Tatsuya Kawajiri Tops Anthony Birchak, Kyoji Horiguchi Owns Yuki Motoya at Rizin 2017 in Yokohama

Heath Herring vs. Satoshi Ishii

Round 1

Herring comes out swinging but gets tied up by Ishii, who fails on his first throw attempt but brings Herring to the mat with a second. Ishii lands in side control on Herring’s left and begins roughing up the veteran with short punches and shoulder shrugs. Herring puts his feet on the ropes and tries to scoot away from Ishii, but the Olympic judo gold medalist stays heavy on top and maintains side control, landing isolated left hands while trying to advance position. Herring ties up one of Ishii's legs but can't actually replace guard. Herring explodes and bucks up to his knees, but Ishii halts him in the turtle position and controls his waist. Ishii tries to force Herring to put his belly on the mat, but Herring won't concede position. Ishii looks for a double wristlock from the back of turtle position to keep Herring down and then puts the Pride FC veteran back on the mat, settling right back into side control. Herring has no answer for Ishii, who maintains position while sprinkling in short lefts. “The Texas Crazy Horse” gets to his knees again, but Ishii grabs the waistlock and lands hooks on his ears again. The 10-minute opening round is halfway over. Herring rolls over onto his back, but Ishii looks for a kimura that makes Herring turn onto his hip, then give up turtle position again. Herring keeps scrambling, but nearly gets his back taken, then winds up right back on his knees in turtle position, with Ishii boxing his ears. The Japanese fighter looks for the back again, but settles for side control instead. Herring tries to control Ishii's head, but just winds up eating more short left hands. With 80 seconds to go, Herring gets to his feet, but Ishii is glued to his waist, kneeing the back of his thighs, then yanks him back to the canvas and rides the round out.

Round 2

The second round picks up where the first left off, as Herring tries to launch punches and Ishii instantly lands an overhand left then tackles him to the mat, quickly moving into side control. Herring shrimps and Ishii gets side control, trying to walk over Herring's legs and into full mount. Herring goes belly down briefly and Ishii feeds him left hands. Ishii tries to pull the American down and take his back, but Herring rolls over and gives up turtle position. Ishii tries for the back again, but winds up taking side control on top instead. The judoka controls Herring's head and looks to move into mount. With less than 10 seconds to, Herring tries to scramble up but gets nowhere. Sherdog.com scores the bout for Satoshi Ishii.

The Official Result

Satoshi Ishii def. Heath Herring via Decision (Unanimous) R2 5:00

Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Yuki Motoya

Round 1

After 10 seconds of feeling one another out, Motoya takesa leap at Horiguchi and eats a big right hand in the air. When Motoya lands, Horiguchi stays on him, tagging him with a running combination, then tripping him from the clinch. Motoya overhooks Horiguchi's arms and tries to stall him out, but Horiguchi frees himself and lands a heavy right hand from the top. Motoya jumps back to his feet quickly. Motoya approaches again and eats another big right hand, then a head kick, then a clinch knee. Motoya gets his wits back, then eats another right hand. Horiguchi is starting to piece him up, but Motoya changes levels and runs the former UFC title challenger to the mat with a well-timed takedown. Horiguchi gets double butterfly hooks and kicks Motoya away, leaping up, then tackling Motoya down. Horiguchi isn't dedicated to top position, so he keeps a loose posture that allows Motoya to pop back up again. Motoya throws a left head kick and Horiguchi partially catches it, clinching up, getting double underhooks and spinning Motoya to the mat. Hard right hands on top from Horiguchi, who postures up and swipes down at Motoya with lunging punches. Motoya ties up his foe, but Horiguchi moves from half guard, to side control, then briefly to full mount. Motoya bucks him off and Horiguchi simply stands again. Motoya lands a left hand, but Horiguchi kicks him in the ribs. Motoya jabs, but Horiguchi drills him with a faster, cleaner jab before Motoya can land. Two-piece for Horiguchi lands as he stalks Motoya, then changes levels, pops up and lands a right hook. Motoya takes another leap at Horiguchi and winds up in a body lock. They separate, but Motoya throws another body kick with no set up and walks right into a left hand from Horiguchi. They clinch again, Horiguchi gets a brief rear waistlock and as they break, clocks Motoya with a hard right. Another Motoya leap with no real strike, and again Horiguchi rips him with a right hand. Motoya keeps plodding along until he walks into yet another right hand from Horiguchi and this one collapses him to his knees. Horiguchi dives onto Motoya, taking his back and looking for the rear-naked choke. Horiguchi locks it up, but it's not perfectly below the jaw, so Motoya is able to turn out to the bottom of full mount, then shrimp to half guard with a minute left in the 10-minute opening round. Motoya just tries to hang onto Horiguchi, who stands up and stomps on his face. Motoya eats the stomp, then jumps back to his feet. Horiguchi stalks him back to the ropes, but can't unload any more artillery before the bell sounds.

