The new year is upon us and that means another slate of big RIZIN Fighting Federation match ups to look forward to.
As is tradition, the promotion closed out the mixed martial arts (MMA) calendar with a great New Year’s Eve show, RIZIN 45, which produced several great performances and highlights.
One of those showings resulted in a victory by unanimous decision for the newcomer, Vince Morales, who defeated Japanese Bantamweight stalwart, Yuki Motoya. America’s Morales has been gaining momentum and improving with each fight since his departure from Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in late 2022 and now has a world of opportunity awaiting him.
Returning to action for the first time since 2021 will be South Korea’s YuRi Shim when she faces superstar Atomweight contender, Rena Kubota, at RIZIN 46 on March 23, 2024. Shim, 29, last fought in a title-capturing effort against Jeong Eun Park in ROAD Fighting Championship and now makes her debut in the RIZIN ring. For a while, she wasn’t sure if she’d ever fight again and explained why on the latest installment of BROADENED HORIZIN.
Closing things out, Featherweight contender, Suguru Nii, joined the show to reflect on his devastating second round knockout of Satoshi Yamasu at RIZIN 45 (watch highlights). Nii has positioned himself in a prime spot for a massive 2024 campaign with five straight finishes on his resume. Ideally, he’ll be in the title picture in his next fight.
Watch the full episode in the video embedded above or listen on Spotify.
BROADENED HORIZIN Ep. 35 AUDIO – 以下の日本語版:
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
