Razhabali Shaidulloev is now a two-promotion featherweight champion after defeating A.J. McKee for the RIZIN and PFL belts in the main event of Thursday’s Super RIZIN 5 in Osaka, Japan.
Competing in front of nearly 49,000 fans inside the Kyosera Dome Osaka, Shaidulloev controlled McKee in a hard-fought battle across three rounds to walk again with both titles and improve to 19-0 as a professional MMA fighter.
McKee rocked Shaidulloev early, but the undefeated featherweight kept his composure and slammed
McKee on the ground immediately after. McKee threatened with a choke, but Shaidulloev had no problem escaping and battling for position in grappling for the remaining of the round.
Shaidulloev came back more aggressive in the second and hurt McKee with a couple of hands to the head and a body kick. McKee appeared exhausted, and Shaidulloev spent the rest of the round working on ground and pound attacks.
McKee needed a finish in the third round, the first time Shaidulloev has gone that long in a fight, and fired off knees early on. Shaidulloev took him back to the ground and McKee managed to take his back at one point, scored another takedown late, but wasn’t able to do much with it.
Shaidulloev walks away with two belts after a unanimous decision victory, a 30-27 score for all three judges. He announced during his post-fight interview he only has one bout left in his deal with the Japanese organization.
Kyoma Akimoto, on a six-fight winning streak after beating former champion Kleber Koike in August, entered the ring afterwards to face off with Shaidulloev for a potential title bout.
Shinya Aoki was looking for closure in his return to RIZIN 11 years after his sole appearance in the promotion, but it was Mikuru Asakura with the last laugh in the co-main event fight of Super RIZIN 5.
Aoki appeared to be close to turning back the clock after taking Asakura’s back early in the fight and working on a rear-naked choke attempt, but going for an armbar proved to be a big mistake after Asakura escaped from danger and went on to pound his head multiple times for a violent first-round knockout.
Ren Hiramoto opened the main card with a controversial victory over Karshyga Dautbek. The Kazakhstani entered the ring on a 12-fight unbeaten streak and rocked Hiramoto in the first round but was unable to secure the finish.
The next rounds were closer, but two of the three judges saw an advantage for the Japanese striker despite Dautbek having better moments in the final stanza. Hiramoto walked away with a split decision win, with the dissenting judge scoring it 29-27 in favor of Dautbek.
In the preliminary portion of the card, former RIZIN lightweight champion Roberto Satoshi rebounded from a title loss to Ilkhom Nazimov with a comfortable victory over Shunta Nomura, forcing the Japanese lightweight to hang with him on his back for a good portion of rounds one and three to win a unanimous decision.
In his post-fight interview, Satoshi revealed he wasn’t able to perform at his best after dislocating his shoulder in the first round, and asked for a shot at the belt on the traditional New Years’ Eve card. Satoshi holds a 21-second knockout victory over current RIZIN titleholder Luiz Gustavo.
Check the complete Super RIZIN 5 results below.
Razhabali Shaidulloev def. A.J. McKee via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Mikuru Asakura def. Shinya Aoki via knockout — Round 1, 2:39
Ren Hiramoto def. Karshyga Dautbek via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 27-29)
Roberto Satoshi def. Shunta Nomura via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Yutaka Saito def. Ren “Ya-Man” Sugiyama via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Vugar Karamov def. Ryo Takagi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Natalia Kuziutina def. Rena Kubota via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 2, 3:14
Hide Meison Usami def. Noah Bey via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-25) — kickboxing
