Pre-Rizin Thoughts

• Fuji TV

Some issues have arisen regarding Rizin’s time slot on Fuji TV. Primarily, it is likely that the event will not be aired live in the Kansai Region of Japan, which includes Osaka. Instead, the Hanshin Tigers baseball game will be aired, unless it rains, if it rains then the Rizin event will be aired. This is an issue because several fighters from Osaka are appearing on the event, notably Kouzi, Kintaro, and Rena. Concerning Kouzi, the issue seems to be that he was led to believe the fight would be aired live in Osaka when he agreed to the fight and now that it isn’t, his sponsors and fans are upset. If it doesn’t rain, the event will be aired on September 30th, a five day delay.

If the Kansai issue is not enough, the event will be airing opposite the season finale of the extremely popular drama Hanzawa Naoki. Rizin, which has suffered from low ratings in the past, now has to compete with one of the most popular shows on TV.

• Matchmaking Issues

Going into Rizin 24, it appeared that Rizin was putting a lot of the matches together last minute. This could be a direct result of the financial issues they have been suffering, but while this may be a factor, it is likely that COVID-19 issues have made it difficult for them to plan future events. By booking the event at Saitama Super Arena it seemed that Rizin was hopeful that the 5,000 person limit and restrictions on foreigners entering Japan may be lifted. Unfortunately that was not the case. As a result, Rizin had to rush to get fights for this event. As a result, the match with Mikuru Asakura fell through, though it is likely to be scheduled for the NYE card. Mikuru stated that he did not have enough time to prepare. In addition, Kai and Rena were late placements on the event. As a result, Rena is fighting at 53kg as she didn’t feel that she had time to cut weight for the fight.

• Yusuke Yachi

After a one-sided loss to Souza, Yachi will be fighting again, this time as the opening fight. It is worth noting that despite his recent losses, Yachi appears to be gaining in popularity. His Youtube channel has 200,000 subscribers and over 35 million views, he is dating a famous actress, Haruna Kawaguchi, and he is associated with Kid Yamamoto. All of these are factors in his growing popularity. This is worth noting because the main sponsor for Rizin 24 is Yogibo. It is not a coincidence that the CEO of Yogibo is a Yachi fan and Yachi is appearing on this card.

• Tsuyoshi Sudario

It is worth noting that while he is making his pro-debut, at 23 years old, he might be the first Sumo wrestler to enter into MMA while still in their athletic prime. He is an interesting acquisition by Rizin because he is well known by people outside of Rizin fans.

• Panchan Rina

An upcoming kickboxer named Panchan Rina has been making waves on the Japanese scene. In a relatively short period of time, the former idol has created a popular Youtube channel and was featured on the cover of Gong magazine with Kai Asakura. She has collaborated with Kai to make several videos where he is dressed like an Otaku (Japanese nerd) and she dressed up like a french maid (like a worker at a Maid Cafe). The videos were quite popular and in one video she event went with Kai to talk to Sakakibara, who expressed interest in her once he discovered she was a kickboxing champion.

• PPV

Rizin will be continuing the PPV model set up for the last two events. The PPV will cost 5,000 Yen if you pre-order and 5,500 if you order day of. However, in a new feature, fans will be able to enter a code that represents a fighter. I imagine the idea is to gauge who people are logging in to see. With the fights not airing on Fuji TV live in Kansai, it will be interesting to see if their is a boost in PPV purchases.

She has a fight scheduled for Rebels on November 8th and if she wins, I expect that she will appear on a Rizin show in the future.

• Corona Virus

While the 5,000 person limit was lifted for baseball and other events, it is still in place for combat sports. In my opinion it seems likely that his will be lifted by NYE and so will a lot of the restrictions on foreign athletes.