Knee injury forces Justin Scoggins out of Rizin 15 fight with Kai Asakura

Less than two weeks after Justin Scoggins replaced Ulka Sasaki to take on Kai Asakura at the upcoming Rizin 15 show in Yokohama, Japan, on April 21, the match-up has been scrapped from the card, the promotion announced Monday.

According to the Japanese promotion, Scoggins suffered a meniscus and ligament tear in his knee.

”I would like to apologize to Rizin and the fans, and my opponent Asakura for not being to fight on the upcoming card,” Scoggins stated in a release. “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.”

Asakura said he’s “devastated” to hear that his fight was cancelled, but promised to “release this frustration in my next performance.”

With the cancellation of Scoggins-Asakura, the card will proceed with 10 MMA bouts and a couple of kickboxing matches. The MMA portion of shot card includes the return of bantamweight champion Kyoji Horiguchi in a non-title fight versus fellow UFC veteran Ben Nguyen and Muhammed Lawal vs. Jiri Prochazka for the inaugural light heavyweight championship.

Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Ben Nguyen
Muhammed Lawal vs. Jiri Prochazka
Mikuru Asakura vs. Luiz Gustavo
Damien Brown vs. Koji Takeda
Satoru Kitaoka vs. Roberto Satoshi Souza
Manel Kape vs. Seiichiro Ito
Karl Albrektsson vs. Christiano Frohlich
Kana Watanabe vs. Justyna Haba
Shinju Auclair vs. Saray Orozco
Tenshin Nasukawa vs. Fritz Biagtan — kickboxing bout
Taiga Kawabe vs. Thallison Ferreira — kickboxing bout