Rizin 36 in Okinawa on July 2 to Feature 13 Bouts, Kai Asakura-Ji Yong Yang Main Event

Fight announcement for RIZIN.36

Kai Asakura vs. Ji Yong Yang#RIZIN #RIZIN36 pic.twitter.com/YxLR471cjT

— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) June 1, 2022

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Rizin Fighting Federation is putting a little more into its sophomore trip to the Japanese island of Okinawa.

On Wednesday, the promotion released the lion’s share of its 13-bout Rizin 36 lineup on Twitter, one that includes 11 MMA matches and two under kickboxing rules. On Friday, via press release, Rizin confirmed the fights, made official the bout order and provided a statement from the head of the company. The event will be held inside the Okinawa Arena in Okinawa, Japan, on July 2. According to the press release, the broadcast will only be available with Japanese commentary and texts, although that could change in the coming month.

Rizin CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara announced the fights in a press conference while providing updates on the card, stating, “We are very excited to be back in Okinawa after a successful regional debut. We will be having several local stars from legends to prospects who are motivated to showcase their skills on a major platform. We are excited to put on an event with full capacity and continue coming back to the wonderful island of Okinawa. We will start to pick up the pace of events starting this summer, and am looking at seven-eight more events for the rest of the year.”

Headlining the show is a bantamweight scrap between ex-champ Kai Asakura (19-4) and unbeaten Rizin debutant Ji Yong Yang (4-0) from South Korea. The favorite for the Rizin 2021 bantamweight tourney, Asakura made it to the finals and fell short to Hiromasa Ougikubo. That loss put an end to a three-fight win streak, with all of those three victories coming in 2021. Throughout a Rizin career that began in 2017, Asakura holds the second-most victories and third-most knockouts as he sits on the leaderboard for many categories. His opponent Yang made his pro debut in July 2020, with wins over four foes that combined for a record of 8-1.

Drawing the co-headlining assignment is a lightweight clash when Kohei Tokeshi (6-8) meets Atsushi Kishimoto (6-6-2). Tokeshi earned his first Rizin win in February when he knocked out Harry Stallone in the cage-based Trigger 2nd event, while Kishimoto will be making his Rizin debut on the heels of two wins in the last two years. Other noteworthy matchups include a featherweight tilt between Kyle Aguon (14-10) and Sora Yamamoto (11-4), and two super atomweight (108 pounds) pairings between Miyuu Yamamoto (6-6) and Saori Oshima (8-3) and Mizuki Oshiro (4-5) and Moeri Suda (5-3) with atomweight ranking stakes on the line.

Rizin 36 Lineup:

Kai Asakura vs. Ji Yong Yang – bantamweight
Kohei Tokeshi vs. Atsushi Kishimoto – lightweight
Tanner Lourenco vs. Oriya Oshiro – lightweight
Hiroaki Suzuki vs. Ren Hiramoto – featherweight
Kyle Aguon vs. Sora Yamamoto – featherweight
Yutaro Muramoto vs. Shinichi Kojima – flyweight
Yuki Ito vs. Yuichi Miyagi – flyweight
Yamato Fujita vs. Tatsuya So – flyweight
Mitsuhisa Sunabe vs. Nobuyoshi Nakatsukasa – 119-pound catchweight
Miyuu Yamamoto vs. Saori Oshima – super atomweight
Mizuki Oshiro vs. Moeri Suda – super atomweight
Katsumi Miyagi vs. Yuki Yoshino – 160-pound catchweight kickboxing
Taiga vs. Soichiro Mita – bantamweight kickboxing