During Rizin FF’s press conference on Thursday, a great bantamweight fight announcement from Sakakibara was overlooked. As he announced a big fight between two young prospects in Maike Linhares and Soo Chul Kim.
Brazil’s Linhares (9-0) is the current Jungle Fight bantamweight champion, beating Rodrigo Praia for the vacant title at Jungle fight 81 in September. He has never gone the distance, with five submission wins and four (T)KO’s. At only 22-years-old, Linhares was also one of my top “Fighters to Watch” coming out of Brazil.