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Shaidullaev (16-0, 6-0 Rizin), the reigning Rizin featherweight champion, put his title on the line Wednesday against Asakura (19-6, 1 NC; 13-5 Rizin), whose supporters made up a significant portion of the more than 45,000 fans in attendance at Saitama Super Arena. Those fans left disappointed, however, as Shaidullaev tossed Asakura around from the outset and finished him with strikes on the ground.
Following a series of suplexes, Shaidullaev put Asakura in a corner and peppered him with punches before securing another takedown into back control. He flattened Asakura out and immediately began to tee off with punches to both sides of a defenseless Asakura’s head. Asakura moved just enough to prevent the fight from being stopped, but a final set of punches ended the bout at the 2:54 mark of Round 1.
【🔴LIVE】RIZIN 師走の超強者祭り
第15試合 フェザー級タイトルマッチ
ラジャブアリ・シェイドゥラエフ vs. 朝倉未来絶対王者の幻想か、悲願の王座戴冠か
今宵ベルトを巻くのはー。— ABEMA格闘 (@Abema_Fight) December 31, 2025
Post-fight, Shaidullaev spoke about his desire to move up to lightweight and become a two-division Rizin champion. With a 100% finishing rate, including three straight wins for Rizin this year, it is fair to say that Rizin will likely make an effort to keep Shaidullaev busy in 2026 no matter which weight class he wishes to compete in. Meanwhile, the defeated Asakura was removed from the ring on a stretcher and wearing a neck brace, as the impact of the final punches from Shaidullaev clearly did some significant damage.
In the co-main event, Ilhom Nazimov (13-3, 4-0 Rizin) needed only 13 seconds to capture the Rizin lightweight title from Roberto Satoshi de Souza (20-4, 13-3 Rizin). When de Souza ducked his head while pursuing a takedown, Nazimov countered with a perfectly-timed knee that sent de Souza crashing unconscious to the mat. Even more impressive than Nazimov’s quick win is the fact that he accomplished it on two weeks’ notice.
Hiromasa Ougikubo (30-8-2, 12-5 Rizin) won the 2025 Rizin flyweight grand prix and was crowned as the new Rizin flyweight champion by defeating Yuki Motoya (39-13, 1 NC; 14-9, 1 NC Rizin) in a rematch that was more than six years in the making. Ougikubo edged out Motoya via split decision in July 2019 and his performance in their return date was strong enough to earn a more decisive victory on the scorecards.
Ougikubo bloodied Motoya’s nose with stiff jabs and lead left hooks during the opening round. He landed more left hooks in the second stanza and controlled the majority of the round, though Motoya did connect with some sneaky uppercuts during the final minute. Motoya pressed the action in the final round and used jabs to set up a takedown. He punched from the top until Ougikubo got to his feet, and that was when the action really kicked off. Ougikubo stunned Motoya with left and right hooks, which opened more cuts on Motoya’s face, but a bloody Motoya gamely fired back and both men landed huge shots during a frantic final 30 seconds. Motoya’s perseverance late in the fight was not enough to outweigh Ougikubo’s damage dealt, and all three judges sided with Ougikubo for a unanimous decision victory.
While it had its moments, the bantamweight title fight was the lone blemish out of the five championship bouts on the card. Danny Sabatello (17-4-1, 3-0 Rizin) racked up control time and did just enough damage to wrestle the title away from Naoki Inoue (20-5, 10-3 Rizin), who was unsuccessful in defense. When the fight was on the feet, Inoue landed punches at will and easily avoided the looping strikes from Sabatello, who was clearly at a disadvantage in the standup exchanges. On the mat, however, Sabatello took Inoue’s back and hunted for rear-naked chokes. Inoue avoided danger and closed out the first two rounds with punches to Sabatello’s face. In the final round, Sabatello used an anaconda choke to get Inoue back down. He retained top position after a scramble and then took Inoue down one more time later in the round. Sabatello’s grappling was enough to earn the nod from two judges and he prevailed via split decision.
Top P4P Talent Retains Title
In what developed into a grudge match following multiple postponements and cancellations, the women’s super atomweight title tilt between Seika Izawa (18-0, 12-0 Rizin) and Rena Kubota (15-6, 14-5 Rizin) was worth every minute of the wait and exceeded expectations. Izawa, who had promised to destroy Kubota, was instead very nearly knocked out by a left hook and follow-up punches from Kubota early in the championship fight. Izawa was able to recover, however, and she attempted an armbar that led to the fighters returning to their feet. Izawa then took over in the second half of the round and she landed punches and elbows from mount after taking Kubota down. Kubota defended against a rear-naked choke until the bell. The second round began with a takedown from Izawa, who moved from a north-south choke into a reverse guillotine choke, and then finally trapped Kubota in a conventional guillotine choke in full guard. Kubota could not escape and tapped out at the 1:58 mark of Round 2. Izawa did very well to battle back and win, but this was the most adversity that she has faced in her career.
Rounding out the main card, Kleber Koike Erbst (35-9-1, 1 NC; 10-4, 1 NC Rizin) took a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over Vugar Karamov (21-7, 7-4 Rizin) in a battle between two former Rizin featherweight champions. Karamov backed Koike into a corner with punches and scored two body-lock takedowns in the first round. He attacked Koike’s lead leg with calf kicks in Round 2, but Koike took the fight to the ground and attempted a modified triangle choke and a guillotine. The final round was Koike’s best, and Karamov spent much of it stuck in triangle chokes. Koike also did some damage with hammerfist strikes before the fight came to a close. All three judges scored the bout for Koike, who rebounded after losing his first two fights this year.
Prior to intermission, Ryuya Fukuda (26-9-1, 4-1 Rizin) knocked out fellow veteran Tatsuya Ando (16-5-1, 2-1 Rizin) with a right hook and follow-up punches at the 3:02 mark of Round 2 in bantamweight action; featherweight rising star Kyoma Akimoto (11-1, 6-1 Rizin) floored Suguru Nii (18-13, 2-6 Rizin) with a knee to the liver for a knockout win at the 3:45 mark of Round 1; also at featherweight, Karshyga Dautbek (18-3, 1 NC; 4-1, 1 NC Rizin) and Yuta Kubo (5-2, 1 NC; 5-2, 1 NC Rizin) fought to a no contest at the 3:15 mark of Round 1 when Dautbek was poked badly in his eye and could not continue; Makoto Takahashi (21-5-1, 1 NC; 7-4 Rizin) posted a unanimous decision win against Hiroya Kondo (10-15-1, 3-5 Rizin) at flyweight; and Joji Goto (19-8, 5-0 Rizin) narrowly defeated Jose Torres (13-6-1, 1-2 Rizin) via split decision at bantamweight.
In other action, Tatsuki Shinotsuka (1-1, 1-1 Rizin) knocked out Daichi Tomizawa (2-2, 2-2 Rizin) with punches at the 3:22 mark of Round 2 at flyweight; Pancrase champ Tatsuya Saika (14-6, 1-3 Rizin) won his 161-pound catchweight bout against Noah Bey (5-4, 3-4 Rizin) via head kick knockout at the 32-second mark of Round 2; Ryoma Shishimoto (3-0, 1-0 Rizin) submitted Ryusei Ashizawa (2-4, 2-4 Rizin) with an armbar just 25 seconds into their bantamweight contest; and Enzo Massami Iamazato won his amateur flyweight Koshien MMA bout against Yuri Suda via technical submission due to a nasty armbar at the 3:15 mark of Round 1.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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