A history-making performance! Monster Energy congratulates Juan Archuleta on defeating Hiromasa Ougikubo in the Bantamweight Division Championship fight at Super RIZIN 2 in Japan. In the co-main event bout, the 35-year-old from Sultana, California, went the distance to earn a unanimous decision victory and become the first American title holder in the history of the RIZIN MMA promotion.
With three title fights on the card, Bellator MMA x RIZIN 2 and Super RIZIN 2 was showcased in front of a high-energy crowd inside the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Co-promoted by Bellator MMA and the Rizin Fighting Federation, the event marked the second co-promotion between two franchises. The Bantamweight title became vacant after former champion Kyoji Horiguchi moved down to the flyweight division in December.
Monster Energy’s Archuleta (29-4) came to Japan on a three-fight win streak after recently defeating Naoki Inoue, Soo Chul Kim, and Enrique Barzola. His opponent for the vacant RIZIN MMA Bantamweight Division Championship title, Hiromasa Ougikubo (25-8), was looking for a loss against Kyoji Horiguchi at Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN 1 in December 2022.
In front of the high-energy crowd inside Saitama Super Arena, the title fight between Archuleta and Ougikubo unfolded as a test of endurance that went over three rounds. When all was said and done, it was Archuleta who landed the most significant strikes and outworked his opponent over the course of the fight. The judges awarded Archuleta the RIZIN Bantamweight Division Championship title by unanimous decision.
Archuleta is the former Bellator 135-pound champion. A professional MMA competitor since 2013, he makes history as the first American to win a RIZIN title.
Juan Archuleta counts amongst Monster Energy’s elite MMA athletes along with Sergio Pettis, Corey Anderson, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, Phil Davis, Aaron Pico, Johnny Eblen, Gaston Bolanos, Valerie Loureda, Kamaru Usman, A.J. McKee, Leah McCourt, Joey Davis, Douglas Lima, Erik Perez, James Gallagher, Austin Vanderford, Kamaru Usman, Jon “Bones” Jones, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, Chris “The All American” Weidman, Rose Namajunas, Marlon Vera, Michael Chandler, Justin Gaethje, Jessica-Rose Clark, Valentina Shevchenko, Sean “Sugar” O’Malley, Brandon Moreno, Daniel Rodriguez, Alex Pereira, Punahele Soriano, Gilbert Burns, Giga “Ninja” Chikadze, Islam Makhachev, Johnny Walker, Beneil Dariush, Gaston Bolanos, Maycee “The Future” Barber, Brendan Allen, Jalin Turner, and Sean Strickland.
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