Japan loves its big New Years Eve fighting extravaganzas, so RIZIN 14 just went down to oblige them. Yes, there were tons of fights full of names you’ve never heard of, but the two biggest fights were at the top, and they featured a somewhat well-known boxer, a UFC vet and a Bellator vet.

In the co-main event, the aforementioned UFC vet was Kyoji Horiguchi – a.k.a. “the Gooch” – versus Bellator champ Darrion Caldwell. Meanwhile, the main event had Japanese kickboxing superstar Tenshin Nasukawa against Floyd Mayweather.

Now, if you thought the Mayweather fight was going to be a work, or some sort of half-hearted attempt at combat entertainment, well, nope. Mayweather came out, chased Tenshin down, ate maybe one hard left with a smile, and proceeded to drop the Japanese star three times with punches to the dome. Less than a round, three knockdowns, and while Tenshin was stumbling around trying to remember where he was, his corner threw in the towel.

Yup. Mayweather ate him like sushi. Surprisingly, Conor McGregor lasted longer.

With his RIZIN belt on the line, the Gooch had trouble stopping Caldwell from taking him down, and the American stud wrestler simply held him there for most of the first and all of the second round. But Caldwell left his neck exposed in the third round, so Horiguchi cinched on the guillotine and tapped him out.

Caldwell’s Bellator bantamweight title wasn’t on the line in this fight, but it might be in the rematch that is supposed to take place on American soil.

Elsewhere on the card, Gabi Garcia won against another over-matched opponent, Daron Cruickshank lost, blah, blah, blah. Really, it was all about Mayweather and the Gooch, folks.

Happy New Year!

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