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Akimoto Stops Hagiwara, Izawa Retains Title at Rizin FF ‘Landmark Vol. 12’

One of Japan’s brightest prospects, Kyoma Akimoto, picked up his third victory of the year tonight at Rizin Fighting Federation: ‘Landmark Vol. 12’ in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan. The 19-year-old Akimoto bounced back after a tough first round and stopped veteran striker Kyohei Hagiwara with ground strikes in the featherweight main event.
Early on, Akimoto (10-1, 5-1 Rizin) struggled to deal with strong calf kicks from Hagiwara (9-11, 8-9 Rizin), who got the better of his teen foe during the striking exchanges on the feet. Akimoto could not take Hagiwara down and Hagiwara bloodied his nose with a series of right hands. As the round progressed, Akimoto began to fare better with his boxing, but Hagiwara tagged him with two more right hands and both men’s faces were bloody by the end of the entertaining round.

Following an exchange of punches in the second round, Akimoto’s face was once again a bloody mess, but he secured a key takedown into back control and trapped Hagiwara in a body triangle. From there, Akimoto switched to a twister setup and then dropped a series of punches to Hagiwara’s face. Hagiwara did his best to cover up, but referee Tatsuro Nagase stepped in to wave off the fight at the 3:52 mark of Round 2.

Tonight’s TKO triumph extended Akimoto’s winning streak and moved him another step closer to title contention in the highly competitive Rizin featherweight division. Backstage after his win, Akimoto requested a fight against Yutaka Saito.

In the 108-pound co-main event, Seika Izawa successfully retained her Rizin FF women’s super atomweight title against Deep and Deep Jewels microweight champion Saori Oshima via a clear-cut unanimous decision.

Izawa (17-0, 11-0 Rizin) opened the action with a front kick to the body and a lead left hook, and she knocked Oshima (15-7, 4-1 Rizin) down with another left hand. Oshima returned to her feet and Izawa landed a nice flurry of punches and another body kick, followed by four more punches and a knee late in the round. In the second stanza, Izawa held Oshima in a ninja choke and kneed her in the face. She secured a front headlock later in the round and continued to punish Oshima with knees before taking her down with a guillotine choke attempt. Oshima fought out of it and tried for a late-round heel hook.

Comfortably ahead in the scoring, Izawa opted to stay on her feet and pop Oshima in the nose with jabs during the final round until Oshima eventually dropped levels for a takedown. The champion easily stuffed it and she landed four punches as time ticked down. Oshima was finally able to get Izawa down to the mat, but it was too late to mount any offense and time ran out seconds later. All three judges scored the fight in favor of Izawa for a unanimous decision victory.

As Izawa spoke in the cage following her win, Rizin CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara interrupted to announce that he wanted to rebook Izawa against Japanese star Rena Kubota on New Year’s Eve. A bout between the two has been targeted for multiple events during the past year, and Izawa publicly voiced her frustration earlier in 2025 when it fell apart yet again. Despite saying that she was no longer interested in facing Kubota, whom Izawa accused of repeatedly running and ducking her, it would appear that the women will indeed face each other next month. Fights for the New Year’s Eve event will be officially announced in two days, but negotiations for some matchups are still ongoing.

Rizin mainstay Kazumasa Majima (18-6, 4-5 Rizin) picked up a key win in the featherweight division by upsetting prospect Shuya Kimura (5-2, 1-2 Rizin) via second-round rear-naked choke. Majima tripped Kimura three times in the first round and then worked for a choke on the ground after sinking in one hook. He punched both sides of Kimura’s face and locked on a face crank during the final minute, but Kimura survived. The round came to an end and Kimura got up slowly before moving to his corner.

In the second round, Majima scored another takedown and he moved to Kimura’s back once more. This time, Majima trapped Kimura’s left arm with his legs when he locked on a body triangle. With only his right arm free to defend, Kimura was unable to fend off Majima’s rear-naked choke and he reluctantly tapped out at the 2:54 mark of Round 2. Majima has had ups and downs recently, and tonight’s win was a big one.

