The new bookings will include a few Ultimate Fighting Championship veterans, as Spike Carlyle meets Kyung Pyo Kim; Kazuki Tokudome faces Sho Patrick Usami and Johnny Case takes on Noah Bey — all at lightweight. Additionally, Mikio Ueda will lock horns with Przemyslaw Kowalczyk in a heavyweight affair.
Rizin 47 takes place at Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo and features a bantamweight clash between Kyoji Horiguchi and Sergio Pettis. In another featured contest, Kleber Koike Erbst will meet Juan Archuleta at 145 pounds.
Carlyle, a three-time UFC veteran, has lost his last three fights. Most recently, he dropped a three-round verdict against Yoshinori Horie at Rizin 44. A former Road to UFC competitor, South Korea’s Kim is coming off back-to-back finishes of Tural Ragimov and Usami under the Rizin banner.
Tokdume, who went 1-3 during an Octagon stint from 2013 to 2014, returns to action for the first time since 2021, when he suffered a first-round submission defeat to Roberto Satoshi de Souza at Rizin 27. The 24-year-old Usami had a two-bout winning streak snapped in his last outing, when he was submitted by Kim at Rizin 41 in April 2023.
Case, who went 4-2 in UFC competition, snapped a three-bout skid in his most recent appearance, as he stopped Nobumitsu Osawa in 36 seconds at Bellator vs. Rizin in December 2022. Boah is more known for his kickboxing prowess, but he is 2-3 in MMA — including a unanimous decision win over Yusaku Inoue at Rizin 46 on April 29.
Ueda has been victorious in three of his four pro bouts and is coming off a second-round TKO of Tsuyoshi Kamiyama at Rizin 45 on Dec. 31. Poland’s Kowalczyk has won all three of his professional fights on the regional scene, finishing each of his opponents inside of a round.