Rizin Queen of Queens 2020 -

Over the weekend, Rise announced the participants in their Queen of Queens tournament, which will take place over two events in October and November. The event is being produced by Erika Kamimura, who chose the participants herself from those that expressed interest. In the end she chose six champions and two newcomers: Momi Furuta, Hinata Terayama, Megami, Sasori, Momoka, Ayaka, Moe Okura, and Erika Gibo. When making her selections, Erika stated that she wanted those motivated to win and those who wanted to win dominantly, not safely. Erika wants the event to showcase exciting female fights and to that end, a KO bonus structure has been implemented. If a fighter KO’s their opponent in the first round, they will be given a 500,000 Yen bonus (roughly $5,000), if in the second round they will receive a 300,000 Yen bonus (roughly $3,000), and 200,000 Yen for the last round (roughly $2,000). The winner of the tournament will receive 3,000,000 Yen (roughly $30,000) and second place will receive 1,000,000 yen (roughly $10,000 Yen).

At the press conference over the weekend, the initial bouts were also decided by random lottery. In the opening round, Momi will face Ayaka, Momoka vs Okura, Megami vs Sasori, and Terayama vs Gibo. The matches will all be at 47.6 KG and competed under Rise rules. The tournament includes champions from various promotions and is a pet project for Erika Kamimura, who hinted that if the event is successful, she will be able to secure larger fight purses for the competitors in the future.

In an amusing note, when asked how they would spend the money, answers ranged from going out for yakiniku (grilled meat), going out for desserts, saving money for their wedding, and using the money to get cuter. Also, Sasori did not speak directly to the crowd but through a representative and the promotion seems to be pushing the fact that Moe can bench press over 100 KG (Over 220 lbs) and are stating that she will release a video doing it.