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FIGHT ODDS

Kleber Koike Erbst Submits Juntaro Ushiku, Captures Featherweight Crown at Rizin 39

Tudor LeonteOct 23, 2022


There’s death, taxes, and Kleber Koike Erbst submitting his opponents due to triangle choke maneuvers.

In the Rizin 39 main event, Erbst quickly dispatched Juntaro Ushiku (20-7, 2-1 Rizin) to become the new Rizin Fighting Federation featherweight champion. Former Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki title challenger Erbst (31-5-1, 6-0 Rizin) imposed his grappling-oriented strategy straight out of the gate, making the most out of Ushiku’s decision to pull guard. Once on the canvas, Erbst stayed on top of Ushiku (20-7, 2-1 Rizin) for most of the opening frame, teasing some submission attempts from time to time.

In Round 2, Erbst’s strategy paid dividends during a scramble phase when the Brazilian found himself in the position to attack with a triangle choke attempt. Ushiku resisted for almost a minute to the submission attempt, but ultimately the pressure was too much to handle, forcing the Japanese fighter to tap a split-second before passing out. Erbst celebrated his victory as the official time indicated the 1:29 mark of Round 2.



The co-headliner featured a heavyweight clash between sumo wrestler Tsuyoshi Kamiyama and Janos Csukas. The pair put on a hard-fought contest for as long as it lasted. Initially, Csukas (7-1, 0-1 Rizin) seemed to have the edge over his opponent, attacking with furious strikes and also landing a well-executed judo throw. Kamiyama (6-1, 6-1 Rizin) kept his composure and fought his way back to his feet. The Japanese competitor attacked with more precise punches as his opponent showed he was running out of energy. Sensing the momentum was shifting, Kamiyama pressed on the accelerator out of the gate in Round 2, catching his foe with a series of punches that dropped Csukas. Kamiyama followed up with more strikes and concluded with a knee to the head of the grounded opponent before the referee mercifully jumped in to stop the action, rewarding Kamiyama with his sixth stoppage in as many assignments. The official time indicated 30 seconds into Round 2.



Elsewhere, former lightweight title contender Yusuke Yachi (24-13, 9-7 Rizin) upended Boyd Allen (16-5-1, 0-1 Rizin) on all scorecards; former Deep 155-pound champion Koji Takeda (15-3, 5-3 Rizin) forced Dana White’s Contender Series and Bellator MMA alum Zach Zane (15-14, 0-1 Rizin) to tap due to armbar at 3:35; Sho Usami (5-1, 1-0 Rizin) stopped Shinji Sasaki (20-13-3, 0-2 Rizin) with punches in the third frame of their 165-pound catchweight bout; welterweight Daichi Abe (12-5, 3-1 Rizin) outclassed Yukinari Tamura (15-13-9, 0-1 Rizin) en route to a unanimous decision; Genji Umeno defeated Trent Girdham after the Australian suffered a nasty knee injury a few seconds out of the gate in their bantamweight kickboxing battle; Takahiro Ashida (24-12-2, 2-2 Rizin) outpointed Hirotaka Nakada (5-4, 0-2 Rizin) on all scorecards in a 145-pound affair; featherweight Yoshiki Nakahara (17-5, 2-0 Rizin) crushed Akira Haraguchi (7-4, 1 NC; 0-2 Rizin) with punches and soccer kicks at 2:37 in the opening stanza; Motonobu Tezuka (30-13-6, 1-1 Rizin) overcame Mehman Mamedov (5-6, 1 NC; 0-1 Rizin) thanks to a controversial corner stoppage at 4:33 of Round 1 at bantamweight; 135-pounder Shogo Kuriaki smashed Kakeru in the second period in a kickboxing clash; and Reito Bravely knocked out Koichiro Seki in the opening frame in a 139-pound kickboxing bout.