RIZIN 53 took place with Luis Gustavo capturing the lightweight championship by knocking out Ilkhom Nazimov in the first round. The main card featured multiple finishes, including Ryo Takagi's first-round knockout of Kaiwen Li and Shinobu Ota's second-round hand triangle submission of Yuto Hokamura. Ryan Cafaro secured a third-round guillotine victory over Koyomi Matsushima, while several other bouts ended via submission including triangle chokes, rear-naked chokes, and arm bars. The event also included kickboxing contests alongside the MMA bouts. Ren Hiramoto and Koji Tanaka fought to a draw in a special standup-only ruleset bout with no weight limits.
RIZIN 53 delivered a action-packed card highlighted by Luis Gustavo claiming the RIZIN lightweight championship with a first-round knockout of Ilkhom Nazimov to close out the main event.
Gustavo's finish was the headline moment of a night that saw stoppages across the card. Ryo Takagi added to the highlight reel with a first-round knockout of Kaiwen Li, ending the evening for the 30-year-old switch-stance fighter who carried a 15-6-0 record into the bout. Li, who stands five-foot-eight with a 71-inch reach, had averaged over four significant strikes landed per minute in his career and connected at a 51 percent striking accuracy rate, but Takagi did not allow him to find his rhythm.
Shinobu Ota picked up a second-round finish of Yuto Hokamura, securing victory via hand triangle submission. Ryan Cafaro then extended the night's submission theme with a third-round guillotine choke win over Koyomi Matsushima, the 33-year-old Japanese fighter out of Gaio Gym who came in at 13-6-0. Matsushima, standing five-foot-seven with a 66-inch reach, is notable for his high takedown output — nearly nine per 15 minutes — but Cafaro was able to negate that threat and put the bout away with his own grappling.
The card also featured several other finishes via triangle choke, rear-naked choke, and armbar across the undercard, reinforcing RIZIN's reputation for submission-heavy action. Kickboxing contests were also woven into the evening's lineup.
The night closed on an unusual note with Ren Hiramoto and Koji Tanaka fighting to a draw under a special standup-only ruleset with no weight limit attached to the bout.
Why it matters
- Gustavo's first-round finish over Nazimov establishes him as RIZIN's new lightweight champion, reshaping the division's landscape
- Cafaro's win over Matsushima at lightweight adds an international name to the RIZIN rankings conversation
- The depth of finishes across the card underlines RIZIN 53 as one of the more action-heavy events on the 2026 calendar
