2023 in Rizin Fighting Federation

The year 2023 was the ninth year in the history of the Rizin Fighting Federation, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan.

Rizin 41 – Osaka
Rizin 41 – Osaka was a Combat sport event held by Rizin Fighting Federation on April 1, 2023, at the Maruzen Intec Arena in Osaka, Japan.

Background
A bantamweight kickboxing bout between Ryusei Ashizawa and the one-time K-1 super featherweight title challenger Kouzi was scheduled as the event headliner.

Rizin Landmark 5
Rizin Landmark 5 was a Combat sport event held by Rizin Fighting Federation on April 29, 2023, at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.

Background
A featherweight bout between the former Rizin featherweight champion Juntaro Ushiku and Mikuru Asakura served as the event headliner, while a featherweight bout between another former Rizin featherweight champion Yutaka Saito and Ren Hiramoto was booked as the co-main event.

Rizin 42
Rizin 42 was a Combat sport event held by Rizin Fighting Federation on May 6, 2023, at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.

Background
A bantamweight bout between Yuki Motoya and the former Rizin Bantamweight champion Kai Asakura was booked as the event headliner.

Rizin 43 – Sapporo
Rizin 43 – Sapporo was a Combat sport event held by Rizin Fighting Federation on June 24, 2023, at the Makomanai Ice Arena in Sapporo, Japan.

Background
A Rizin Featherweight Championship bout between Kleber Koike Erbst and Chihiro Suzuki headlined the event. At the weigh-ins, Koike weighed in at 145.88 pounds, 0.88 pounds over the title limit. As a result, upon commencement of the fight, Koike was stripped of the title and only Suzuki is eligible to win it.

Super Rizin 2: Rizin X Bellator
Super Rizin 2: Rizin X Bellator was a Combat sport event held by Rizin Fighting Federation and Bellator MMA on July 30, 2023 at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.

As with the previous Super Rizin & Rizin 38 and Rizin 40 & Rizin vs Bellator events in 2022, Super Rizin 2 was spilt between two cards. Matches on the Bellator card were fought inside a cage, while Super Rizin 2 took place in the traditional ring.

Outside of Japan, the Bellator card aired live on Showtime in the United States, while Super Rizin 2 was distributed via PPV on FITE.

Background
The event was originally supposed to be headlined by a Rizin Bantamweight Championship bout between former champion Kai Asakura and former Bellator MMA Bantamweight champion Juan Archuleta. On July 18, 2023 it was announced that Asakura withdrew from the event and would be replaced by Hiromasa Ougikubo.

Rizin 44
Rizin 44 was a combat sport event held by Rizin Fighting Federation on September 24, 2023 at the Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo, Japan.

Background
A featherweight bout between former champion Kleber Koike Erbst (also former KSW Featherweight champion) and former Sengoku Featherweight champion Masanori Kanehara was scheduled to headline the event.

A heavyweight bout between former sumo wrestler Tsuyoshi Sudario and UFC veteran Todd Duffee was expected to take place at the event. However, Duffee withdrew from the fight due to a problem with his passport.

Rizin Landmark 6
Rizin Landmark 6 was a Combat sport event held by Rizin Fighting Federation on October 1, 2023 at the Dolphins Arena in Nagoya, Japan.

Background
A bantamweight bout between Dream Japanese Bantamweight Grand Prix 2011 winner Hideo Tokoro and Alan "Hiro" Yamaniha was scheduled to headline the event.

Rizin Landmark 7
Rizin Landmark 7 was a Combat sport event held by Rizin Fighting Federation on November 4, 2023 at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Background
Rizin Landmark 7 was the promotion's first international event, and the first major MMA event to take place in Azerbaijan.

A Rizin Featherweight Championship bout between reigning champion Vugar Karamov and challenger Chihiro Suzuki headlined the event.

A lightweight bout between Rizin Lightweight Grand Prix 2019 winner Tofiq Musayev and former Deep Lightweight champion Koji Takeda served as the co-main event.

Another lightweight bout between former AMC Fight Nights Lightweight champion Nariman Abbasov and Ali Abdulkhalikov took place at the event.

Rizin 45
Rizin 45 was a combat sport event held by Rizin Fighting Federation on December 31, 2023, at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Background
A rematch for the inaugural Rizin Flyweight Championship between former Rizin and Bellator Bantamweight Champion Kyoji Horiguchi and current Deep Flyweight champion (also former Cage Fury FC Flyweight champion) Makoto Takahashi headlined the event. The pairing previously met at Super Rizin 2 in July 2023, where the bout was declared a no contest after Horiguchi accidentally poked Takahashi in the eye.

A Rizin Bantamweight Championship bout between then champion Juan Archuleta and former champion Kai Asakura served as the co-main event. At the weigh-ins, Archuleta weighed in at 140.65 pounds, 5.65 pounds over the limit. As a result, Archuleta was stripped of the title and only Asakura will be eligible to win it.

In the featherweight division, a clash between two former champions should took place at the event when Kleber Koike Erbst meets Yutaka Saito.

A flyweight bout between 2021 Rizin Bantamweight Grand Prix winner Hiromasa Ougikubo and current BKFC Flyweight champion John Dodson took place at the event.

A 155-pound catchweight kickboxing bout between former K-1 Super Lightweight champion Rukiya Anpo and former K-1 Super Welterweight champion Minoru Kimura was expected to take place at the event. However, the fight was cancelled after Kimura tested positive for a banned substance once again. He was replaced by former K-1 Welterweight Champion Yuta Kubo in a MMA special rules bout.