Rizin Fighting Federation

In 1997, Pride Fighting Championships was founded in Japan, promoted by Dream Stage Entertainment. The organization quickly rose up to become the world's most popular MMA promotion and helped to popularize the sport in Japan and in the world. Pride differentiated itself from the UFC with its focus on spectacle and entertainment, as well a more permissive ruleset.[9] By 2007, a scandal alleging its ties to the yakuza caused a financial decline that lead to the promotion folding. Dream Stage Entertainment was bought by Zuffa—UFC's holding company—which initially promised to keep the event running. However, Zuffa would lay off most of Pride's staff with several Pride fighters moving to the UFC.[9]

After Pride folded, most of DSE's former staff, fighters and executives joined Fighting and Entertainment Group, the promoters of K-1, to organize a successor, which became known as Dream.[10] However, FEG would have its own financial issues and went bankrupt in 2012. As a result, Dream became defunct.[11]

Three years after Dream folded, rumors began circulating that Pride and Dream founder Nobuyuki Sakakibara would return to the industry after an interview with Bellator MMA President Scott Coker was released.[12] On September 19, 2015, during Bellator MMA & Glory: Dynamite 1, it was announced that Sakakibara had signed former Pride Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko to headline a New Year's Eve Show in Tokyo for his new MMA promotion.[13] Sakakibara held a press conference on October 8, 2015, with Nobuhiko Takada and other former Pride FC employees to formally announce the launch of "Rizin Fighting Federation".[14] Initial signees included Kazushi Sakuraba, Shinya Aoki, as well as female competitors Gabi Garcia and Rena Kubota.[15]

A Grand Prix tournament was announced (held at 100 kg or roughly 220 lbs), with champions and competitors from Bellator, KSW, Jungle Fight,[16] BAMMA, and King of Kings. Most notably, King Mo was announced to represent Bellator in the tournament.[17] The 8-man bracket was officially finalized on November 30, 2015, with other bouts also being announced shortly thereafter.[18][19][20][21] Kron Gracie (whose father Rickson competed at the inaugural PRIDE event) was announced to participate against Asen Yamamoto.[22] Amongst the veterans in the Japanese scene, Tsuyoshi Kosaka would face James Thompson,[23] and Akebono Tarō would face Bob Sapp.[24]

Initial plans were to do at least four events per year, as opposed to the more frequent scheduling of other promotions, in order to build up the excitement and anticipation.[25] Rizin's presentation is modeled after major sporting events, such as the UEFA Champions League and FIFA World Cup.[26]

In 2018, it was announced that the main event for the traditional New Year's Eve card (Rizin 14) was going to be a boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and undefeated Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa.[27] The match ended up with Nasukawa knocked out two minutes into the first round.[28]

Rizin Trigger 1st, on November 11, 2021, would be Rizin's first event in which matches would take place inside a cage, instead of the traditional roped ring.[29]

On December 31, 2022, as the traditional New Year's Eve event, Rizin hosted a crossover Bellator vs Rizin card with Bellator MMA as part of Rizin 40.[30] The card saw fighters from each promotion fight each other.[31] The card saw Bellator MMA fighters Gadzhi Rabadanov, former champions A.J. McKee, Juan Archuleta and Kyoji Horiguchi, and current champion Patricio Freire, fighting against Rizin representatives Koji Takeda, Soo Chul Kim, Hiromasa Ougikubo and champions Kleber Koike Erbst and Roberto de Souza. All five Bellator representatives would win their matches in a clean sweep.[32] During the event, former boxing world champion Manny Pacquiao made a public announcement that he had signed with Rizin for a boxing exhibition match against an yet-unannounced opponent.[33]

During the Super Rizin 2 card on July 30, 2023, the promotion announced their first international event, Rizin Landmark 7, to take place in Azerbaijan on November 4.[34] It will also be the first major MMA event to take place in the country.[35]

The rules in Rizin FF have been adopted from Pride FC with some slight modifications over the years. Matches are three rounds in length. Prior to May 2018, the first round of men's matches spanned 10 minutes, while the final two rounds lasted five minutes each. Since then matches have been three rounds of five minutes each. Victory can be attained by knockout, submission, technical knockout by referee stoppage, or by judges' decision.

