Four-man heavyweight tournament official for Rizin 54 starting Aug. 11

Nothing quite gets the blood flowing in the combat sports world like a tournament.

Rizin Fighting Federation made a trio of big announcements on Thursday ahead of what it plans to be a massive fall. For starters, it put Rizin 54 on the books, which is set to go down at the Toyota Arena in Tokyo on Aug. 11. No fights are official for the event, although it did schedule the first round of the 2026 heavyweight tournament for that date.

Three of the four big men are official for that tournament, with Rizin possibly hashing the fourth member out at an upcoming Landmark event. First repping the largest standard weight class will be karateka Mikio Ueda (5-3), who put himself on the map in 2021 by attempting to complete the 100-man kumite where he had to fight and defeat 100 different fighters in consecutive combat. Ueda reached the 60th athlete and the doctor ruled he could no longer continue. As a Rizin fighter, the 30-year-old has notched four knockouts under its banner, but all three of his defeats have been by stoppage as well.

The second heavyweight up for a prize of 5 million yen—this currently converts to about $31,337—is another fighter who largely made his bones as a Rizin fighter. Just 3-0 as a professional, Osaka, Japan’s King Edokpolo will be entering into the heavyweight tournament. His pro debut came in March 2024, where he stomped out a man who called himself Terry Wakanda in 32 seconds. A pair of knockouts in the Rizin ring propelled him into this large opportunity.

A Rizin staple takes third

Taking the third spot, with matchups still to be determined, will be Rizin veteran Tsuyoshi Kamiyama (9-4), also known as “Tsuyoshi Sudario,” a sumo who once reached the juryo division back in 2018. Leaving that sport behind in 2019 in part due to his poor conduct towards teammates and staff, the 28-year-old signed onto MMA in 2020 and has not looked back. All 13 of his pro outings have come in the Rizin ring or cage, with eight of nine victories by knockout.

The fourth and final athlete has yet to be selected. The promotion did add that it has booked a heavyweight tilt on June 6 at Rizin Landmark 14 between (15-14) and “Takakenshin” (3-4)—the latter the younger brother of the aforementioned “Sudario.”