on December 29, 2015.

Two days later, Prochazka returned to the ring and earned a first round (10:00) TKO (retirement) win over Vadim Nemkov before suffering a first round (5:09) KO (punch) at the hands of superstar “King Mo” Lawal in the championship stage round.  Of Prochazka’s 16 career wins, 13 have come by way of (T)KO and 2 by way of submission.

Allan Nascimento vs.Yuki Motoya

Touted as a miniature version of all-time great Anderson Silva, the 24-year-old Nascimento of Sao Paulo, Brazil boasts an astounding 86 percent submission rate, having forced 12 of the 14 opponents he has conquered, to tap out.

At 5-foot-9, Nascimento towers over the majority of his competition in the 125-pound division, and is known for effectively using his reach advantage and high-level Muay Thai skills to frustrate and inflict damage on opponents from a distance, and set up slick submissions.

The 5-foot-7, 26-year-old Motoya of Nagoya is the reigning DEEP flyweight champion and the number one ranked 125-pound fighter in Japan. Motoya is riding a seven-fight win streak, with four of the victories coming by way of TKO or submission.

In his last start on December 29, Motoya faced off with Felipe Efrain at the inaugural RIZIN FF event, outworking Efrain early in the bout before suddenly being floored by a left hand that Efrain followed up on with a series of strikes, prompting the referee to stop the contest.  Because Efrain had not made weight for the fight, however, the result was overturned from TKO to no contest.

Priced from 100,000 yen, tickets for “Top Presents RIZIN Fighting Federation I” are on sale and can be purchased online at Ticketbis.com.

In the main event, former PRIDE FC middleweight champion and all-time greatWanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva (35-12-1, 1 NC) will team up with a fighter to be announced soon, in a special grappling “tag match,” and battle a duo consisting of fellow legend, Kazushi Sakuraba, (26-17-1, 2 NC) and Hideo Tokoro (33-28-2).

In a 180 pound MMA rules contest, devastating power puncher Hisaki Kato (5-2) will take on fellow prolific finisher Yuta “Andre” Watanabe (19-6-4).

Additional bouts for “Top Presents RIZIN Fighting Federation I” will be announced soon.

Follow RIZIN FF:

Website – http://www.rizinff.com/en/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/rizinfightingfederation/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/rizin_PR
mixed martial arts

RIZIN FF Announces Tournament Brackets, Matchups for Eight-Man Heavyweight Tournament on December 29 and 31 

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Fighters comment on the highly-anticipated tournament that will award its winner a $300,000 grand prize

TOKYO, JAPAN (Nov. 30, 2015) –A drawing to determine the tournament brackets and first stage matchups for the RIZIN FIGHTING GRAND-PRIX 2015 eight-man, heavyweight tournament that will take place over the course of two days – December 29 and December 31 – and will award its winner a grand prize of $300,000, was held today in Tokyo.

BAMMA Heavyweight Champion Mark Godbeer, who had been scheduled to compete in the tournament, was forced to withdraw due to a neck injury sustained in training. BAMMA will announce a replacement fighter for the tournament soon.

Prior to the drawing, Chairman Nobuyuki Sakakibara stated, “This tournament will be the highlight of RIZIN. Fighters from around the world who are proud to represent their promotion and country, and are eager to use this platform to boost their career to make a name for themselves have gathered in the tournament. The majority of the media who gathered today may not know much about these athletes, but when K-1 first kicked off in 1993, nobody knew about Branko Cikatić or Mike Bernardo. The fighters who open up the new doors are those who exceed their expectations.”

The seven contestants slated for tournament action appeared at the press conference.  Each drew an envelope  numbered one through seven, and those who drew numbers one through four received the opportunity to choose their respective places in the tournament draw.

The first stage tournament matchups will be as follows:

Bout # 1: Lawal vs BAMMA fighter
Bout # 2: Aukstuolis vs Cappelozza,
Bout # 3  Ishii vs Prochazka,
Bout # 4: Reljic vs Nemkov.

