The vacant Rizin FF Women’s Super Atomweight Championship will be up for grabs on December 31st when Deep and Deep Jewels champ Saori “Little Giant” Oshima battles Olympic medallist Natalia “Kuzya” Kuziutina at Rizin Fighting Federation: “Super Rizin 6” in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan.
Officials announced the championship fight earlier today. Both Oshima and Kuziutina earned back-to-back Rizin victories this year. Curiously, the woman who vacated the title, Seika Izawa, will also compete on the New Year’s Eve card against an opponent who has not yet been determined.
Oshima (17-7-0) challenged unsuccessfully for Rizin gold exactly one year ago today when she dropped a Unanimous Decision to Izawa, but she bounced back with victories over Keito “Kate Lotus” Oyama and Ye Ji Lee – the latter of which avenged a past loss – in order to progress in the “invisible” tournament that Rizin had established in order to determine two title contenders. The skilled grappler’s performances were good enough to earn her a spot on the New Year’s Eve card with gold on the line.
Kuziutina (11-1-0) made her Rizin debut in April and instantly attracted attention by dominating and submitting former two-time champion Ayaka Hamasaki. She followed that up with an even more lopsided victory against top Rizin star Rena Kubota in September at “Super Rizin 5.” Thanks to those strong performances, it was widely thought that Kuziutina had clearly earned a shot at the vacant Rizin title, and that will indeed be the case when she seeks to improve her Rizin record to 3-0.
Izawa (18-0-0), who vacated the title earlier this year after announcing that she was pregnant with her first child, recently gave birth and is already back to training. She had relinquished the title when it was unknown whether she would be able to defend it again in a timely manner but, with Izawa now also slated to be a part of the New Year’s Eve event, her choice to give up the belt seems unnecessary. Nevertheless, Izawa will be in action and will almost certainly receive the first shot at the Oshima-Kuziutina winner if she is victorious.
Rizin Fighting Federation: “Super Rizin 6” takes place on December 31st at Vantelin Dome Nagoya in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan.