Kai
Asakura and Juan
Archuleta are expected to square off for the vacant Rizin
Fighting Federation bantamweight crown after earning key victories
on Saturday.

Asakura (20-4, 12-3 Rizin) made a statement with a third-round
stoppage of Yuki Motoya
in the Rizin
42 headliner at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. The Tri-Force Akasaka
representative put his foe on the defensive with a knee in the
clinch while the combatants were engaged near the ropes. Asakura
stalked his reeling opponent and threw a couple punches before
stepping in with a left knee that folded Motoya (33-10 1 NC, 10-6
Rizin) to the canvas, bringing an end to the contest at the 2:25
mark of Round 3.

Asakura has won four of his last five appearances within the
Japanese promotion, while Motoya sees a five-bout winning streak
snapped in defeat.

In the co-main event, former Bellator title holder Archuleta (28-4,
2-0 Rizin) captured a three-round vedict against two-time UFC
veteran Naoki Inoue
(16-4, 6-2 Rizin). It was Archuleta’s third victory in a
seventh-month span and second consecutive triumph under the Rizin
banner. It was revealed during the event that Asakura vs. Archuleta
is likely to happen in July.

After being outstruck by Inoue in the opening stanza, Archuleta got
stronger as the bout progessed. He sat his adversary down with a
right hand in Round 2 and ended the contest by threatening Inoue
with an arm-triangle choke that might have forced a tapout were it
not for the final bell.

In other action: reigning lightweight champion Roberto
Satoshi de Souza (15-2, 8-2 Rizin) earned a unanimous verdict
against Spike
Carlyle (14-5, 1-1 Rizin) in a non-title bout; Ren
Sugiyama (1-0, 1-0 Rizin) knocked out Kota Miura
(2-1, 2-1 Rizin) with a knee and punches at the 3:13 mark of Round
1 in a featherweight tilt; former UFC flyweight contender John Dodson
(24-13, 2-0 Rizin) outpointed Tatsuki
Saomoto (18-3, 4-1 Rizin) at flyweight; Kazumasa
Majima (15-4, 1-3 Rizin) used a shoulder choke to secure a
technical submission victory over Takahiro
Ashida (24-13-2, 2-3 Rizin) at featherweight; Yuta Sasaki
(24-10-2, 3-4 Rizin) took a three-round verdict against Boyd Allen
(16-6-1, 0-2 Rizin) at featherweight; Viktor
Kolesnik (24-4-1, 1-0 Rizin) scored a leg-kick TKO against
Atsushi
Kishimoto (9-7-2, 1-1 Rizin) 2:57 into the second frame at
lightweight; Erson
Yamamoto (4-5, 3-5 Rizin) defeated Yuki Ito
(13-5, 3-1 Rizin) via unanimous decision at flyweight; Takeji
Yokoyama (5-0, 1-0 Rizin) submitted Takyua Yamamoto (8-3-1, 0-2
Rizin) with an armbar at the 1:24 mark of Round 1 and Ramazan
Temirov (14-2-1, 1-0 Rizin) stopped Yuta
Hamamoto (5-3, 0-1 Rizin) with punches 4:06 into the opening
stanza of a 127-pound catchweight affair.





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Kai Asakura, Juan Archuleta Victorious at Rizin 42, Title Fight Targeted for July