As 2018 comes to a close, Rizin FF held its biggest show of the year with a new bantamweight champion and Floyd Mayweather taking down Tenshin Nasukawa.
At Rizin 14 in Saitama, Japan, a special exhibition bout between undefeated boxing champion Floyd Mayweather and kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa under boxing rules took place. Mayweather dominated Nasukawa, scoring three total knockdowns in the first round before the fight was stopped. Mayweather was jovial in the opening seconds of the exhibition, throwing very lazy punches and smiling across the ring.
After Nasukawa landed a left hook upstairs, Mayweather took the fight seriously and proceeded to overwhelm Nasukawa, knocking him down multiple times. After Nasukawa was knocked down for the third time, Nasukawa’s corner threw in the towel to put a halt to the contest.
Once the fight finished, Mayweather stated that he is still retired and will not be coming back to box in an official capacity.
In the co-main event, Kyoji Horiguchi submitted Bellator bantamweight champion Darrion Caldwell with a guillotine choke in the third round to become the inaugural Rizin bantamweight champion.
Both men landed big kicks early on in the fight with Caldwell kicking to the body and Horiguchi front-kicking Caldwell. Caldwell did almost put the fight away in the first round as he nearly locked in a kimura lock on Horiguchi, but the Japanese fighter was able to get out of danger.
The second round saw Caldwell spend the entirety of the round holding Horiguchi in a body lock after landing a kick upstairs as Horiguchi scrambled around the entire ring to get out. The third round, was a far different story. Caldwell moved forward to take down Horiguchi, but Horiguchi managed to counter it into a guillotine choke, forcing Caldwell to tap out.
Right before Caldwell vs. Horiguchi and Mayweather vs. Nasukawa took place, Ayaka Hamasaki added another title to her collection. Hamasaki defeated Kanna Asakura by submitting her using an armbar in the second round to win the Rizin Atomweight title. Hamasaki, whose record improves to 17-2, has previously fought for Invicta FC, where she was the company’s atomweight champion from 2015 to 2016.
RIZIN FF 14 Results:
Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeated Tenshin Nasukawa by TKO (corner stoppage) in round 1: Special boxing exhibition
Kyoji Horiguchi defeated Darrion Caldwell by submission (guillotine choke) in round 3 to win the Rizin Bantamweight Championship
Ayaka Hamasaki defeated Kanna Asakura by submission (armbar) in round 2 to win the Rizin Atomweight Championship
Kazuki Miyata defeated Erson Yamamoto by submission (arm crank) in round 2
Damien Brown defeated Daron Cruickshank by submission (guillotine choke) in round 1
Ulka Sasaki defeated Manel Kape by unanimous decision
Jiri Prochazka defeated Brandon Halsey by TKO via strikes in round 1
Yuki Motoya defeated Justin Scoggins by submission (triangle choke) in round 1
Johnny Case defeated Yusuke Yachi by TKO via doctor stoppage in round 2
Tofik Musaev defeated Nobumitsu Tyson by TKO via strikes in round 2
Justyna Zofia Haba defeated Shinju Nozawa Auclair by submission (rear naked choke) in round 2
Gabi Garcia defeated Barbara Nepomuceno by submission, (key lock) in round 1
Miyuu Yamamoto defeated Mika Nagano by unanimous decision