Jiri Prochazka, Kai Asakura Score Impressive First-Round Finishes at Rizin 19
Jiří Procházka (25-3-1) catches a body to close #RIZIN19, collapsing a hapless Fábio Maldonado in under two minutes. The Czech samurai and LHW champ rides a nine-fight tear with seven straight knockouts. He owns 22 first-round finishes and knockouts each. #RIZINFF #RIZIN2019 pic.twitter.com/fHByoHuo4o
— Kyle Johnson (@VonPreux) October 12, 2019
Rizin Fighting Federation 205-Pound Champion Jiri Prochazka still packs some serious punch at heavyweight.
Prochazka (25-3-1) has won nine consecutive fights, with all but one of those victories coming inside the distance. Twenty-two of his 25 career triumphs have come via knockout or technical knockout.
On a high off of upsetting Kyoji Horiguchi, Kai Asakura (@kai_1031_) soars with a sub-minute jaw jacking of Ulka Sasaki! Now 14-1, the former OUTSIDER champ rides a six-fight tear. He has stopped 11, nine apiece in round one and by knockout. #RIZIN19 #RIZINFF #RIZIN2019 pic.twitter.com/eHPKapnPzK
— Kyle Johnson (@VonPreux) October 12, 2019
Meanwhile, Kai Asakura continued to ride the momentum of his upset of bantamweight king Kyoji Horiguchi, as he blitzed Yuta Sasaki in the co-main event. A powerful right hand during an early exchange forced Sasaki to shoot out of desperation, but Asaki sprawled easily before sending his man to the canvas with a short right uppercut.
From there, Asakura brutalized his foe with knees on the ground and more punches. Asakura then moved to let Sasaki return to his feet, but the contest was stopped by a cageside doctor after just 54 seconds of action. Sasaki (22-8-2) appeared to have suffered a broken jaw during the onslaught. That makes six straight victories for Asakura (14-1), who is expected to rematch Horiguchi down the road, this time with the bantamweight crown on the line.
Seo Hee Ham (22-8) saves a date for her and Ayaka Hamasaki, stuffing and thoroughly punishing Miyuu Yamamoto's takedowns en route to a merciful, second-round stoppage. The ROAD FC and former JEWELS queen has won five straight, four by knockout. #RIZIN19 #RIZINFF #RIZIN2019 pic.twitter.com/1gy6fKhOFV
— Kyle Johnson (@VonPreux) October 12, 2019
Elsewhere, former Road FC and Jewels champion Seo Hee Ham set up a trilogy with Ayaka Hamasaki thanks to a second-round technical knockout of Miyuu Yamamoto in a featured atomweight affair. Ham (22-8) stuffed her opponent’s takedown tries repeatedly, often punishing her with follow-up offense before sealing her victory with hammerfists on the mat as Yamamoto (5-4) clung to a leg at the 4:42 mark of Round 2.
Shoot Boxing's queen and RIZIN's would-be heroine, RENA, breezes through her scheduled squash with a sub-20 second sitdown of Alexandra Alvare. The winsome striker (9-3) has finished seven, five apiece in round one and by knockout. #RIZIN19 #RIZINFF #RIZIN2019 pic.twitter.com/W68AF5D68y
— Kyle Johnson (@VonPreux) October 12, 2019
Rena Kubota (9-3) overwhelmed short-notice foe Alexandra Alvare Carlos, earning a stoppage just 20 seconds into their bout. In an expected mismatch, the Shoot Boxing queen followed a front kick with a two-punch combination that put Alvare (0-4) on the canvas to effectively end the contest.
Earlier, Johnny Case, Patricky Freire, Tofiq Musaev and Luiz Gustavo Felix dos Santos punched their tickets to the semifinals of the Rizin lightweight grand prix with a quartet of first-round finishes. Case will square off with Musaev, while Freire will meet Gustavo on Dec. 29 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama Japan.
Johnny Case (27-6-1) is your final RIZIN LW Grand Prix semifinalist, as he sends Roberto Satoshi Souza fetal with a well-placed punch to silence the crowd early in round one. The six-time UFC vet has stopped 23, 19 by knockout, and 16 in round one. #RIZIN19 #RIZINFF #RIZIN2019 pic.twitter.com/Vde4VBQtfk
— Kyle Johnson (@VonPreux) October 12, 2019
Patricky Pitbull (22-8) makes a tragic splash in RIZIN's GP, throttling the legendary Tatsuya Kawajiri with a flying knee and follow-up for the first-round knockout. Bellator's all-time KO leader extends his tear to six bouts with his 14th knockout. #RIZIN19 #RIZINFF #RIZIN2019 pic.twitter.com/tRmv1r3A5q
— Kyle Johnson (@VonPreux) October 12, 2019
Luiz Gustavo (10-1) advances to the LW Grand Prix semis, a nasty cut on Hiroto Uesako's eye capping his foe's violent start and forcing a first-round stoppage. The André "Dida" protégé has finished each of his wins, six in round one, and five by T/KO. #RIZIN19 #RIZINFF #RIZIN2019 pic.twitter.com/iZxBcNIYNo
— Kyle Johnson (@VonPreux) October 12, 2019
Tofiq Musayev (16-3) proves he's one of the LW tourney's top threats, eviscerating Damien Brown and advancing with a first-round TKO! The Azerbaijani rides a 12-fight tear with 11 knockouts. He has stopped 15, 13 by knockout, and 11 in round one. #RIZIN19 #RIZINFF #RIZIN2019 pic.twitter.com/LZ3SMrG1NY
— Kyle Johnson (@VonPreux) October 12, 2019
