2015 in Rizin Fighting Federation
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The year 2015 was the first year in the history of the Rizin Fighting Federation, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. Only two events were held this year, both consisting of the Rizin World Grand-Prix 2015. Rizin events are broadcast through a television agreement with Fuji Television.
Background
On September 19, 2015 during Bellator 142 Dynamite 1 event, it was announced that Pride FC co-founder Nobuyuki Sakakibara had signed former Pride Heavyweight Champion The Last Emperor Fedor Emelianenko to headline his new promotion's New Year's Eve Show in Tokyo.
On October 8, 2015 The former President of Pride FC, Sakakibara held a press conference to announce his return to MMA with Rizin Fighting Federation.
Sakakibara returned to mainstream MMA, along with Nobuhiko Takada and other former Pride FC employees.
Rizin partnered with Bellator MMA to allow former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion, Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal to compete the Rizin's inaugural grand prix. Eventually, King Mo won the 8 man under 100 kg tournament with a prize of $300,000.
List of events
| # | Event | Date | Venue | Location | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rizin World Grand Prix 2015: Part 1 - Saraba | December 29, 2015 | Saitama Super Arena | Japan Saitama, Japan | 12,214 |
| 2 | Rizin World Grand Prix 2015: Part 2 - Iza | December 31, 2015 | Saitama Super Arena | Japan Saitama, Japan | 18,365 |
100 kg World Grand-Prix bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
| United States Muhammed Lawal | KO | |||||||||||||
| England Brett McDermott | 1r. | |||||||||||||
| United States Muhammed Lawal | DEC | |||||||||||||
| Lithuania Teodoras Aukštuolis | 3r. | |||||||||||||
| Lithuania Teodoras Aukštuolis | KO | |||||||||||||
| Brazil Bruno Cappelozza | 1r. | |||||||||||||
| United States Muhammed Lawal | KO | |||||||||||||
| Czech Republic Jiří Procházka | 1r. | |||||||||||||
| Japan Satoshi Ishii | 1r. | |||||||||||||
| Czech Republic Jiří Procházka | KO | |||||||||||||
| Czech Republic Jiří Procházka | TKO | |||||||||||||
| Russia Vadim Nemkov | 1r. | |||||||||||||
| Croatia Goran Reljić | 1r. | |||||||||||||
| Russia Vadim Nemkov | KO |
Rizin World Grand Prix 2015: Part 1 - Saraba
Rizin World Grand Prix 2015: Part 1 - Saraba was an inaugural mixed martial arts event held by the Rizin Fighting Federation on December 29, 2015 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Results
| Fight Card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight Class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Welterweight 77 kg | Japan Shinya Aoki | def. | Japan Kazushi Sakuraba | TKO (Corner Stoppage) | 1 | 5:56 | |
| Grand-Prix 100 kg | Czech Republic Jiří Procházka | def. | Japan Satoshi Ishii | KO (Knees) | 1 | 1:36 | RIZIN World Grand Prix 2015 Quarter-Finals |
| Grand-Prix 100 kg | Russia Vadim Nemkov | def. | Croatia Goran Reljić | KO (Punches) | 1 | 2:58 | RIZIN World Grand Prix 2015 Quarter-Finals |
| Grand-Prix 100 kg | Lithuania Teodoras Aukštuolis | def. | Brazil Bruno Cappelozza | KO (Punches) | 1 | 4:32 | RIZIN World Grand Prix 2015 Quarter-Finals |
| Grand-Prix 100 kg | United States Muhammed Lawal | def. | England Brett McDermott | KO (Punches) | 1 | 9:10 | RIZIN World Grand Prix 2015 Quarter-Finals |
| Grand-Prix 100 kg | Russia Valentin Moldavsky | def. | Japan Yuta Uchida | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | 1 | 2:20 | RIZIN World Grand Prix 2015 Reserve Fight |
| Featherweight 66 kg | Japan Hiroyuki Takaya | def. | Japan Daiki Hata | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 20:00 | |
| Bantamweight 61 kg | Japan Hideo Tokoro | def. | Japan Kizaemon Saiga | Submission (Armbar) | 1 | 5:16 | |
| Middleweight 84 kg | Russia Anatoly Tokov | def. | United States A.J. Matthews | TKO (Punches) | 1 | 0:55 | |
| K-1 Lightweight 70 kg | Japan Hinata | def. | Japan Kazuyuki Miyata | TKO (3 knockdowns) | 1 | 2:14 | |
| K-1 Featherweight 66 kg | Japan Hiroya | def. | Japan Akiyo Nishiura | KO (Punches) | 3 | 7:20 | |
| Flyweight 57 kg | Brazil Felipe Efrain | def. | Japan Yuki Motoya | No Contest | 1 | 5:45 | Originally a 1st round TKO win by Efrain. Ends in a No Contest, Efrain Missed Weight. |
| Heavyweight 120 kg | Russia Kirill Sidelnikov | def. | Brazil Carlos Toyota | TKO (Punches) | 1 | 2:23 | |
| Heavyweight 120 kg | Japan Tsuyoshi Kosaka | def. | England James Thompson | TKO (Punches) | 2 | 11:58 |
Rizin World Grand Prix 2015: Part 2 - Iza
Rizin World Grand Prix 2015: Part 2 - Iza was a mixed martial arts event held by the Rizin Fighting Federation on December 31, 2015 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Results
| Fight Card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight Class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Grand-Prix 100 kg | United States Muhammed Lawal | def. | Czech Republic Jiří Procházka | KO (Punches) | 1 | 5:09 | RIZIN World Grand Prix 2015 Final |
| Heavyweight 120 kg | Russia Fedor Emelianenko | def. | India Singh Jaideep | TKO（Punches） | 1 | 3:02 | |
| Featherweight 66 kg | Brazil Kron Gracie | def. | Japan Erson Yamamoto | Submission (Triangle Choke) | 1 | 4:58 | |
| Catchweight 72.5 kg | Netherlands Andy Souwer | def. | Japan Yuichiro Nagashima | KO (Punches) | 1 | 5:28 | |
| Openweight | Estonia Baruto Kaito | def. | Netherlands Peter Aerts | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 9:00 | |
| Shootboxing 100+ kg | United States Bob Sapp | def. | Japan Akebono Tarō | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 15:00 | |
| Female Light Heavyweight 93 kg | Brazil Gabrielle Garcia | def. | Tonga Lei'D Tapa | TKO (Referee Stoppage) | 1 | 2:36 | |
| K-1 Flyweight 57 kg | Japan Takeru | def. | China Yang Ming | TKO (Referee Stoppage) | 2 | 6:00 | |
| Bantamweight 61 kg | South Korea Soo Chul Kim | def. | Brazil Maike Linhares | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 20:00 | |
| Catchweight 81 kg | United States Brennan Ward | def. | Japan Ken Hasegawa | Submission (Rear Naked Choke) | 2 | 11:52 | |
| Grand-Prix 100 kg | Czech Republic Jiří Procházka | def. | Russia Vadim Nemkov | TKO (Retirement) | 1 | 10:00 | RIZIN World Grand Prix 2015 Semi-Finals |
| Grand-Prix 100 kg | United States Muhammed Lawal | def. | Lithuania Teodoras Aukštuolis | Decision (Unanimous) | 2 | 15:00 | RIZIN World Grand Prix 2015 Semi-Finals |
| Female Strawweight 52 kg | Japan Rena Kubota | def. | Italy Jleana Valentino | Submission (Armbar) | 2 | 8:31 |