Lawal vs. Prochazka II: Preview, Full Fight Card Featuring Tenshin Nasukawa

RIZIN FF is ready to crown their first-ever light heavyweight champion. Competing for the honor will be Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (21-8) and Jiri Prochazka (23-3-1) on April 21 from Yokohama, Japan.

The 205-pound showcase is a rematch of their 2015 encounter that concluded the fabled Japanese promotion’s heavyweight Grand Prix.

Lawal, 38, won the entire tournament when he slumped Prochazka in the very first round with his patented right hand. The national champion wrestler and former Strikeforce light heavyweight titleholder continued to try his hand in MMA’s maximum division, competing between RIZIN and Bellator against some of the sport’s biggest names (such as Mirko Cro Cop, Rampage Jackson and Ryan Bader).

But since blasting Prochazka, King Mo is just 2-4, including a current two-fight losing skid.

Prochazka, of the Czech Republic, has more than earned the rematch. The 26-year-old banger picked himself right up to win his next seven fights. None of these bouts provided any evidence of him tightening up his takedown defense, but his freewheeling style has gained serious attention. He’s finished all but one of his 23 victims and is 17-1-1 over his last 19 fights.

The 12-bout event will also include kickboxing phenom Tenshin Nasukawa (27-0, kickboxing) as well as Kyoji Horiguchi (26-2), who is staying fresh ahead of a rematch with Darrion Caldwell as the Japanese upstart faces former UFC veteran Ben Nguyen (16-8).

Tenshin and Horiguchi actually met last September at RIZIN 13 in a crossover match.

Full fight card

Muhammed Lawal vs. Jiri Prochazka

Tenshin Nasukawa vs. Fritz Biagtan (kickboxing)

Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Ben Nguyen

Mikuru Asakura vs. Luiz Gustavo

Damien Brown vs. Koji Takeda

Satoru Kitaoka vs. Roberto Satoshi Souza

Manel Kape vs. Seiichiro Ito

Karl Albrektsson vs. Christiano Frohlich

Kana Watanabe vs. Justyna Haba

Shinju Auclair vs. Saray Orozco

Taiga Kawabe vs. Thallison Ferreira (kickboxing)