Luis Gustavo captured the RIZIN lightweight championship by knocking out Ilkhom Nazimov in the first round at RIZIN 53. The event featured multiple finishes, including Ryo Takagi's first-round knockout of Kaiven Lee and Shinobu Ota's second-round arm triangle over Yuto Hokamura. In other action, Ryan Cafaro submitted Koyomi Matsushima with a guillotine in the third round. The card also included kickboxing bouts and several submission victories across different weight classes. The main event saw a definitive changing of the guard in RIZIN's lightweight division.
