RIZIN FF have just announced a fantastic lineup for RIZIN Landmark 9 on March 23rd, 2024 and two of the fights will feature incredible grapplers. The first of those two fights to be announced was one featuring Igor Tanabe, a top BJJ competitor who decided to transition to MMA back in 2021. He will be facing Kiichi Kunimoto, an MMA veteran with over 30 professional fights and short stints with both Bellator and the UFC. It might be a challenge for Tanabe but he’s been able to submit every single one of his opponents in his five-fight professional MMA career so far. He was last seen in action on New Year’s Eve, when he dominated Shinsho Anzai and tapped him out in a little over a minute and a half.
The second fight featuring an elite grappler is actually the main event at RIZIN Landmark 9, as Roberto Satoshi de Souza will be facing off against Keita Nakamura. Although Satoshi is the promotion’s reigning lightweight champion, his title won’t actually be on the line in this fight. Although he was also a successful BJJ competitor at the beginning of his combat sports career, Satoshi has been dedicated to MMA for years now. He has the grappling advantage in the majority of his fights, but Nakamura is actually a two-time ADCC veteran and it’ll be interesting to see how they match up on the ground.
RIZIN Landmark 9 Full Card
Roberto Satoshi de Souza vs Keita Nakamura
Naoki Inoue vs Shoko Sato
Rena Kubota vs Shim Yu-Ri
Koji Takeda vs Kyohei Hagiwara
Igor Tanabe vs Kiichi Kunimoto
Erson Yamamoto vs Yuya Shibata
Yuta Kubo vs Ryogo Takahashi
Yuto Hokamura vs Daiki Tsubota
Takakenshin vs Cody Jerabek
Yusaku Nakamura vs Arman Ashimov
Ryo Takagi vs Taisei Nishitani
Kickboxing Matches
Yuya vs Masaya Jaki
Aoi Noda vs Yuto Uemara
Shun Matsuyama vs Shin Sakurai
Daichi Akahira vs Yuki Yoshioka
RIZIN FF announced the news that both Roberto Satoshi de Souza and Igor Tanabe would be fighting at RIZIN Landmark 9 in a series of posts to their official Instagram account:
