A late addition to the Rizin FF 33 lineup features a kickboxing dynamo and a Japanese MMA legend.
Promotion officials recently announced that striking specialist Tenshin Nasukawa and former PRIDE lightweight champion Takanori Gomi will meet in a special rules match at Rizin FF 33, which takes place on New Year’s Eve at Japan’s famed Saitama Super Arena.
The bout is expected to serve as Nasukawa’s final appearance for Rizin before he takes part in a final kickboxing bout against fellow Japanese standout Takeru Segawa in June. The 23-year-old Nasukawa (42-0 kickboxing) then expects to pursue a career in boxing.
Rizin officials marked the occasion of his final appearance with a special poster.
Meanwhile, the 43-year-old Gomi (36-15 MMA) returns to Rizin for the second straight year-end event after scoring a majority decision win over Koji Tanaka in a custom rules bout at Rizin FF 26 this past December. “The Fireball Kid” last competed in a standard MMA contest in 2018, earning a first-round finish of fellow UFC vet Melvin Guillard.
With the addition to the card, the Rizin FF 33 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (LIVENow, 12 a.m. ET)
Tenshin Nasukawa vs. Takanori Gomi – special rules bout
opponent TBA vs. opponent TBA – bantamweight grand prix finals
Champ Roberto de Souza vs. Yusuke Yachi – for lightweight title
Mikuru Asakura vs. Yutaka Saito
Ayaka Hamasaki vs. Seika Izawa
Kyohei Hagiwara vs. Hiroaki Suzuki
Noah Bey vs. Koji Takeda
Hideki Sekine vs. Shoma Shibisai
Rena Kubota vs. Si Woo Park
Shinobu Ota vs. Kazuma Sone
Kai Asakura vs. Kenta Takizawa
Hiromasa Ogikubo vs. Naoki Inoue
Yuki Motoya vs. Yuto Hokamura