Rizin to Stage First Event in Cage on Nov. 28 Titled Rizin ‘Trigger 1st’

#RIZIN_TRIGGER at the Kobe World Memorial Hall. Surging Featherweight contenders Shoji Maruyama and Kyohei Hagiwara headline the first event of the TRIGGER series. #RIZIN_TRIGGER 1st
2021.11.28[sun]
Kobe World Memorial Hall#RIZIN #MMAhttps://t.co/CCKpBqOiSz

— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) November 5, 2021

A new era in Rizin Fighting Federation history is set to begin later this month.

Per a press release from the promotion on Thursday, Rizin is officially putting on its Trigger 1st show on Nov. 28 at the Kobe World Memorial Hall in Kobe, Japan. The event will be unlike any other that the organization has put on, because the fights will be contested inside a cage and not a ring. This fight card is the first of its “Trigger” series, in which Rizin will make its transition to Cagefighting. The “Trigger” series will incorporate both MMA and kickboxing matches in a cage.

“There are many fighters who are looking to compete overseas, where the cage is more common,” Rizin head Nobuyuki Sakakibara said in the release. “We would like to provide opportunities to Rizin fighters to be able to compete in both platforms to prepare themselves for higher competition. Our original cage is currently being built, and hopefully it’s done on time.”

The event will be headlined by a featherweight matchup pitting Shoji Maruyama (17-14-1) against Kyohei Hagiwara (4-4). The bout will be Maruyama’s third with the organization, as the ex-Deep title challenger moved over to Rizin to face Kai Asakura in September 2020. While he came up short in that one, his second Rizin fight against Chihiro Suzuki went his way as he scored a knockout in 20 seconds. His opponent Hagiwara has competed under the Rizin banner one month longer than Maruyama, but he has appeared five times. A two-fight win streak ended in October when Mikuru Asakura captured a decision over him at the inaugural “Landmark” series event.

The co-main event draws a bantamweight battle between Hiroki Yamashita (8-9) and Mamoru Uoi (23-10-4), with the former a member of the bantamweight grand prix that was eliminated in June. Both men have struggled of late, with just two wins in their combined eight appearances dating back the last few years.

Rizin Trigger 1st Card Lineup

Shoji Maruyama vs. Kyohei Hagiwara – featherweight
Hiroki Yamashita vs. Mamoru Uoi – bantamweight
Tatsuki Saomoto vs. Takashi Matsuba – flyweight
Chihiro Suzuki vs. Sora Yamamoto – featherweight
Kiichi Kunimoto vs. Takahiro Kawanaka – welterweight
Ryuichiro Sumimura vs. Yusaku Kinoshita – welterweight
Makoto Kamaya vs. Daiki Tsubota – bantamweight
Keisuke Okuda vs. Grant Bogdanove - 161-pound catchweight
Kenji Kato vs. Katsuya Fujiwara – bantamweight
Hiroto Ichimura vs. Tepparith – bantamweight kickboxing
Tsubasa Morii vs. Fujimon – 120-pound catchweight kickboxing
Jin Mandokoro vs. Yu Hiramatsu – 117-pound catchweight kickboxing
Momoko Mandokoro vs. Miku – 101-pound catchweight kickboxing