Over the weekend, pound-for-pound kickboxer Kazuki Osaki demolished current WBC Muay Thai champion Corey Nicholson in the fifth round.
While it was another impressive performance for Osaki, Nicholson is another in a line of underwhelming opponents that Osaki has fought since beating Jin Mandokoro 11 months ago, while Ryu Hanaoka and Ryujin Nasukawa wait in line to challenge for the title. In his post-fight interview, Osaki expressed his desire to take on new challenges in ONE Championship as his younger brother did last year.
Koki Osaki runs through former RISE Champion Monguchi
Kazuki Osaki's brother, Koki Osaki had a similarly impressive performance over former RISE Champion and top-ranked 55 kg kickboxer Keisuke Monguchi. Osaki fought one of the most impressive fights of his career and unloaded a 40-punch combination reminiscent of Gokhan Saki to stop his opponent in the second round and reassert himself as the best -55kg fighter in RISE, and arguably the best in the world.
As K-1 faces an exodus of their Japanese talent, the two brothers have a newfound abundance of potential opponents in names such as Toma Kuroda, Ryuki Matsuda, and a host of 57kg fighters in ONE Championship.
Mei Miyamoto upsets RISE Queen Kobayashi in controversial decision
Coming off a bad loss to Tessa de Kom at 52 kg, Arina Kobayashi looked to return to form against 5-0 undefeated Mei Miyamoto in what turned out to be a rare 6-round thriller.
While the majority of the fight looked to be in the champion's favor, an extra round was announced after the 5th, and the decision was ultimately given to the challenger Mei Miyamoto, who captured the RISE -49 kg title in undoubtedly the best women's kickboxing fight of the year so far. A rematch may be on the horizon for the two women and perhaps the winner will face -46 kg champion and pound-for-pound number two Koyuki Miyazaki.
