The Rizin 20 card is filling up with the addition of five fights as Kai Asakura faces Manel Kape for the vacant bantamweight title, Jiri Prochazka defends the light heavyweight title against CB Dollaway, Shintaro Ishiwatari faces Hiromasa Ogikubo, Satoshi Ishii faces Jake Heun and Vitaly Shemetov faces Simon Biyong.
Rizin announced the bouts today during a press conference.
Asakura (14-1-0) is undefeated thus far under the Rizin banner, which includes a victory over former bantamweight champion Kyoji Horiguchi at Rizin 18. Kape (14-4-0) enters the bout on a two fight winning streak, defeating the duo of Seiichiro Ito and Takeya Mizugaki.
Prochazka (25-3-1) is making the first defense of the championship, which he won by defeating King Mo at Rizin 15. Dollaway (17-9-0) is making his Rizin debut in this bout and is competing outside of the UFC for the first time in over a decade.
Ishiwatari (16-7-4) made it to the finals of the Rizin Bantamweight World Grand Prix before losing to the aforementioned Horiguchi. Ogikubo (19-4-2) is the current Shooto Flyweight Champion, defeating Kiyotaka Shimizu to win the gold.
Ishii (22-10-1) is competing for the first time since an unsuccessful run in the second season of the PFL, picking up a 1-2-0 record in that time. Heun (14-9-0) comes into the contest on the strength of a two fight winning streak, picking up wins over Roque Martinez and Vitaly Shemetov.
Shemetov (14-8-0-1NC) hasn’t picked up a victory in almost three years, with that last win coming over Shannon Ritch at The Legend King Championship 2. Biyong (6-1-0) is making his Rizin debut in this encounter and does so on the strength of a three fight winning streak.
Rizin 20 takes place on Tuesday, December 31 from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan with Kai Asakura and Mane Kape headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which streams live on Fite TV.