All strikes, throws and chokes are permitted, with the exception of headbutts and strikes to the back of the head, medulla oblongata, spinal cord or genitals.[46] Soccer kicks, knees and stomps to grounded opponents are also permitted. However, if there is a weight discrepancy of 15 kg (33 lb) or more, the lighter fighter is allowed to choose if such ground attacks are permitted.[46] Unlike Pride, Rizin allows the use of elbow strikes, including the 12–6 elbow.[47]

Fights are judged on the following criteria:[46]

• Damage: when assessing damage, both striking and grappling are given the same weight. The judges will place value on the extent to which the effective striking or grappling 'influences the match' - in other words, whether there was such damage/advantage to the fighter which would have led to the fight being ended by the opponent tapping out or being knocked out.
• Aggressiveness: the judges will consider which fighter was more effective in delivering attacks which may end the fight in a finish. Note this element does not take into consideration the actual impact of damage caused by the fighter's strikes, throws or submission. Rather, the judges will place value on whether fighters were aggressive and proactive in their approach during the fight.
• Generalship: the judges will consider which fighter was more effective in dominating the pace, place and position of the fight. Judges will also consider the amount of time spent in a ground position or the standing position.

Although not outlined in the Rizin rules, scorecards published on the JMOC website suggest that damage, aggressiveness and generalship are scored 50, 30 and 20 points respectively. Where the fighter has not fulfilled the element, they are given a score of zero - there are no in-betweens.[47]

Rizin kickboxing matches are three rounds of three minutes each. Victory can be attained by knockout, technical knockout by referee stoppage, or by judges' decision. If the match goes the distance, a 10-point system is used to judge.[46] Three knockdowns in a single round will result in a technical knockout.[46] All forms of elbow strikes are illegal.[46]

Weight limit: 95 kg (209.4 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign	Defenses
1	Jiří Procházka def. Muhammed Lawal	Rizin 15 Yokohama, Japan	April 21, 2019	269 days	1. def. C. B. Dollaway at Rizin 20 on Dec 31, 2019
Procházka vacated the title on January 15, 2020 after he signed with UFC.[51]

Weight limit: 71 kg (156.5 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign	Defenses
1	Roberto de Souza def. Tofiq Musayev	Rizin 28 Tokyo, Japan	June 13, 2021	858 days (incumbent)	1. def. Yusuke Yachi at Rizin 33 on December 31, 2021 2. def. Johnny Case at Rizin 35 on April 17, 2022

Weight limit: 66 kg (145.5 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign	Defenses
1	Yutaka Saito def. Mikuru Asakura	Rizin 25 Osaka, Japan	November 21, 2020	337 days
2	Juntaro Ushiku	Rizin 31 Yokohama, Japan	October 24, 2021	364 days	1. def. Yutaka Saito at Rizin 35 on April 17, 2022
3	Kleber Koike Erbst	Rizin 39 Fukuoka, Japan	October 23, 2022	243 days
Koike was stripped of the title on June 23, 2023 after failing to make weight for his title defense against Chihiro Suzuki at Rizin 43.[52]
4	Vugar Karamov def. Mikuru Asakura	Super Rizin 2 Saitama, Japan	July 30, 2023	81 days (incumbent)

Weight limit: 61 kg (134.5 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign	Defenses
1	Kyoji Horiguchi def. Darrion Caldwell	Rizin 14 Saitama, Japan	December 31, 2018	318 days
Horiguchi vacated the title on November 14, 2019 after he was unable to defend the title due to injury.[53]
2	Manel Kape def. Kai Asakura	Rizin 20 Saitama, Japan	December 31, 2019	92 days
Kape vacated the title on April 1, 2020 after he signed with the UFC.[54]
3	Kai Asakura def. Hiromasa Ougikubo	Rizin 23 Yokohama, Japan	August 10, 2020	143 days
4	Kyoji Horiguchi (2)	Rizin 26 Saitama, Japan	December 31, 2020	730 days
Horiguchi vacated the title on December 31, 2022 after he moved down to Flyweight.
5	Juan Archuleta def. Hiromasa Ougikubo	Super Rizin 2 Saitama, Japan	July 30, 2023	81 days (incumbent)

Weight limit: 49 kg (108.0 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign	Defenses
1	Ayaka Hamasaki def. Kanna Asakura	Rizin 14 Saitama, Japan	December 31, 2018	365 days	1. def. Jinh Yu Frey at Rizin 16 on June 2, 2019
2	Seo Hee Ham	Rizin 20 Saitama, Japan	December 31, 2019	293 days
On October 19, Seo Hee Ham vacated her title after being unable to agree on her next fight with the organization and signed with ONE Championship.[55]
3	Ayaka Hamasaki (2) def. Miyuu Yamamoto	Rizin 26 Saitama, Japan	December 31, 2020	1,022 days	1. def. Kanna Asakura at Rizin 27 on March 21, 2021
4	Seika Izawa	Rizin 35 Chōfu, Japan	April 17, 2022	550 days	1. def. Claire Lopez at Super Rizin 2 on July 30, 2023