Roberto Satoshi de Souza Stops Luiz Gustavo in 21 Seconds at Rizin 48

Rizin Fighting Federation lightweight champion Roberto Satoshi de Souza scored the fastest victory in his 11-year MMA career at Rizin 48 in Saitama, Japan. De Souza, who now has 14 first-round finishes on his resume, knocked out title challenger Luiz Gustavo in just 21 seconds to cap off an entertaining card.

Shortly after the opening bell, de Souza (17-3, 10-2 Rizin) landed a body kick and a right hook to the temple of Gustavo (14-3, 6-3 Rizin), who was trying to close the distance. The punch badly hurt Gustavo, who fell to his knees and then briefly rose to his feet before de Souza sent him crashing to the canvas with a lunging left hand. Gustavo was momentarily knocked out by the punch, but he came to just as de Souza landed two hammerfists on the ground and referee Bryan Miner dove in to wave off the fight.

Though he is best known for his impeccable ground game, de Souza has now vanquished back-to-back opponents with strikes in the first round.


The co-main event also ended quickly as Naoki Inoue (18-4, 8-2 Rizin) scored a first-round TKO triumph over South Korean veteran Soo Chul Kim (22-8-1, 3-2 Rizin) to claim the vacant Rizin bantamweight title.

Inoue immediately established his jab, and he used it to frustrate Kim, who came up short as he hunted for a knockout with looping punches. That continued until Kim connected with a solid right hook, which Inoue responded to with a hard left hand. He dropped Kim with a quick one-two and briefly took his back. As a dazed Kim leaned through the ropes, Inoue landed a series of unanswered punches for a TKO stoppage at the 3:55 mark of Round 1.

The soft-spoken Inoue had few words following his title win, but the talented 27-year-old has made great strides during the past two years and that culminated with his championship crowning tonight. Four of his Rizin wins have come inside the first round.


In a rematch from their first meeting at Rizin 33, Yuki Motoya (36-11, 1 NC; 11-7, 1 NC Rizin) once again defeated Shinobu Ota (7-4, 6-4 Rizin) in a bantamweight duel.

Motoya got off to a good start in the opening round with crisp jabs and constant movement that prevented Ota from clinching. Ota eventually got him down, but that was short-lived and Motoya landed two hard left hands at the bell. Motoya continued to outstrike Ota in the second round until Ota scored with a combination that opened a cut above Motoya’s right eye. Motoya responded with a guillotine choke late in the round.

Both fighters attempted guillotine chokes in the final round, and Motoya trapped Ota in a body triangle after taking his back. Ota defended against one rear-naked choke attempt, but Motoya was persistent and he locked in the choke on his second try for a tapout victory at the 4:09 mark of Round 3. Ota was visibly dejected following the defeat, while Motoya has his sights set on bantamweight title contention. He has history with new champion Inoue, who submitted Motoya when they fought at Rizin FF 26 at the end of 2020.


The Rizin 48 main card opened with what was intended to be a featherweight matchup between the undefeated Rajabali Shaidullaev (12-0, 2-0 Rizin) and former Rizin and Bellator bantamweight titleholder Juan Archuleta (29-7, 3-3 Rizin). However, Archuleta missed the featherweight limit by more than six pounds and he began the fight with a red card – a 50% reduction in points – as a result.

Archuleta’s penalty proved to be inconsequential, however, as he did not make it out of the first round. Shaidullaev cut off the ring well and he stunned Archuleta with an early right hand. After taking Archuleta down, Shaidullaev transitioned to his back and then into an armbar, which forced Archuleta to instantly submit at the 3:12 mark of Round 1.

Shaidullaev’s dispatching of Archuleta placed him on a short list of title contenders for the Rizin featherweight crown. All 12 of the 23-year-old’s wins have come via stoppage.

In the featured preliminary card fight, Rizin and two-division Deep champion Seika Izawa (14-0, 8-0 Rizin) won her non-title super atomweight bout against the retiring Kanna Asakura (20-8, 11-7 Rizin) after three entertaining rounds. Izawa largely dominated the fight on the mat during the opening ten minutes, with a prolonged guillotine choke in the first frame and a reverse guillotine and a face crank in the second stanza. Izawa threatened with more submissions in the final round, but Asakura never gave up and she rallied with stomps shortly before the bell. Izawa rightfully took the unanimous decision victory, but former Rizin grand prix champion Asakura was given a nice retirement ceremony as she thanked supporters and now moves on to a new chapter in her life.

Rounding out the action, Shoko Sato (36-16-2, 1 NC; 2-1 Rizin) took an uneventful unanimous decision win over former Rizin champion Juntaro Ushiku (21-10, 3-4 Rizin) at featherweight; Yusuke Yachi (27-14, 11-7 Rizin) won his lightweight clash with Sho Patrick Usami (7-3, 3-2 Rizin) via unanimous decision; featherweight Ryo Takagi (8-2, 2-1 Rizin) submitted Kyohei Hagiwara (7-10, 6-8 Rizin) with a rear-naked choke at the 2:39 mark of Round 1; top bantamweight prospect Kyoma Akimoto (6-0, 1-0 Rizin) overwhelmed Yuto Hokamura (15-14-2, 3-6 Rizin) with punches and knees for a TKO stoppage at the 3:16 mark of the opening round; two-division EFC champion Nkazimulo Zulu (16-6-1, 1-0 Rizin) stopped Shooto double-champ Jo Arai (13-12-1, 0-2 Rizin) with a spinning wheel kick and punches 4:12 into the first round of their flyweight bout; and featherweight Karshyga Dautbek (16-3, 2-1 Rizin) knocked out Takeaki Kinoshita (9-8-1, 0-2 Rizin) with a massive overhand left at the 1:48 mark of the opening frame.