At RIZIN 53, Luis Gustavo captured the lightweight championship by knocking out Ilkhom Nazimov in the first round. The event featured multiple finishes including Ryo Takagi's first-round knockout of Kaiven Lee, and Shinobu Ota's second-round arm triangle submission of Yuto Hokamura. Ryan Cafaro defeated Koichi Matsushima via guillotine choke in the third round. The card also included special rules stand-up bouts in kickboxing, with Ren Hiramoto versus Koji Tanaka ending in a draw under no weight limit rules. Several other bouts on the card ended in submissions and stoppages.
