Masakazu Imanari just put on a classic performance in the co-main event of RIZIN Landmark 8 on February 24th, 2024, turning back the clock and beating a significantly younger opponent. It was a difficult matchup on paper for Imanari as he was booked against 32 year-old Kazumasa Majima, a talented grappler with a 16-4 professional MMA record. Imanari had only recently celebrated his 48th birthday and with 63 professional fights under his belt before this, it’s safe to say that he’s entering the twilight of his combat sports career. He also hadn’t fought in over a year and hadn’t won a fight over two years, as he lost unanimous decisions in both of his last two fights.
It might have seemed like unusual matchmaking from RIZIN FF at first, but the first round actually went really well for Imanari. Although he was on the bottom for most of it, he was attacking relentlessly and using his legendary leglock game to keep Majima under pressure. The second round went much differently though, as Majima was able to land several hard elbows from the top that had Imanari in some trouble not long after the round began. Then the momentum changed again in the blink of an eye when Imanari swung his hips for an armbar off his back and although Majima tried to pick him up to defend it, he was forced to tap.
Rizin Landmark 8 Full Results
Luiz Gustavo defeats Yoshinori Horie via Decision – Unanimous (Round 3, 5:00)
Masakazu Imanari defeats Kazumasa Majima via Submission – Armbar (Round 2, 1:37)
Yusuke Yachi defeats Rikuto Shirakawa via Submission – Face Crank (Round 2, 5:00)
Saori Oshima defeats Claire Lopez via Submission – Armbar (Round 2, 3:18)
Hiroaki Suzuki defeats Takahiro Ashida via TKO – Soccer Kicks & Punches (Round 1, 4:29)
Daichi Abe defeats Kota Ossman via KO – Punch (Round 1, 1:35)
Shohei Nose defeats Kenta Takizawa via TKO – Elbows (Round 2, 2:48)
Yuki Ito defeats Masatoshi Ueda via Decision – Unanimous (Round 3, 5:00)
Takuma Terada defeats Takekiyo Tominaga via TKO – Three Knockdowns (Round 1, 1:54)
Preliminary Card
Ryuhei Sakai defeats Ryoga Fukuchi via Decision – Split (Round 2, 5:00)
Daiki Yahiro defeats Yuto Araki via Submission – Rear-naked Choke (Round 1, 2:36)
Reito Bravely defeats Kyohei Furumura via KO – Punch (Round 1, 1:49
Rikito defeats Hannya Hashimoto via Decision – Unanimous (Round 3, 3:00)
Satoshi Katashima defeats Keito Ishigo via Decision – Split (Round 3, 3:00)
The full RIZIN Landmark 8 event replay, including Masakazu Imanari hitting a comeback armbar against Kazumasa Majima, is available to watch on PPV.
