Tony Laramie won the RIZIN flyweight title against Makoto Shinryu by split decision on 8 November 2026 at LaLa arena TOKYO-BAY. Two judges scored it 29–28 for Laramie, and one scored it 29–28 for Shinryu. The official report describes an early Shinryu knockdown, repeated changes of position on the mat and a third round in which Laramie kept bringing Shinryu back down after the champion tried to stand. The bout ran the full three five-minute rounds at the listed 57-kilogram limit. RIZIN official title bout report · RIZIN.55 event page
The decision is easiest to read alongside the action in the three rounds. Shinryu did something immediately that shaped the first: he dropped Laramie with punches. Laramie recovered enough to threaten from behind and continued to make Shinryu defend when the positions changed. By the end of the third, the question had become whether Shinryu could get to his feet and stay there. The scorecards record which fighter each judge favoured. The report supplies the sequence that helps explain why the verdict was close.
The first round began with a knockdown and quickly changed position
RIZIN describes both fighters opening in a southpaw stance. Shinryu landed a left hook followed by a right hook and scored an early knockdown. He followed Laramie to the mat. Laramie recovered position, moved behind Shinryu and worked for a choke. Shinryu shifted his hips, escaped and regained the upper position. In a few exchanges the bout had gone from a clear striking success for Shinryu to a submission threat from Laramie and then back to Shinryu on top. RIZIN first-round account
This is a useful sequence to replay at normal speed before trying to analyse individual holds. Begin with the punches and keep the same fighter in view through the change to ground work. A knockdown tells you who won that striking exchange. It also tells you where the fighters were when the next exchange started. Once they are on the mat, there can be several changes in leverage before either can settle into control. The fighter who went down can threaten from behind if he gets around his opponent. The other fighter can still reverse that position if he escapes the threat and turns back towards him.
The same round included Laramie attempting an armbar from underneath and then a guillotine attempt, with Shinryu defending both according to the promotion’s account. Shinryu finished the round attacking near a corner. The useful distinction is between attempting a submission and finishing one. In the official report, those threats were part of the action that Shinryu had to defend. The bout continued because he escaped or prevented the holds from ending it. Read the attacks and defences together rather than listing the names of the holds as if they were outcomes. RIZIN first-round account
The second round produced a reversal in each direction
Shinryu used strikes before shooting for a single-leg takedown in the second. He took Laramie down and moved behind him. Laramie reversed the position and took Shinryu’s back, secured his legs around the body and threatened another choke. Shinryu defended, freed his head and got up. The round ended with Shinryu on top delivering strikes from inside the guard. The official account therefore describes a period of back control for Laramie as well as a different position at the bell. RIZIN second-round account
For a replay, note who is behind whom at two moments: immediately after Shinryu’s takedown and after Laramie’s reversal. The same phrase, taking the back, applies to both fighters at different times. The direction of the move matters more than the label. Next, watch the defender’s reaction. A fighter can make it difficult to finish a choke by protecting the neck while trying to remove the control around the body. That work may be hard to see in a wide shot. The account explains which fighter escaped and who ended up on top before the round ended.
A position at the bell gives a clear end point for the round, but it does not explain every exchange that came before it. If you start the footage late, you will see Shinryu above Laramie and can miss how long he previously had to deal with a threat from behind. If you stop it at Laramie’s strongest position, you miss the escape and the last strikes. A compact way to keep both is to write the initial takedown, reversal, escape and position at the bell as four separate entries.
Laramie kept the action on the mat late in the third
Shinryu landed an uppercut and elbow in the third, and Laramie took him down with a double-leg. The official account records a doctor’s check on a cut to Laramie. The bout resumed. Laramie immediately returned to the takedown, and when Shinryu found enough room to rise, Laramie repeatedly brought him back down. Shinryu threatened a choke while trying to get up, but Laramie regained the upper position and finished the round there. RIZIN third-round account
There are two changes worth tracking in this part of the bout. The doctor’s check was an interruption. The next takedown was something Laramie did after the restart. Keeping them separate makes clear that the fight did not end at the check. Then distinguish each attempt to stand from a lasting return to the feet. A fighter may get his hips off the mat and nearly straighten up, yet still be held closely enough for the opponent to bring him back down. That is why the repeated returns are a useful part of the account, even when a short highlight might show only the first takedown and the finish of the round.
The final position also gives a contrast with the first round. Shinryu began the match by putting Laramie down with punches and following him to the mat. In the third, Laramie repeatedly used a wrestling entry or a grip around the waist to keep the fight there. A viewer who watches only the start and finish sees the two very different ways the bout got to the ground. The rounds between those moments show how often both men could make the other work to maintain control.
