Juan Archuleta no longer holds the RIZIN bantamweight belt after the promotion stripped it off him for missing weight ahead of the RIZIN 45 event, where he will fight Kai Asakura.
“The Spaniard” missed his weight by about 6 pounds during the weigh-in ceremony for the RIZIN 45. With this, according to the rules of the Japanese promotion, the champ fighter would have to be stripped of the belt.
It is unknown if Asakura will still push the fight, but the Japanese opponent is now pondering it but noted a huge weight disparity between them. In case Asakura wishes to go on with the bout, he will be the only one who can compete for the belt, which is now vacant due to what happened. Ultimately, if the two agree to still face each other, Archuleta’s main goal is to prevent the Japanese opponent from getting the vacant title.
The Bellator fighter confirmed the news on his social media account and issued an apology to the fans. According to Archuleta, he was ill prior to the event, leading to an issue with his weight.
“Sorry this happened, nothing I can do about getting sick,” Archuleta posted. “I did my best to make weight and still step on the scale knowing I was going to have my title taken away. But I don’t want my fans who pay hard working money to miss this fight. So I did my best and came up short.”
