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MIAMI – March 3, 2023 – Combate Global and RIZIN today announced a showdown between two women’s Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) stars – Claire Lopez (7-4) and Rena Kubota (13-4) – from their respective fight organizations, for Saturday, April 29, in Tokyo, Japan.
The matchup will be contested at RIZIN’s much-anticipated event at Yoyogi Gymnasium, at a catchweight of 112.6 pounds, and will consist of three, five-minute rounds.
The fight will take place in a cage, rather than RIZIN’s customary square ring.
“This is a phenomenal matchup for both fighters as well as for MMA fans around the world, so I am excited for Combate Global to partner with RIZIN for it,” said Mike Afromowitz, Sr. VP of Operations and Communications for Combate Global.
Fighting out of London, England, the 34-year-old Lopez, a native of Beziers, France, is a member of Great Britain Top Team headed by Brad Pickett.
Lopez, the runner-up in Combate Global’s first-ever, one-night, eight-woman tournament in August 2021, is a dangerous finisher who has earned six of her seven career victories by way of (T)KO or submission.
The 31-year-old Kubota, a native of Osaka, Japan, is a famed champion of Shootboxing, and a record six-time winner of the promotion’s ‘S-Cup’ tournament.
Kubota made her MMA debut with RIZIN on December 31, 2015, defeating Jleana Valentino by way of a flying armbar submission in the second round of action, and proceeded to reel off victories in each of her next five bouts, two of which came at the RIZIN World Grand Prix 2017 women’s atomweight (108 pounds) tournament.
In her last start on July 31, 2022, Kubota defeated Anastasiya Svetkivska via unanimous decision at RIZIN 37 in Saitama, Japan.
Additional information about Combate Global and its athletes can be found on www.CombateGlobal.com as well as on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
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About Combate Global
Combate Global is the premier Hispanic Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) sports franchise that is rapidly becoming the number two sport after soccer for Spanish speaking fans worldwide, and that consistently garners television ratings that are superior to those of other major, longer established sports television properties. It is the only MMA property regularly airing on broadcast television in the U.S. (Univision) and the only MMA property owned, in part, by a major Hispanic media company, as a result of TelevisaUnivision purchasing a significant equity stake in Combate Global in 2021. In 2021, the company also partnered with CBS Sports to distribute Combate Global’s live shows in English in the U.S. on Paramount+. In 2022, the company partnered with Eurosport for live distribution in Spain, as well as with RMC Sport in France and, in 2023, Combate Global entered into a multi-year partnership with global entertainment powerhouse, IMG, for media rights representation worldwide. The company’s programming is available in over 70 countries in Europe, Africa and elsewhere globally.
Nielsen research indicates that an astounding 91 percent of Combate Global viewers in the U.S. are not regular viewers of other MMA content, demonstrating that Combate Global has garnered a new MMA audience with its World Cup-style, country vs. country-style competition.
Combate Global CEO Campbell McLaren, also the co-founder and creator of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), has been described by New York Magazine as "the marketing genius behind the UFC,” while Yahoo Sports has said he "knows more about the sport than just about anyone in it today." Under his direction, the growth of Combate Americas’ television footprint and worldwide audience triggered a re-branding in 2021 to Combate Global.
