Justin Scoggins suffers knee injury, Kai Asakura scrapped off the RIZIN 15 card

RIZIN FF’s first event of the year 2019 looked as if everything was going swimmingly, with the most recent partnership with Manny Pacquiao. However, one of the most intriguing fights have been scrapped due to injury.

Justin Scoggins has suffered a knee injury during practice and has been diagnosed by the doctor unable to compete. The official statement said that the injury was “Meniscus and ligament tear in the knee”.

Scoggins and his scheduled opponent both released a statement.

Justin Scoggins

“I would like to apologize to RIZIN and the fans, and my opponent Asakura for not being to fight on the upcoming card. I have suffered a serious knee injury that completely prevents me from competing. It is a fight I requested and one I hope to do later in the year. I respect Asakura and am very sorry for this exciting fight must be delayed. I also apologize to Mr. Sakakibara who approved this fight for me. I look forward to making it up to him when I am healthy.”

Kai Asakura

“I am devastated to hear that I will not be able to fight this Sunday. I was in great shape and felt like nothing could stop me. I promise to release this frustration in my next performance so please look forward to that. I do apologize for all the fans who looked to see me fight. People get sick, and fighters get injured, it’s just part of the business, so I do hope a speedy recovery for both Sasaki and Justin. And once you guys are healthy, you can fight me.”

With the fight scrapped, RIZIN.15 now will have 12 fights, with 10 MMA fights and 2 kickboxing fights.

Confirmed Fights:

King Mo vs Jiri Prochazka

Tenshin Nasukawa vs Fritz Biagtan

Kyoji Horiguchi vs Ben Nguyen

Satoru Kitaoka vs Roberto Satoshi Souza

Karl Albrektsson vs Christiano Frohlich

RENA vs Samantha Jean-Francois

Mikuru Asakura vs Luiz Gustavo

Kana Watanabe vs Justyna Haba

Damien Brown vs Koji Takeda

Manel Kape vs Seiichiro Ito

Shinju Auclair vs Saray Orozco

TAIGA vs Thallison Ferreira

FightBookMMA

Roberto Villa is the CEO, Founder, Executive Writer, Senior Editor of FightBook MMA. Has a passion for Combat Sports and also a podcast host for Sitting Ringside. He’s also a former MMA fighter and Kickboxer.

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