The seventh year of MMA action in the Rizin Fighting Federation (Rizin FF) will start on March 21. Originally set for March 14 at Japan’s Tokyo Dome, it was moved a week back and will take place at Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya. The headliner is a Women’s Super Atomweight title fight, as the champion, Ayaka Hamasaki, will defend her title against Kanna Asakura, whom Ayaka defeated to win the title back at Rizin 14 in 2018. The co-main event pits Roberto de Souza against Kazuki Tokudome in a lightweight bout.
We have the complete fight card along with the Rizin betting thoughts about the key fights.
Rizin FF 27: Hamasaki vs Asakura Preview
Main Card
Ayaka Hamasaki vs Kanna Asakura (Women’s Super Atomweight Championship)
Roberto de Souza vs Kazuki Tokudome (Lightweight)
Koji Takeda vs Takasuke Kume (Lightweight)
Kleber Koike Erbst vs Kazumasa Majima (Featherweight)
Tsuyoshi Sudario vs Kazushi Miyamoto (Heavyweight)
Taiga vs Kanta Motoyama (Catchweight – 61 kg)*
Tetsuya Seki vs Yoshinori Horie (Featherweight)
Kazuma Sone vs Hiroki Yamashita (Bantamweight)
Shooto Watanabe vs Takumi Tamaru (Bantamweight)
Yutaro Muramoto vs Seigo Yamamoto (Flyweight)
Syuto Sato vs Masayoshi Kunimoto (Catchweight – 53 kg)*
Riki Sakurai vs Riku Yoshida (Catchweight – 64 kg)*
Ryota Naito vs Hiroki (Catchweight – 55 kg)*
Kohei Sugiyama vs Yuki Ito (Flyweight)
*-kickboxing
Ayaka Hamasaki (21-3) vs Kanna Asakura (18-4) is Hamasaki’s fourth defense of her title. The title had been vacant when Hamasaki won it by defeating Asakura by an armbar in the second round. Hamasaki lost it to Seo Hee Ham of South Korea in her third defense, at Rizin FF 20. However, she defeated Tomo Maesawa via submission at Rizin FF 22 to get another shot at the title, which was once again vacant, and so she used a leg scissors to submit Miyuu Yamamoto in the first round at Rizin FF 26 to take the belt back. Hamasaki is considered one of the top grapplers in women’s MMA, across all promotions, with 10 of her 21 career wins coming via submission.
Since losing to Hamasaki, Asakura has beaten Alesha Zappitella, Jayme Hinshaw, Mizuki Furuse and Ai Shimizu in succession to return to the top of the list of contenders. Asakura is also a strong fighter when it comes to the grappling game. Even though Hamasaki has reached the age of 38, she is still the favorite given her track record.
Final Prediction:
Hamasaki wins via submission
Roberto de Souza (10-1) vs Kazuki Tokudome (20-10-1) gives us a Brazilian-born BJJ black belt in de Souza and a veteran of UFC, ONE, Pancrase and DEEP making his Rizin debut. De Souza last fought at Rizin 22, using strikes to finish Yusuke Yachi in the first round. Interestingly, de Souza and Tokudome have done a great deal of their training together, so these fighters will know each other’s weaknesses well.
Tokudome comes in with a two-fight winning streak. Rizin is viewed as a step down from UFC, but he still comes in with plenty of momentum. Watching these two teammates from 2018’s Quintet Fight Night in Tokyo (which is more of a grappling-only event) face off with MMA, which is a different sport, will be interesting to see.
Final Prediction:
De Souza wins via decision
Tsuyoshi Sudario (3-0) vs Kazushi Miyamoto (0-0) is a fight between a former sumo (Sudario) and a professional wrestler making his MMA debut. Sudario started in MMA a year ago, finishing Dylan James (also a pro wrestler) via stoppage at Rizin 23. His next win came against Minowaman, a veteran of both MMA and pro wrestling, via retirement (leg injury) at Rizin 26.
Miyamoto comes out of the All Japan Pro Wrestling dojo, and his reputation is one of looking to end fights via injury. He took on Crab King, another wrestler, ripped off his mask and then started to kick, punch and choke him. This might be one of the most graphic fights on the entire card.
Final Prediction:
Sudario wins via submission
Rizin Betting Odds
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