What the three score totals say
The promotion lists the scorecards as 29–28 for Laramie, 29–28 for Shinryu and 29–28 for Laramie. The direction of each score matters. Two identical numerical scores may favour different fighters if you leave off the names. In this case the official result was two votes to one for Laramie. The score totals are enough to explain the split decision without assigning particular rounds to individual judges. The round descriptions and the scores are two kinds of record, and a reader should keep them separate unless a source supplies the round-by-round cards. RIZIN title bout scores
The result page gives the title bout as the 13th contest and distinguishes the 57-kilogram limit from the other weights on the card. That helps if you are reading a Japanese event page in translation. Look for the contest number and the fighter names before reading the decision. Then check whether the result shows a stoppage or scores after the third round. For the main event, the official record shows a decision after the full distance. The event page is useful for identifying the date and venue, while the detailed report explains the exchanges and the final cards. RIZIN event and result index · RIZIN.55 report collection
How the co-main result differed
The 12th bout also went three rounds, but the judges were unanimous. RIZIN reports that Irisbek Tilenov defeated Naoki Inoue with scores of 30–27, 30–27 and 29–28 in their 61-kilogram contest. The judges agreed on the winner while giving different numerical totals. That provides a useful comparison with the main event, where the numerical margins matched but one judge picked a different winner. Both fights went the same scheduled distance. The words unanimous and split describe how the judges’ votes were distributed. RIZIN official co-main report
Inoue had striking moments and recovered top position late in the second, while the promotion’s account describes Tilenov taking him down and working from above in the third. The co-main account also says Tilenov earned a bantamweight title opportunity. That status belongs to the co-main result. Laramie’s bout was already a title fight, so the victory made him champion on the night. Those are two different consequences even though both results came from the same set of event reports. RIZIN co-main report · RIZIN title bout report
How to follow the result across the event pages
RIZIN’s event page lists the date, venue and individual bouts. Its reports collection links to the detailed write-ups, which can include separate sections for the rules, result and each round. If you only want the outcome, start with the result section. It identifies both fighters and indicates who won. If you want to understand how the match reached that outcome, open the round sections in order. The title bout report also has post-fight remarks. Those come after the official decision and should be read as reactions or plans, according to the wording of the speaker. A conversation about a possible next fight has a different status from a result that has already been entered on the card. RIZIN event page · RIZIN title bout report
The distinction matters for readers who encounter a translated headline or a short clip before seeing the complete record. A clip of the early knockdown, for example, captures a significant moment for Shinryu. It ends before the later exchanges and the judges’ decision. Likewise, a clip of Laramie holding top position in the third does not show the first-round threat he had to recover from. When comparing two clips, note the round and start time before drawing a conclusion about what each shows. Two clips can both be accurate and still give very different impressions because they begin with the fighters in different situations.
The main event and co-main also show why the final label belongs alongside the names and bout number. A reader who sees three cards without the fighter names can mistake the unanimous result for a wider numerical margin across every card. One of Tilenov’s cards was 29–28, the same numeric score that appeared on all three cards in the title bout. The distinction is whose name appears next to each score. RIZIN co-main scorecards
What to watch when catching up
If you have time for three passages, begin with Shinryu’s early punches and the positions that follow. Then watch the middle round from the single-leg entry through the escape and the last strikes. Finish with the third-round restart and see how many times the two fighters change height without fully separating. The official write-up supplies enough detail to locate each stretch. A replay adds the movement between those landmarks. It is most useful when you keep watching through an escape, instead of cutting away at the moment that a submission or takedown looks most likely to settle the exchange.
For another Japan-market story that draws on a dated official announcement, see our coverage of the VIVANT film release. In this case the relevant dates are the event on 8 November and the detailed bout reports dated 9 November in Japan. A report published the day after a fight still describes the earlier event. Checking both dates makes it easier to find the right card and avoid confusing it with a previous RIZIN event involving either fighter.
The query “ライジン” was fifth in Japan’s Google Trends Trending Now view at 20:17 UTC on 8 November. It showed 50K+ and Active for the past 24 hours. The table was sorted by descending search volume across all categories and statuses. Related searches included RIZIN results. That is a record of search interest during the selected window. The promotion’s event and bout reports establish the result, the weight limit and what happened in each round. Google Trends Japan
Sources consulted 9 November 2026, Dhaka time. The fights took place on 8 November 2026 in Japan. The header is an original illustration of a combat sports ring.