Naoki Inoue will meet Yuki Motoya in a rematch — this time with the bantamweight title at stake — at Rizin 50.
The bout was announced during Rizin 49 "Decade" after Motoya earned his championship opportunity with a unanimous decision victory over Kyoma Akimoto at Saitama Super Arena on New Year’s Eve. Rizin 50 takes place on March 30 at Anabuki Arena Kagawa in Kagawa, Japan.
Inoue initially bested Motoya via first-round submission at Rizin 26 in December 2020. The 27-year-old Kill Cliff FC representative is coming off a 2-0 campaign in 2024 that saw him claim the vacant 135-pound throne with a first-round stoppage of Soo Chul Kim at Rizin 48.
The 35-year-old Motoya went 3-0 in 2024, adding submission triumphs over Shinobu Ota and Sho Hiramatsu to the aforementioned victory against Akimoto. The American Top Team product has competed under the Rizin banner periodically since 2015, often alternating those appearances with fights for the Deep organization.
Other Announced Bouts:
Chihiro Suzuki vs Karshyga Dautbek
Luiz Gustavo vs Shunta Nomura
Takeji Yokoyama vs Shuya Kimura
Yuki Ito vs Tony Laramie
King Edokpolo vs Ryo Sakai
Yoshiro Maeda vs Sanou Yokouchi
Spike Carlyle vs Takeshi Izumi
Mamoru Uoi vs Koki Akada
Haruo Ochi vs Nobuyoshi Nakatsukasa
Hiroki Takaoka vs Seiya Ameyama
Machi Fukuda vs Seo Young Park
Kyohei Hagiwara vs Toby Misech