Two of Rizin's most popular fighters, Mirai Asakura and Ren Hiramoto, will face off in Super RIZIN 3. Photo courtesy of Rizin FF.
One of Japan's biggest mixed martial arts matches was announced at the press conference for Rizin's summer show, Super Rizin 3, on Saturday. The hugely popular Mirai Asakura (17 wins, 4 losses) will face former K-1 kickboxer and social media bad boy Ren Hiramoto (3-3). The match is being promoted as “Two Villains: The Match in the Dark.” The two sides have been taunting and taunting each other for many years, but they will finally settle the score on July 28th at the Saitama Super Arena.
Asakura has been feeling defeated lately. He lost the inaugural featherweight championship last year to former champion Vugal Karamov. He then lost an open finger glove kickboxing match to Yurman on Rise's show “Fight Club”. His last victory was against former featherweight champion Juntaro Ushiku. He also runs the viral promotion 'Breaking Down'. Breaking Down usually features one round of matches involving gangsters, criminals, and outcast Japanese. The fight has garnered millions of views on TikTok and YouTube.
Ren Hiramoto is a former K-1 kickboxing tournament runner-up. He turned to MMA in 2020, training alongside Sergio Pettis and other world-class fighters at Roofsport. Despite his 3-3 record, he remains one of Rizin's most popular fighters, with his matches garnering millions of views on YouTube. In his last fight, he defeated kickboxer-turned-MMA fighter Yaaman by unanimous decision on New Year's Eve.
At the press conference, both said they would retire if they lost to the other.
Regarding this fight, Hiramoto wrote on Twitter/X, “I'm saving my first KO win for this fight…The loser retires…This will be Asakura's retirement fight.''
Rizin also announced that it will use the stadium portion of SSA, which can accommodate more seats. The stadium can accommodate approximately 30,000 people.
No other matches have been announced at this time.
