Tag Archives: Destanie Yarbrough

mixed martial arts, MMA, Rizin FF

RIZIN Adds “Krazy Horse” vs. Kimura To Sept. 25 Grand Prix Event

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K-1 kickboxing star Minoru Kimura (pictured) will make his MMA rules debut against Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett at the highly-anticipated RIZIN FF World Grand Prix 2016: Opening Round event in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday, Sept. 25.  Photo courtesy of (C)M-1 Sports Media.

RIZIN FF:  
CHARLES “KRAZY HORSE” BENNETT
RETURNS TO JAPAN, WILL FACE MINORU KIMURA
IN MMA ACTION IN TOKYO ON SEPTEMBER 25

TOKYO – August 18, 2016 – RIZIN FF, the combat sports federation headed by former PRIDE Fighting Championships boss Nobuyuki Sakakibara, announced today the addition of a featherweight (145 pounds) Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) matchup between former PRIDE FC and EliteXC star Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett (29-30-2) and K-1 kickboxing KO artist Minoru Kimura (MMA: 0-0, Kickboxing: 21-6-1, 15 KO’s) to the federation’s already stacked Grand Prix event in Tokyo on Sunday, Sept. 25.

A 17-year veteran of the sport with an aggressive, crowd-pleasing style of fighting, the 5-foot-8, 36-year-old Bennett of Ocala, Fla. put himself on the map 16 years ago with a first round (1:55) KO (punch) of Yoshiro Maeda at PRIDE Bushido 7 in Tokyo on May 22, 2005.

Bennett’s biggest mark in the sport to date was arguably his one-punch, first round (3:43), upset KO of former UFC and Strikeforce star K.J. Noons, who went into the matchup a heavy favorite over Bennett. The high-profile bout took place at EliteXC: Destiny, the first-ever, live SHOWTIME televised event in MMA history.

Bennett is coming off a spectacular, 43 second submission (heel hook) of Paul Rodriguez in Kissimmee, Fla. on May 14.


 Above: Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett will make his return to Japan and debut for RIZIN FF on September 25

Ranked as high as number two in the world in kickboxing’s featherweight division as of the close of 2015, the 5-foot-8, 22-year-old Kimura, who permanently relocated to Japan at the age of three, after being born in Curitiba, Brazil to a fourth generation, Brazilian-Japanese mother and a Brazilian-Italian father, will make his debut under MMA rules.

The feisty Fighting Kairos Gym competitor who has captivated fight fans with his raucous behavior, has defeated a number of noteworthy adversaries in the kickboxing ring, includingKaew Fairtex as well as Japanese stars Hideaki Yamazaki and Masaaki Noiri, to reach elite status in the sport.

In his last start, Kimura picked up a unanimous decision victory over “Noman” in a K-1 World Grand Prix tournament reserve bout on June 24.

The RIZIN FF event will be headlined by the kick-off of the much-anticipated, 16-man open weight tournament.

MMA legends Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (MMA: 31-11-1, 1 NC; Kickboxing: 23-8, 12 KO’s) and Wanderlei Silva (35-12-1, 1 NC) are amongst the nine competitors that have been announced as tournament participants.  The tournament’s first stage matchups will be announced soon.

RIZIN FF World Grand Prix 2016: Opening Round

Updated Fight Card

Open Weight Tournament Bout:  Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. TBA
Open Weight Tournament Bout:  Kazuyuki Fujita vs. TBA
Open Weight Tournament Bout:  Baruto Kaito vs. TBA
Open Weight Tournament Bout:  Jiri Prochazka vs. TBA
Open Weight Tournament Bout:  Teodorasu Aukstuolis vs. TBA
Open Weight Tournament Bout:  Karl Albrektsson vs. TBA
Open Weight Tournament Bout:  Valentine Moldavski vs. TBA
Open Weight Tournament Bout:  Amir Aliakbari vs. TBA
Lightweight: Daron Cruickshank vs. Andy Souwer
Heavyweight: Gabi Garcia vs. Destanie Yarbrough
Strawweight:  Kanako Murata vs. Kyra Batara
Weight TBD:  Rena Kubota vs. Miyuu Yamamoto
Weight TBD: Asen Yamamoto vs. Kizaemon Saiga
Featherweight: Charles Bennett vs. Minoru Kimura

Follow RIZIN FF:

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

RIZIN FF ANNOUNCES MATCHUPS FOR THREE STAR-STUDDED WOMEN’S MMA BOUTS AT GRAND PRIX EVENT IN TOKYO, SEPTEMBER 25

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Pictured (from left to right): RIZIN FF stars Miyuu Yamamoto, Rena Kubota and Kanako Murata were on hand at a press conference in Japan today to discuss their matchups at the highly-anticipated RIZIN FF event in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday, Sept. 25.  Yamamoto will square off with Kubota, while Murata will face off with Combate Americas star Kyra Batara.

