A pair of marquee women’s bouts have been announced for the upcoming Rizin Fighting Federation: “Landmark Vol. 5” event, which takes place on April 29th at Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan. In 51kg action, Rizin FF star Rena Kubota battles Combate Global standout Claire Lopez.

Also confirmed for the event is a 49kg super atomweight bout between 2017 Rizin GP winner Kanna Asakura and former Valkyrie and Deep Jewels champion “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi, who makes her Rizin FF debut following two title challenges and nearly seven years spent in ONE Championship.

Kubota (13-4-0) makes her return to action after she was forced to withdraw from last year’s Rizin FF Women’s Super Atomweight Grand Prix due to a fractured left orbital wall sustained in her quarterfinal victory over Anastasiya Svetkivska. She has won five of her past six fights under the Rizin FF banner, with the lone defeat coming via a razor-thin decision against Si Woo Park at Rizin FF 33. While she did cut down to 49kg for the grand prix in July, Kubota will move back up to her more comfortable weight of 51kg for her return bout next month.

Lopez (7-4-0) shares two common opponents with Kubota, Alexandra Alvare Carlos and Hanna Gujwan, both of whom she quickly dispatched of in 2018. More recently, she has been a prominent part of Combate Global’s women’s division. Lopez is 3-1 under the Combate Global banner, and her lone defeat came against current UFC prospect Yazmin Juaregui in the finals of the one-night Last Latina Standing tournament in August 2021. In her most recent fight, Lopez submitted Camila Rivarola in 44 seconds.

Asakura (19-7-0) has had ups and downs in her Rizin FF career since the end of 2020. She scored a notable victory over Shooto champion Satomi “Sarami” Takano this past April, which got Asakura back on track after disappointing Split Decision defeats against Ayaka Hamasaki and Saori Oshima, but was then defeated in the opening round of the Rizin FF Women’s Super Atomweight Grand Prix by eventual finalist Si Woo Park. Now seeking to get herself back into contention, Asakura will face another tough challenge when she returns to action next month.

Yamaguchi (21-14-1) has faced high-level competition throughout her 16-year pro career, which includes a big victory over Yuka Tsuji for the Valkyrie 115-pound title in February 2010 as well as capturing the Deep Jewels 105-pound championship in a one-night tournament on May 31, 2015. Since that time, Yamaguchi has fought exclusively for ONE Championship, where she twice faced Angela Lee for the promotion’s 115-pound “atomweight” title and arguably deserved to win the decisions in both fights despite Lee allegedly failing to make weight. Yamaguchi will now compete for Rizin FF for the first time.

Rizin Fighting Federation: “Landmark Vol. 5” takes place on April 29th at Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.

(Photo Credit: Rizin Fighting Federation)