Rizin reveals ruleset for Mayweather-Nasukawa

As of today (December 6th, 2018), Floyd Mayweather vs. Tenshin Nasukawa is indeed happening on New Year’s Eve as part of Rizin 14 in Saitama. Rizin Fighting Federation confirmed today that the fight would be three three-minute rounds under straight boxing rules, with each fighter wearing eight-ounce gloves.

The fight will take place at 147 pounds and there will be no judges, so those of you who already bet on the outcome may want to get in touch with your bookies.

We’ve been over this fight quite a bit at this point; Nasukawa’s chances of victory are incredibly slim without the use of his kicks, and the considerable weight difference won’t help either. Instead, let me take the opportunity to point out some of the MMA fights on the card you may not have heard about.

The biggest one pits former UFC title challenger Kyoji Horiguchi, who gave Nasukawa everything he could handle in pure kickboxing, against college wrestling great and Bellator Bantamweight Champion Darrion Caldwell. Both men are incredibly entertaining, and should Horiguchi defeat an elite bantamweight despite being a natural flyweight, it’ll be hard to argue that he’s not the best fighter outside the UFC.

There’s also a great fight between top women’s atomweights Kanna Asakura and Ayaka Hamasaki, Shootboxing great Rena Kubota, and my favorite light heavyweight prospect, Jiri Prochazka, against former Bellator champ Emmanuel Newton.

What I’m saying is that even if this turns out to be the farce we all think it’ll be, there will be plenty worth watching.