Shaidulloev vs. McKee set for September with two titles at stake
RIZIN featherweight champion Razhabali Shaidulloev will defend his belt against AJ McKee in a title unification bout on Sept. 10 at Super RIZIN 5 in Osaka, Japan, MMA Fighting reports. The vacant PFL 145-pound championship will also be up for grabs.
Shaidulloev has torn through RIZIN's featherweight division with surgical precision. The unbeaten 25-year-old captured the belt and defended it three times in 11 months, stopping Kleber Koike, Viktor Kolesnik, Mikuru Asakura and Yuta Kubo all inside one round. Only one of his seven RIZIN appearances has escaped the opening frame, and none has made it past two.
McKee's path back to championship contention
McKee returned to featherweight in 2025 after a brief stint at lightweight and has rattled off three consecutive victories over Akhmed Magomedov, Adam Borics and Salamat Isbulaev. The former Bellator champion compiled a 21-1 record under that promotion before joining PFL, where he now sits 4-1 overall. He has lobbied for a crack at the vacant PFL title since dropping back to 145 pounds.
The Super RIZIN 5 card will also showcase former lightweight champion Roberto Satoshi against Shunta Nomura and a lightweight clash between Japanese standouts Mikuru Asakura and Shinya Aoki. Additional matchups include Yutaka Saito vs. Ya-Man, Vugar Karamov vs. Ryo Takagi, Daichi Tomizawa vs. Don't Mind Kawabata, and Karshyga Dautbek vs. Ren Hiramoto.
Photo: ホタテマン0010 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Original reporting:
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