Gustavo captures RIZIN lightweight title with first-round KO

Luis Gustavo became the new RIZIN lightweight champion 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 submission of Yuto Hokamura. Sho Patrick Usami scored a first-round knockout over Tatsuya Spike, while Ryan Cafaro secured a third-round guillotine over Koyomi Matsushima. The card also included kickboxing bouts and several other submission victories. The special-rules bout between Ren Hiramoto and Koji Tanaka ended in a draw.