Luiz Gustavo knocks out Ilhom Nazimov to win lightweight title at Rizin 53

Featherweight contender Ryo Takagi (11-3, 5-2 Rizin) spoiled the Rizin debut of former Road to UFC finalist Kaiwen Li (16-8, 0-1 Rizin) and finished the Chinese standout in the first round. Li got off to a good start with a nice combination of punches and Takagi soon responded with two knees to the body. He landed a looping right hook to Li’s temple that scrambled his brain and put him on roller skates. Li fell to the ground and Takagi landed a few more follow-up punches for the knockout win at the 1:38 mark of Round 1.

Opening up the main card, Shinobu Ota (8-5, 7-5 Rizin) dominated Yuto Hokamura (16-16-2, 4-8 Rizin) en route to a second-round submission finish at bantamweight. Following an exchange of leg and body kicks in the first round, Ota took Hokamura down twice and he did a significant amount of damage with punches and knees that came close to ending the fight. Hokamura recovered and got to his feet, and he staggered Ota with a four-punch combo before the bell. In the second round, Ota put Hokamura on the mat again. He landed punches and shoulder strikes from the top until he was able to lock on an arm-triangle choke that forced Hokamura to tap out at the 4:25 mark of Round 2.

The lone women’s MMA bout on the card was a 113-pound catchweight contest between the highly popular Keito Oyama (10-8, 3-2 Rizin) and former Combate Global and Invicta FC competitor Katie Perez (7-11, 0-1 Rizin). Early in the fight, Perez countered her opponent’s superior boxing by pulling guard, but “Kate Lotus” escaped to her feet and landed punches and knees. Oyama hurt Perez with more punches and knees in the second stanza, and she countered a takedown with elbows to the side of Perez’s head. The round ended with Perez stuck in a triangle choke. Oyama attempted rear-naked chokes in the final round until Perez took top position and landed knees and elbows to her face. Oyama got back into top position later in the round and scored with knees of her own. All three judges scored the fight in favor of Oyama for a unanimous decision victory.

A lightweight bout between prospect Sho Patrick Usami (9-5, 5-3 Rizin) and former Pancrase champion Tatsuya Saika (14-8, 1-4 Rizin) ended in devastating fashion when Usami knocked Saika out with an early left hook. Usami wobbled Saika early and often with lead left hands. Following an exchange in close, Saika took a step back and Usami floored him with one more left hook for the knockout at the 1:38 mark of Round 1.

After being largely dominated for two rounds, Cage Fury champion Ryan Cafaro (15-6, 1 NC; 1-0 Rizin) took advantage of a mistake from Koyomi Matsushima (15-8, 0-1 Rizin) and tapped him out with a rarely-seen inverted guillotine choke. Matsushima dropped Cafaro with a head kick and punches in the first round of the featherweight bout, and threatened with chokes on the ground, but he was unable to put the American away. Cafaro did stun Matsushima momentarily with a right hook in Round 2, but the middle frame was controlled by Matsushima’s kicks that targeted Cafaro’s liver. In the final round, the fighters scrambled on the ground and Cafaro secured a guillotine choke. Matsushima tried to spin in order to escape, but Cafaro simply adjusted his grip to an inverted guillotine choke – also known as a “dragon sleeper” in professional wrestling – and Matsushima hastily tapped out at the 2:23 mark of Round 3. This was a very impressive comeback by Cafaro.

Daiki Tsubota (13-13-3, 2-1 Rizin) handed striker Genji Umeno (2-1, 2-1 Rizin) his first MMA loss in quick and decisive fashion at bantamweight. Tsubota pulled Umeno down into his guard and threw elbows from the bottom until he was able to lock on a triangle choke that forced a dejected Umeno to submit at the 2:37 mark of Round 1.

A 137-pound catchweight contest predictably ended early in the first round when Ryoma Shishimoto (4-0, 2-0 Rizin) – better known as “Jolly” – embarrassed former kickboxer Kenshin Kodama (0-1, 0-1 Rizin) with his vastly superior grappling. Shishimoto pulled guard and trapped Kodama in an armbar during the opening minute. Kodama tried in vain to spin free, but Shishimoto pulled back on the arm again and referee Takashi Hashimoto wisely waved off the bout at the 1:11 mark.

Despite getting dropped four times – and nearly finished twice – during a very rough first round, Joe Hiramoto (3-2, 3-1 Rizin) valiantly fought on and ultimately avenged an amateur loss by stopping rival Seiya Ameyama (6-4, 1 NC; 0-2 Rizin) early in the second round of their flyweight matchup. Ameyama scored three knockdowns with left hooks early on, but Hiramoto refused to quit and he wounded Ameyama with punches after getting back to his feet. Undeterred, Ameyama dropped Hiramoto one more time and came close again to finishing him with elbows. Hiramoto got back to his feet once more and he attacked Ameyama’s liver with kicks. Hiramoto dropped Ameyama with a front kick to the liver and instantly secured a rear-naked choke that forced Ameyama to submit just 27 seconds into Round 2. Incredible heart and perseverance was shown by Hiramoto in victory.

Opening up the middle portion of the card, Kouki Nakagawa (13-6, 1 NC; 2-0 Rizin) overcame three groin strikes and took a well-deserved unanimous decision victory over Jake Wilkins (5-4, 0-1 Rizin) in featherweight action. In the first two rounds, Nakagawa got off to good starts with his boxing before his offense slowed. That allowed Wilkins to land some strikes of his own, though one was an inadvertent kick to Nakagawa’s groin, but Nakagawa reversed a takedown and mounted Wilkins before the end of the second round. In the final frame, Nakagawa was immediately kneed in the groin and took some time to recover. He dropped Wilkins with a right hand after the restart, and tried to finish him with chokes on the ground, but Wilkins escaped. For good measure, Nakagawa was kicked one more time in the groin, and this time it resulted in Wilkins being given a yellow card. The messy fight continued and both men hurt each other with right hooks at the same time. All three judges scored the bout in Nakagawa’s favor.

On the preliminary card, Souru Hamaguchi (7-4, 1-0 Rizin) knocked out Haruto Sunada (3-1, 1 NC; 0-1 Rizin) with punches from mount at the 2:33 mark of Round 1 in a flyweight MMA bout; Yushi defeated Asatarou via unanimous decision in a 137-pound kickboxing match; Hinata Kitano won her 102-pound kickboxing bout against Juna Koda via unanimous decision; and Shota opened up the card by posting a unanimous decision win against Tomoya Sudo in flyweight kickboxing action.