Heavyweight: Gabi Garcia vs. Destanie Yarbrough
Strawweight: Kanako Murata vs. Kyra Batara
Rena Kubota vs. Miyuu Yamamoto

Plus: Five fighters added to the 16-man, open weight tournament that kicks off at the September extravaganza

TOKYO – August 16, 2016 – RIZIN FF, the combat sports federation headed by former PRIDE Fighting Championships boss Nobuyuki Sakakibara, today revealed at a press conference the matchups for the three women’s Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) bouts slated for the highly-anticipated Grand Prix event in Tokyo on Sunday, Sept. 25.

Facing off with previously announced, undefeated MMA rising star and ninth degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Gabi Garcia (2-0) will be fellow unbeaten prospect and professional football standout Destanie Yarbrough (1-0).

Three-time junior Olympic wrestling medalist and undefeated MMA upstart Kanako Murata (3-0) will square off with Combate Americas MMA star Kyra “Mogwai” Batara (5-3) in a strawweight (115 pounds) contest.

Renowned shoot boxing champion Rena Kubota (1-0) will make her second start under MMA rules against famed women’s freestyle wrestling pioneer Miyuu Yamamoto (0-0), who will make her long-awaited MMA debut on the same card as her son, Asen Yamamoto (0-1).  The weight limit of the Kubota-Yamamoto matchup will be announced soon.

In addition, it was announced that five new fighters – heavyweights Jiri “Denisa” Prochazka (17-3-1) of the Czech Republic and Amir Aliakbari (2-0) of Iran, and light heavyweights Teodorasu Aukstuolis (9-3) of Lithuania,“King” Karl Albrektsson (5-0) of Sweden and Valentine Moldavski (3-0) of Russia – have all been added to the much-anticipated, 16-man open weight tournament that will kick off and headline the September 25 event.

The five fighters join previously announced MMA legend Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (MMA: 31-11-1, 1 NC; Kickboxing: 23-8, 12 KO’s), fellow PRIDE FC veteran and combat sports fan favorite Kazuyuki Fujita (15-11) and former sumo wrestling champion Baruto Kaito (1-0) in the multi-event, single-elimination affair.

The tournament’s first stage matchups will be announced soon.

Gabi Garcia vs. Destanie Yarbrough

The 6-foot-2, 30-year-old Garcia of Porto Alege, Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil will look for her third consecutive MMA victory following her second round (2:04) submission (armbar) of Anna Malyukova at the RIZIN FF extravaganza onApril 17.

Yarbrough of Fresno, Calif. is a 5-foot-7, 28-year-old running back for the Women’s Football Alliance squad, the Central Cal War Angels, which finished its 2016 season with a perfect, 7-0 record.  The stocky powerhouse led the league last season in both touchdowns and rushing yards.

A lifelong athlete, Yarbrough made an explosive, professional MMA debut onApril 1, scoring a 33-second TKO (doctor stoppage) on Crystal Parson.


Caption: Combate Americas MMA star Kyra Batara (above) will make her RIZIN FF debut against Kanako Murata

Kanako Murata vs. Kyra Batara

The 5-foot-1, 23-year-old Murata of Ehime, Japan will make her debut at strawweight following three consecutive wins, the last two of which came by way of TKO (punches), in flyweight (125 pounds) contests.

Fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev., the 4-foot-11, 21-year-old Batara, who typically fights in the atomweight (105 pounds) division, is riding a three-fight win streak under the promotion of U.S. Hispanic MMA franchise, Combate Americas.

In her last start, Batara finished Jenny “The Phoenix” Silverio in unprecedented fashion – a ground and pound version of Eddie Bravo’s patented “twister” – that earned Batara, a protégé of Bravo, a TKO in the second round (4:13) of battle.

Rena Kubota vs. Miyuu Yamamoto

The 5-foot-3, 25-year-old Kubota of Osaka, Japan is a three-time shoot boxing tournament champion who boasts a stellar, career kickboxing record of 25-5-1 (6 KO’s).

Kubota made her much-anticipated MMA rules debut at the inaugural RIZIN FF event on December 31, submitting Jleana Valentino with a brilliantly executed flying armbar in the second round (3:31) of action.

The daughter of Olympic wrestler Ikuei Yamamoto and elder sister of MMA superstar and 2005 K-1 HERO’s Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament Champion Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto, the 5-foot-1, 42-year-old Miyuu of Kanagawa, Japan will enter a new chapter in her career and family legacy when she steps in the RIZIN FF squared circle for the first time.

Miyuu earned her first national wrestling championship when she was 13 years old, and subsequently defended it four straight years.  At age 17, she became the youngest world champion in history.

Miyuu’s son, Asen, will collide with Kizaemon Saiga (2-1) of Sakai, Japan at a weight to be determined.

RIZIN FF World Grand Prix 2016: Opening Round

Updated Fight Card

Open Weight Tournament Bout:  Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. TBA
Open Weight Tournament Bout:  Kazuyuki Fujita vs. TBA
Open Weight Tournament Bout:  Baruto Kaito vs. TBA
Lightweight: Daron Cruickshank vs. Andy Souwer
Heavyweight: Gabi Garcia vs. Destanie Yarbrough
Strawweight:  Kanako Murata vs. Kyra Batara
Weight TBD:  Rena Kubota vs. Miyuu Yamamoto
Weight TBD: Asen Yamamoto vs. Kizaemon Saiga

Follow RIZIN FF:

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