Report: 3 Lightweight Tournament Qualifiers Added To Rizin 17
The upcoming Rizin Lightweight Tournament will get some entrants at Rizin 17 because MMA Fighting is reporting that three qualifying bouts have been added to the event in the form of Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Ali Abdulkhalikov, Satoru Kitaoka vs. Johnny Case and Roberto Satoshi vs. Mizuto Hirota.
Kawajiri (36-13-2) has won just one of four under the Rizin banner, with that lone win coming against Anthony Birchak at Rizin 5. Abdulkhalikov (7-0-0) is going to be making his Rizin debut in this encounter and has won four of seven bouts by way of decision.
Kitaoka (42-19-9) has won just one of his last four and has previously competed in the Rizin Bantamweight World Grand Prix in 2017. Case (25-6-1) is both a UFC veteran and is currently undefeated under the Rizin banner, defeating Yusuke Yachi at Rizin 14.
Satoshi (8-0-0) has competed once before in the Rizin promotion, defeating Satoru Kitaoka by second round TKO at Rizin 15. Hirota (18-10-2) enters the contest on a three fight losing streak and he hasn’t picked up a win in over two years.
Rizin 17 takes place on Sunday, July 28 from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan with no main event announced at this time. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which streams live on Fite TV.
