Ren Hiramoto and Mikuru Asakura are set to rematch in the principle occasion of RIZIN: The Match 2 on Could 4th, 2025.
Rizin Combating Federation has been steadily rising since its inception in 2015. The promotion is a decade previous and a real successor to Pleasure Combating Championship. It has freakshow matches, permits soccer kicks, and has bred profitable MMA stars. Similar to Jiri Prochazka, Manel Kape, and even Vadim Nemkov.
Nevertheless, new homegrown expertise has lately taken heart stage in Rizin. Former kickboxer Ren Hiramoto and former Rizin featherweight title challenger Mikuru Asakura, who’re extraordinarily widespread in Japan, are the most important stars in Rizin right this moment.
Regardless of being essentially the most distinguished stars for the promotion, they share a remarkably heated rivalry. The 2 fighters have very completely different personalities and public personas, which have led to them turning into, at the very least, pure rivals. Mikuru Asakura views Ren Hiramoto as an MMA newbie. Hiramoto had a report of 3-3 once they first confronted off and struggled with the grappling division.
Nevertheless, Hiramoto wasn’t a traditional kickboxer, difficult for a Ok-1 KRUSH belt and Ok-1 world title towards Wei Rui, who misplaced in a cut up choice. Regardless of the defeat, it was nonetheless a fantastic present of hanging acumen that’s remarkably uncommon in MMA, with solely fighters like Israel Adesanya and the nice Alex Pereira attaining these feats.
Nevertheless, Hiramoto would show his doubters fallacious in the principle occasion, as at Tremendous RIZIN 3. Hiramoto would end Mikuru Asakura within the first spherical, dropping him and ending him off with some vicious floor and pound. It was a shocker, as many believed this battle can be a chronic warfare between two strikers.
Hiramoto shortly dismissed that concept and proved that his hanging, regardless of its ferocity and violent look, continues to be world-class and a menace to anybody on the ft—even a fighter like Mikuru Asakura, who’s fought for the featherweight world title twice in Rizin.
Ren Hiramoto and Mikuru Asakura’s rematch is a traditional Japanese match-making.
As thrilling as this matchup could also be, it does share a symptom of Japanese matchmaking in MMA. The matchups seldom make sense, however at the very least this time they’re in the identical weight class. Nevertheless, the cardboard and even the subtitle for it being The Match 2 meddles with the cardboard’s validity as battle playing cards with huge stars in the principle are likely to have weaker undercards. Nevertheless, that’s but to be seen because the undercard nonetheless has not been introduced.
The Match subtitle was utilized by the ultra-high profile Tenshin Nasukawa vs. Takeru Segawa cross-promotional card, the place the 2 generational greats fought to see who was actually the perfect of this technology in kickboxing. So to see this subtitle be used 3 times now to hype a rivalry appears to be overplayed.
Nevertheless, the matchup continues to be fairly thrilling. Each fighters are by no means in a boring battle, have a fantastic rivalry, and are at all times a striker’s delight. The 2 have aggressive energy and hanging types that make each Hiramoto and Asakura must-see TV. Particularly with their reinvigorated rivalry with everybody in Japan and right here within the West clamoring for an thrilling and dramatic rematch.
Whether or not warranted or not, no matter is on the road when these two face off once more, we’re going to see the perfect of Japanese MMA in talent, manufacturing worth, and pure leisure.