Opening up the main card, Keito Oyama (9-7, 2-1 Rizin) extended her winning streak to four with a well-deserved unanimous decision victory against previously unbeaten Road FC representative Bo Mi Lee (3-1, 0-1 Rizin) at 110 pounds. Oyama, who is better known as ‘Kate Lotus,’ hurt her Korean opponent with two knees to the liver very early in the fight. Lee recovered, but Oyama pressured her with more kicks and two lead right hooks.

The pace slowed in the second round following a very brief takedown from Lee. Oyama circled and picked her shots with jabs and kicks to Lee’s lead leg and body. Lee landed her best combination of the fight early in the final round. Oyama fired back with an elbow and a right hook, and Lee cut her beside the left eye with a punch. During the final 90 seconds of the fight, Oyama attacked Lee’s body with more knees. All three judges scored the fight for Oyama, who has made significant improvements during the past year.

Prior to intermission, the middle portion of the ‘Landmark Vol. 12’ card concluded with five straight stoppages that dramatically improved the event’s pacing.

Taisei Sakuraba (2-1, 2-1 Rizin) showcased strong striking and grappling in his lightweight fight against Sho Patrick Usami (8-5, 4-3 Rizin) before ultimately tapping Usami out with a kneebar at the 1:33 mark of Round 3.

At bantamweight, Joji Goto (18-8, 4-0 Rizin) rocked Taichi Nakajima (18-14, 2-3 Rizin) twice with punches before knocking him out cold with a devastating left hand at the 1:49 mark of Round 1. Nakajima was stretchered out of the cage and he announced his retirement following the crushing defeat.

Satoshi Kamiyama (3-4, 3-4 Rizin) easily won his heavyweight fight against kickboxer and pro wrestler Max Yoshida (0-1, 0-1 Rizin), who was hurt multiple times during the very brief fight. ‘Takakenshin’ wobbled Yoshida with punches on the feet and then followed with more strikes after taking him down. Elbows to the body and head were enough to finish Yoshida off, and Kamiyama was awarded a TKO victory at the 1:10 mark of Round 1.

Despite being seen as a significant underdog, Yuto Hokamura (16-15-2, 4-7 Rizin) cruised to an easy TKO triumph in his 137-pound bout against Chinese prospect Yunfeng Li (11-7, 0-1 Rizin). The veteran Hokamura opened the action with body kicks and he reversed a Li takedown into a rolling heel hook. Li sustained immediate damage to his ankle and he tapped out while in great pain at the 1:34 mark of the opening round.

Kazakh rising star Nurkhan Zhumagazy (10-1, 1-0 Rizin) needed just one minute to win his Rizin debut against Pancrase champ Tatsuya Saika (13-6, 0-3 Rizin) at lightweight. After first dropping Saika with a head kick, Zhumagazy blasted him with hammerfists on the ground and then trapped Saika in a brabo choke for the tap in 60 seconds.

Rounding out the midcard, Jinnosuke Kashimura (10-5, 1-1 Rizin) posted a unanimous decision victory over Hyuma Yasui (3-1, 1-1 Rizin) at bantamweight; Won Bin Ki (19-10, 1-1 Rizin) won his lightweight duel against Shutaro Debana (11-7, 0-1 Rizin) via unanimous decision; Tony Laramie (11-3, 2-1 Rizin) prevailed via unanimous decision against Wataru Yamauchi (8-3, 0-1 Rizin), who missed weight for the flyweight contest; and Rikuto Fujio scored three quick knockdowns to TKO opponent Yumeto Mizuno at the 2:05 mark of Round 1 in a 112-pound kickboxing bout.

On the early preliminary card, popular teen prospect Noeru Narita (3-2, 1-1 Rizin) submitted Misaki Suda (2-1, 0-1 Rizin) with an armbar at the 2:46 mark of Round 2 in a 108-pound women’s super atomweight clash; Daichi Akahira defeated Shoma Yamamoto via unanimous decision in flyweight kickboxing action; Hyuga Miyagawa (6-7, 1-0 Rizin) stopped Shinsuke Matsubara (11-11, 1 NC; 0-1 Rizin) with punches at the 1:52 mark of Round 1 in their bantamweight MMA bout; Shinpei Hayashi scored a unanimous decision victory over Motoki in a 139-pound kickboxing match; and Nanoka Ito easily defeated Mizuki ‘Miichan’ Mukaiyama via unanimous decision in a 112-pound women’s kickboxing bout that opened the event.

This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com

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