RIZIN 37 Live. RIZIN 37 takes place July 31 at the Saitama Super Arena. The event is based around the first round of women’s Super Atomweight Grand Prix with all of the quarterfinals matchups being featured on the fight card.
This will be a second Atomweight tournament held by RIZIN with the previous edition taking place back in 2017. It was won by Kanna Asakura, who also participates in this year’s Grand Prix. The winner will be awarded 7 million yen prize money with the second place will receive 3 million yen. The semi-finals will be contested in September with the finals being featured on the New Year’s Eve card.
Seika Izawa vs Laura Fontoura
This matchup will serve as the main event. The reigning RIZIN Atomweight Champion Seika Izawa will take on the PAWFC Strawweight Champion, Laura Fontoura. This will be a clash of two unbeaten fighters, as Izawa sports a 6 – 0 record while Fontoura won all of her seven fights.
Kanna Asakura vs Si Woo Park
Kanna Asakura has a 19 – 6 record and is one of the main RIZIN women stars. She won the previous Atomweight GP in 2017 by defeating Rena in the finals. Since then she bounced back between wins and loses in both RIZIN and DEEP JEWELS promotions. Most recently she defeated Satomi Takano at RIZIN 35.
Si Woo Park stacked up a 7-4 record. She’s a South Korean native who now resides in Japan. She fought for both RIZIN and DEEP JEWELS and currently rides a two-fight winning streak by defeating Rena and Aira Koga in each promotion.
Rena vs Anastasia Svetkivska
Rena (12-4) is a former Shootboxing champion She made it to the finals of the initial GP.
Anastasia Svetkivska won all of her two fights which makes her the least experienced fighter in the GP. She is the 2019 IMMAF World Champion.
Ayaka Hamasaki vs Jessica Aguilar
Ayaka Hamasaki sports a 23 – 5 record and is a two-time Rizin Atomweight Champion. She is currently looking to put an end to her two-fight losing streak.
Jessica Aguilar has a 20-9 record and is a longtime MMA veteran. She has a storied career and holds victories over Carla Esparza and Megumi Fuji.
Other matchups:
In a lightweight bout, Johnny Case will take on Takeda. The American fighter is the only one to ever beat the reigning Lightweight Champion, Roberto de Souza. However, the Brazilian-Japanese fighter won the rematch at RIZIN 35.
Former DEEP Flyweight and Lightweight champion Yuki Motoya will square off against the wrestling Olympic silver medalist Shinobu Ota.
The long-time veteran of both MMA and submission grappling Hideo Tokoro will test himself against Makoto Takahashi.
In the heavyweight division, Hideki Sekine will want to prove that his grappling and Pro Wrestling based fighting style can overcome adversities as he takes on an ex Sumo wrestler, Tsuyoshi Sudario. In his previous bout ‘Shrek’ defeated his brother, Satoshi Sudario.
Rizin 37 Results (iPPV – RIZIN Stream Pass – 1:00am ET / 10:00pm PT):
Super Atomweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Seika Izawa vs. Laura Fontoura
Super Atomweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Ayaka Hamasaki vs. Jessica Aguilar
Hideo Tokoro vs. Makoto Takahashi
Johnny Case vs. Koji Takeda
Super Atomweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Kanna Asakura vs. Si Woo Park
Super Atomweight Grand Prix Quarterfinals: Rena Kubota vs. Anastasiya Svetkivska
Hideki Sekine vs. Tsuyoshi Sudario
Yuki Motoya vs. Shinobu Ota
Yoshiki Nakahara vs. Tetsuya Seki
Marcos Souza vs Daichi Abe
Sora Yamamoto vs. Vugar Karamov
Kickboxing: Ryusei vs. Kaishi
Kickboxing: Hiroki Kasahara vs. Yusaku Ishizuki
Yushi vs. Haruki
