Razhabali Shaidulloev remains the RIZIN featherweight champion after running through Japanese MMA’s biggest star.
In the main event of RIZIN Shiwasu no Cho Tsuwamono Matsuri—the promotion’s traditional New Year’s Eve show—in Saitama, Japan, Shaidulloev ended 2025 with a bang, destroying Asakura in under three minutes. Shaidulloev was coming off of back-to-back knockout wins and he added Asakura to his hit list to defend his 145-pound belt.
Shaidulloev took Asakura to the ground with a suplex, then
repeated the maneuver after Asakura returned to his feet. Asakura desperately worked to stay off the ground, but once Shaidulloev got a hold of him, he advanced to mount and forced Asakura to give up his back.
From there, Shaidulloev delivered a one-sided beatdown, raining down punches until the referee called the end of the bout. The 25-year-old Tajikistani featherweight is now 17-0 with 17 finishes, 15 of those in the opening round. Asakura had to be taken out of the ring on a stretcher.
RIZIN’s all-time longest-reigning champion Roberto Satoshi looked for his sixth title defense when he took on Ilhom Nozimov and it ended with a violent upset.
Satoshi and Nozimov, who replaced Shunta Nomura on short notice for the co-main event showdown, exchanged strikes right off the bat and Nozimov invited the champion to throw more. When the jiu-jitsu specialist shot for a double leg takedown, Nozimov fired a perfectly-timed knee to his jaw that left Satoshi out cold.
All it took was 13 seconds for Nozimov to become the new RIZIN lightweight champion.
The RIZIN flyweight title was up for grabs in the third to last fight of the night, with Hiromasa Ougikubo battling Yuki Motoya for the belt in the 125-pound grand prix final. The championship became vacant following Kyoji Horiguchi’s departure for the UFC in March.
Ougikubo won a unanimous decision after a 15-minute back-and-forth battle to claim RIZIN gold.
Check the complete RIZIN Shiwasu no Cho Tsuwamono Matsuri results below.
- Razhabali Shaidulloev def. Mikuru Asakura via KO — Round 1, 2:54
- Ilhom Nazimov def. Roberto Satoshi via KO — Round 1, 0:13
- Hiromasa Ougikubo def. Yuki Motoya via unanimous decision
- Danny Sabatello def. Naoki Inoue via split decision
- Seika Izawa def. Rena Kubota via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 2, 1:58
- Kleber Koike def. Vugar Karamov via unanimous decision
- Ryuya Fukuda def. Tatsuya Ando via KO — Round 2, 3:02
- Kyoma Akimoto def. Suguru Nii via KO — Round 1, 3:44
- Karshyga Dautbek vs. Yuta Kubo ends in no contest (eye poke) — Round 1, 3:15
- Makoto Takahashi def. Hiroya Kondo via unanimous decision
- Joji Goto def. Jose Torres via split decision
- Tatsuki Shinotsuka def. Daichi Tomizawa via KO — Round 2, 3:22
- Tatsuya Saika def. Noah Bey via KO — Round 2, 0:32
- Ryoma Shishimoto def. Ryusei Ashizawa via submission (armbar) — Round 1, 0:25
- Enzo Massami Iamazato def. Yuri Suda via submission (armbar) — Round 1, 3:15
