For the first time since July 2023, Rizin FF Women’s Super Atomweight Champion Seika Izawa is set to defend her title on November 3rd at Rizin Fighting Federation: “Landmark Vol. 12” in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan. Izawa faces Deep and Deep Jewels Microweight Champion Saori “Little Giant” Oshima.
Rizin FF officials announced the bout along with other matchups for the card today. Izawa has only made one title defence since the end of 2022 due to questionable matchmaking and injuries or weight issues with opponents. Also on the card, Noeru “Noel” Narita takes on Misaki “Iruka Umisaki” Suda.
Izawa (16-0-0) retained her 49kg Rizin title with a close and contentious Split Decision victory over Si Woo Park in their Rizin FF 40 rematch close to three years ago, but the Japanese star has since found herself in matchmaking purgatory as Rizin has struggled to match her against credible or reliable opponents. She easily retained her title in a 64-second submission win over Claire Lopez at “Super Rizin 2” before defeating the retiring Miyuu Yamamoto and Kanna Asakura in successive non-title bouts. Most recently, Izawa won two more non-title fights against Lucia Apdelgarim and a heavily overweight Yu Jin Shin, but she will finally have a credible and highly-ranked challenger in November.
Oshima (15-6-0) is undefeated in four Rizin FF fights, totalling victories over three common Izawa opponents – Asakura, Yamamoto and Lopez – as well as a slick submission win over Pancrase champ Haruka “Salt” Hasegawa in just 76 seconds. Her appearances for Rizin have been spread out, however, and the grappler has encountered untimely setbacks in bouts for Deep, where she lost her Deep Jewels atomweight title to Si Yoon Park in September 2023, and Invicta FC. In May, she was upset by heavy underdog Ye Ji Lee at Deep: “125 Impact,” but a crucial victory against rising star Moeri Suda this past weekend at “127 Impact” put Oshima back on the radar for a showdown with Izawa.
Though the matchup arguably comes years too late, Izawa has been in need of a credible title challenger for quite some time. Oshima, while smaller and not as strong as the Rizin champ, is capable of testing Izawa on the ground with her own array of scrambles and submissions.
In other 49kg super atomweight action, 17-year-old Narita (2-2-0) seeks redemption in her second Rizin FF appearance when she takes on Suda (2-0-0), who remains unbeaten since turning pro. Both women have maintained very active fighting schedules during the past two years, with Narita developing a significant fan following thanks to her success under the Shooto banner. However, her Rizin FF debut in July ended in a one-sided submission loss and she hopes to rebound upon her return in November. Suda, meanwhile, struggled to find consistency as an amateur but has so far won both of her pro fights including a close decision victory at Deep Jewels 48 in March.
Rizin Fighting Federation: “Landmark Vol. 12” takes place on November 3rd at Glion Arena Kobe in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.