Three Lightweight Tournament Qualifying Bouts Set for Rizin 17 on July 28

Rizin 17 will include a trio of lightweight bouts that will determine qualifiers for the promotion’s upcoming grand prix.

The Japanese organization announced the following three qualifying contests on Wednesday: Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Ali Abdulkhalikov; Satoru Kitaoka vs. Johnny Case and Roberto Satoshi vs. Mizuto Hirota. The winners will enter the lightweight tournament at Rizin 19 on Oct 12.

The promotion also confirmed that more qualifying matchups will take place at Rizin 18, although the date and location for that event have yet to be revealed. Additionally, Bellator lightweight talent Patricky Freire is expected to compete in the grand prix. It is unclear if he will be booked in a qualifying bout.

Rizin 17 takes place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, on July 28 and will also see Road atomweight queen Seo Hee Ham make her promotional debut against Tomo Maesawa. A light heavyweight pairing pitting Jake Heun against Vitaly Shemetov will also take place at the event. Finally, Bellator Kickboxing competitor Kevin Ross will face Tenshin Nasukawa teammate Daiki Watabe in a cross-promotional kickboxing bout at Rizin 17.