Atomweight Quarterfinals, 15 Total Bouts Set for Rizin 37 on July 31

Fight announcements for RIZIN 37 from 2pm JST! Live translation thread will be provided here on our official English Twitter account!

Stay tuned for some great matchups! https://t.co/zTXgTaVeB9

— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) July 7, 2022

Rizin Fighting Federation has made the lineup for its 2022 return to the Saitama Super Arena one to remember.

The organization sent out its press release on Thursday morning confirming the 15-bout listing for Rizin 37. This July 31 fight card will post up inside the iconic Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and it will feature the opening round of its first women’s atomweight tournament since 2017. A few matchups have been added, including Marcos Yoshio Souza vs. Daichi Abe at a 176-pound catchweight, while Sora Yamamoto will also be joining the event against Vugar Karamov by replacing Rikuto Shirakawa.

While much of the event had already been put together earlier in July, the entirety of the 2022 Super Atomweight Grand Prix – as titled by the promotion – is on the books. If the billing remains in this order, it will begin with a battle of unbeatens when divisional champ Seika Izawa (6-0) meets Maria Laura Alves Fontoura (7-0). Following that match, former champ Ayaka Hamasaki (23-5) will square off with WMMA pioneer Jessica Aguilar (20-9). The co-main event will see 2017 tourney champ Kanna Asakura (19-6) face Si Woo Park (7-4), while the current headliner places Rena Kubota (12-4) against relative neophyte Anastasiya Svetkivska (2-0).

Per Rizin head Nobuyuki Sakakibara in a recent press conference, the semifinals will be held in September, while the finals will take place at traditional New Year’s Eve show.

“The semi-finals will take place at the end of September,” Sakakibara stated. “Finals on NYE. We will not hold two fights in one [event] this time. The way of semi-finals matchups are not determined yet.”

Although not set in stone, the current plan is for Hideki Sekine (12-5) to match up with Tsuyoshi Kamiyama (4-1) – also known as Tsuyoshi Sudario – in the highest-featured non-tournament bout on the card. The intermission has not yet been determined, but additional pairings with high places on the card include a lightweight contest between Johnny Case (27-8-1) and Koji Takeda (13-3), a featherweight clash pitting Karamov (16-4) against replacement Yamamoto (12-4) and a 145-pound affair between Yuta Sasaki (23-10-2) and Yoshiki Nakahara (15-5).

Rizin 37 Lineup:

Rena Kubota vs. Anastasiya Svetkivska – women’s atomweight quarterfinal
Kanna Asakura vs. Si Woo Park – women’s atomweight quarterfinal
Ayaka Hamasaki vs. Jessica Aguilar – women’s atomweight quarterfinal
Seika Izawa vs. Maria Laura Alves Fontoura – women’s atomweight quarterfinal
Hideki Sekine vs. Tsuyoshi Kamiyama – heavyweight
Johnny Case vs. Koji Takeda – lightweight
Vugar Karamov vs. Sora Yamamoto – featherweight
Yuta Sasaki vs. Yoshiki Nakahara – featherweight
Kota Miura vs. Felipe Masoni – featherweight
Yushi Sakura vs. Takeru Sudo – 137-pound catchweight
Naoki Inoue vs. Kenta Takizawa – bantamweight
Yuki Motoya vs. Shinobu Ota – bantamweight
Hideo Tokoro vs. Makoto Takahashi – flyweight
Marcos Yoshio Souza vs. Daichi Abe – 176-pound catchweight
Ryusei vs. Kaishi – 128-pound catchweight kickboxing