A tournament reserve bout between Valentine Moldovsky and Yuta Uchida was also announced during the press conference.

Fighter Quotes:

– 1st Pick = “King Mo” Lawal – selected Slot A

“I am honored to fight for RIZIN. I am excited to showcase my skills in front of the Japanese fans and get the job done. I’m happy to be able to pick number one. I’m always number one. I’m in a position where others will pick me, my job is to crush whoever stands next to me.”

““I currently don’t have an opponent, but I’m sure that BAMMA will send a good fighter for me. But unfortunately whoever comes will get smashed so he better be prepared. I think Ishii made a smart choice by avoiding me and my bracket. Good for him.”

“That’s a lot of money! I’d buy a bunch of ice cream, some nice clothes, and go to Disney World and see a bunch of movies. I’d go to Vegas and party, and buy tons of gold accessories.”
– 2nd Pick = Teodoras Aukstuolis (BUSHIDO Europe Champion) – selected Slot C

“I am grateful to be given such an opportunity. At this level of competition, you have to be ready to fight anybody so I don’t care who my opponent will be. I believe in myself and am ready to fight anybody.”

“For me, becoming the champion in more important than the money. Money will follow as a result of being a true champion. My mind is set to win the tournament.”

“The reason why I am here is because I believe in myself. I will fight to represent my small country. My opponent has wild striking but there is no reason why I would lose. I will put on a show and come out victorious.”

– 3rd Pick =  Goran Reljic (Former KSW Light Heavyweight Champion) – selected Slot G

“I don’t care who fights me. My dream since I was a kid was to fight in Japan, and I am living the dream right now, my goal is to show my best performance on New Years Eve.”

“I like the matchup. I’ve been training with Sambo world champion Blagoi Ivanov and am familiar with the Sambo fight style. I know he comes from a great team, but I will be ready to take anything he has to offer so it will be a good fight.”

“I am living a childhood dream. I am more focused on continuing my journey on my dream to become a champion in Japan. I will think of what to do with the money once I achieve my goal.”

–  4th Pick = Satoshi Ishii (Beijing Olympics Judo Gold medalist) – selected Slot E

“Preparation is good. I will not feel that a fight is a fight, the battle on NYE has just begun.”

“My plan is to invest half of the prize money in gambling and will donate the rest.”

“This was a good offer that I could not turn down. An MMA tournament, Good opponents, good prize money. I don’t want to focus too much on winning the tournament because that will affect my mental game, so I will focus on one fight at a time.”

– 5th Pick = Bruno Cappelozza (Jungle Fight 100kg Champion) – selected Slot D

“I really don’t know any of the fighters here today, so I will choose my opponent and hope I’m lucky.”

“That type of big money will change my life and my family’s life. And also becoming a champion. Those two aspects will be huge accomplishments for me.”

“It has been my dream to fight in Japan. I do not know too much about my opponent, but I’m sure we will both be prepared for an exciting fight. I think this will be an excellent fight.”

– 6th Pick = Vadim Nemkov (MMA Union Heavyweight Champion) – selected Slot H

“I will be representing Sambo. I would like to show the beauty of Sambo and the art of Sambo.”

– 7th Pick = Jiri Prochazka (GCF Czech Light Heavyweight Champion) – selected Slot F“I am very excited to be able to show my skills in a country where the Samurai was born. I will not disappoint you.”

“Everybody here is tough. Since I will be fighting the hometown favorite, my fight will be gathering attention. I would like to use this opportunity and this challenge to become the next big thing.”

“It is so much money I do not know where to start. I believe that the money will come later. So as of now, my focus is to give it all I have to make RIZIN proud that they chose me for a participant.”

General Manager Nobuhiko Takada took the microphone after the drawing, “I am feeling a familiar, comfortable yet tense atmosphere right now. I am just excited to witness the birth of future stars. I hope Ishii can perform in a way where he will make us Japanese fans proud. Ishii’s first accomplishment was winning the gold medal, but we have not seen any outstanding results from him in MMA. I really hope he can use this opportunity to achieve the biggest accomplishment of his career.”