Round 2

Despite the beating he took in the first round, Motoya throws back as Horiguchi swarms him, but winds up eating another big right hand, then Horiguchi casually tosses him to the mat. The American Top Team rep settles in half guard, while Motoya looks for a kimura from the bottom. The attempt goes nowhere. Horiguchi breaks his posture and looks to pound, but Motoya winds up sliding under the bottom rope and slipping out of the ring. Referee Jason Herzog brings them back in and when they're on the feet, Horiguchi lands another volley of punches, then elevates Motoya with a double-leg slam. The Deep product pops back up quickly as Horiguchi shows little interest in keeping him on the mat. Left body kick lands for Horiguchi, then Motoya takes a run at him and shoots a sloppy double. Horiguchi easily defends and winds up with a rear waistlock while Motoya tries for a standing kimura. Horiguchi just throws him to the mat to free his arm and allows Motoya to stand. With just over 60 seconds to go, Horiguchi winds up with another rear waistlock out of the clinch and the same sequence plays out, but this time, Motoya drops to the mat as he looks for the kimura. Horiguchi yanks his arm out and sets up in half guard. Motoya tries to overhook Horiguchi's arms, but eats a hard right hand. Horiguchi dives back on top and holds Motoya down until the fight expires.

The Official Result

Kyoji Horiguchi def. Yuki Motoya via Decision (Unanimous) R2 5:00

Amir Aliakbari vs. Geronimo dos Santos

Round 1

As soon as dos Santos closes in on Aliakbari and lets his hands go, the Greco-Roman wrestler clinches up and easily dos Santos on the mat. Aliakbari quickly moves into side control, then takes top crucifix position, knuckling the Brazilian up with short right hands and hammerfists. Dos Santos bucks and tries to escape but looks helpless off of his back as Aliakbari maintains the top crucifix and keeps pounding. “Mondragon” shifts his hips from side to side but gets nowhere and Aliakbari lays down another salvo of right hands. Dos Santos gets his head dribbled some more and shifts to his side. Aliakbari jams his forearm into dos Santos' throat, taking away some precious oxygen before going back to a steady stream of right hands. Dos Santos is absolutely trapped on bottom with no ability to escape from the crucifix. The AKA Thailand just stays heavy and keeps drilling dos Santos with punches until referee Hirokazu Takamoto is forced into action, ending the one-sided bout.

The Official Result

Amir Aliakbari def. Geronimo dos Santos via TKO (Punches) R1 3:36

Anthony Birchak vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri

Round 1

Both featherweights open with inside low kicks to start, but when Birchak throws a left roundhouse kick upstairs, Kawajiri catches it and dumps him on the mat. Birchak pops up quickly, but as he does, Kawajiri hangs onto a waistlock and drags him back to the canvas. Birchak tries to scramble back up, but when he goes belly down briefly, Kawajiri takes his back with both hooks. The Arizona native stands up anyhow, carrying Kawajiri like a backpack across the ring and moving to his corner. Kawajiri works for the rear-naked choke while Birchak repeatedly digs elbows into his thighs and calf. “Crusher” keeps working for the rear-naked choke but can't get further than a nasty crossface. More elbows to the legs from Birchak as Kawajiri sinks the body triangle around his torso. Just past the four-minute mark, Birchak shakes the former Shooto world champion, turns, faces and shoots. Kawajiri easily shuts it down, then gets a takedown of his own, landing in half guard. Birchak frames up a kimura from bottom, then catches Kawajiri in an armbar. Kawajiri patiently waits, stacks his man, then extricates his arm. For the last three munutes of the 10-minute opener, Kawajiri sits in full guard, landing punches and hammerfists with both hands, while Birchak tries to throw back from his guard. Birchak gets rubber guard briefly, moving to mission control, but he can't do anything with it before Kawajiri punches his way through his posture and resumes pounding away until the bell.

Round 2

Birchak attacks Kawajiri quickly, throwing his hands, then knocking the Japanese fighter back with a head kick. The strike prompts a shot from Kawajiri, but Birchak brilliantly counters with an uchimata, tossing Kawajiri. “Crusher” holds onto a whizzer, which he uses to scramble up, but Birchak sweeps him over and nearly takes full mount in a neat scramble. Instead, the Japanese fighter settles into Birchak's guard and gets busy trying to pass it. Birchak continues punching from the bottom, but Kawajiri easily moves to half guard, then full mount. Kawajiri looks for an arm-triangle choke but can't sink it deep enough. Instead, he reaffirms mount and hammers away on Birchak with punches and hammerfists. With 30 seconds to go, Kawajiri shows the vintage form that earned him the “Crusher” nickname, sitting in a high mount and smashing Birchak in the face with both hands, pounding away until the final bell. Sherdog.com scores the bout for Tatsuya Kawajiri.

The Official Result

Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Anthony Birchak via Decision (Unanimous) R2 5:00