Muhammed Lawal finished off Rizin FF 2 in spectacular style on Thursday, with a thunderous knockout of Jiri Prochazka securing the heavyweight tournament title in Saitama, Japan.
Lawal, who beat Brett McDermott and Teodoras Aukstuolis to make it to this stage, connected sweetly with a right hand in the first round to win the final of this bracket. Earlier, there was a win for former PRIDE star Fedor Emelianenko, as he forced Singh Jaideep into submission via punches in his first fight since 2012.
Here are the results in full from the card at the Saitama Super Arena and some of the standout moments from Thursday’s fights.
Lawal, Emelianenko Shine at Rizin FF 2
After three brutal fights in as many days, Lawal secured his spot at the summit of the Rizin heavyweight standings in emphatic fashion.
Aukstuolis was expected to be a dangerous opponent for the American after his progression to the final, but after some exchanges on the ground, Lawal caught him off guard with a thunderous right hand. As we can see, once the man from the Czech Republic lurched forward recklessly, the fight was over not long after:
The American was clearly in a confident mood after he’d beaten Aukstuolis to make it into the final two. As we can see here courtesy of Zombie Prophet, there was a swagger about Lawal as he downed the Lithuanian:
Earlier on in the day, MMA legend Emelianenko was far too good for Jaideep. The 39-year-old Russian has been on the MMA scene for what seems like an eternity, and he showed exactly why as he made light work of his opponent.
Despite the Indian enjoying an advantage in terms of height and reach, the wily Emelianenko eventually found a way to manoeuvre his way inside and secure a takedown. From there, it was tough going for Singh, who eventually tapped out to a flurry of punches:
The Russian actually walked away from MMA competition three years ago and was making his comeback appearance here. After the lopsided nature of this win, it’s clear he’ll be a very tough man to beat moving forward in Rizin, despite his advancing years.
Away from the heavyweight division, there was a nasty finish in the lightweight clash between Andy Souwer and Yuichiro Nagashima.
The Dutchman won it via first-round knockout via punches, but as we can see here courtesy of WHOATV, it was a victory set up after a vicious stomp to the head of the Japanese competitor:
Kron Gracie made it two wins from two in MMA with an impressive triumph over Erson Yamamoto. The submission specialist was able to lock in a deep armbar early on and although that didn't initially do the trick, a triangle choke finished this one not long after:
Veteran heavyweight Bob Sapp also picked up a decision win over Akebono Taro. As we can see, although the pace of this one was pretty slow, there were plenty of big shots landed:
In terms of technical ability, the finish of the day arguably went to Rena Kubota, who landed this flying armbar to secure a win over Jleana Valentino:
Overall, the card was one that had plenty of entertaining finishes. But in the openweight clash between Baruto Kaito and Peter Aerts, eventually won by the former, there were some less-than-glamorous moments:
With two events done in the space of three days, it’s clear Rizin does have a long way to go and plenty of rough edges to smooth down. But for MMA fanatics who long for the days of PRIDE, it’s a brand that will trigger some nostalgia, especially with the likes of Emelianenko showing he still has what it takes to get the job done.
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