Japanese flyweight fighter Sho Sekihara suffered an acute subdural hematoma during his RIZIN 55 fight with Takumi Hamada and is in critical condition, according to a statement put out by RIZIN officials.
The 33 year old Sekihara was slammed to the canvas on the back of his head by Hamada during their fight at the LaLa arena TOKYO-BAY in Chiba, Japan. He then took several punches before the referee stepped in to stop the fight with four seconds left in the third round. It was a bad looking knockout,
made worse by Sekihara’s history: four years prior, he’d suffered a subdural hematoma that almost ended his life and career.
Sekihara was stretchered out and now is fighting for his life in the hospital with another brain bleed.
“He lost consciousness due to an acute subdural hematoma and underwent emergency surgery at the Chiba Emergency Medical Center near the venue,” a statement from RIZING FF read (translated from Japanese). “The surgery was completed, and he managed to survive, but his condition suddenly deteriorated the following morning, requiring another operation. His condition remains critical, and his prognosis is still uncertain.”
Sekihara completely changed his fighting style following the 2022 hematoma, going from a striking heavy approach to grappling. But he still had a reputation for taking a decent amount of damage in fights, and his fight against Hamada has ended in tragedy.
There are real questions to be asked about whether Sekihara should even have been allowed to continue fighting following the first brain bleed. Japan has a bad track record in combat sports when it comes to these kinds of injuries. In 2025, two boxers on the same Japanese card died from brain injuries, leading to a call for change. This latest incident with Sekihara is a reminder that MMA is dangerous business and medical clearance shouldn’t be granted lightly.
Hopefully Sekihara pulls through and has a full recovery.
