Kazama was out cold from the impact, but that didn’t stop Smith from getting two more punches in before celebrating the victory. “Swift” pocketed a $50,000 “Performance of the Night”-winning bonus for the finish. Kazama, meanwhile, was rushed to the hospital for a full medical check-up, and the worried chatter online was so strong that UFC made an update during the broadcast to assure fans he was all right.
“Our medical staff took every precaution while Kazama was still in the octagon due to the possible severity of the injuries he could have sustained being slammed,” Karyn Bryant said. “I spoke to Dr. Jeffrey Davidson, he told me CT scans of Kazama’s head, face, and neck all came back negative, [and] he will be discharged momentarily.”
Later in the evening, Kazama shared a picture on social media from a Five Guys Burgers & Fries.
“Defeat at Five Guys,” he wrote in Japanese. “For now, I’m just really glad to be alive.”
Kazama has had a rough run in UFC, going 1-3 with all three losses coming via first round knockout. The grappling specialist just puts himself into too many dangerous positions going for submissions — and not letting go of a triangle choke as your opponent prepares to powerbomb you is a perfect example of this.
The combat sports world has been reeling from recent news that two Japanese boxers who competed on an Aug. 2, 2025, card had since died from brain injuries. That was clearly on the mind of Kazama’s training partner and cornerman, Ryotaro Higurasi, following the fight.
“Currently in the Japanese boxing world, unfortunate accidents are happening one after another,” he tweeted an hour following the fight. “After this match, as soon as he left the ring, [Kazama] was immediately put on a stretcher with an ambulance waiting outside. They went to the hospital for a CT scan and everything was handled very smoothly, protecting the athlete’s life.
“To put it bluntly, it’s probably a matter of funding differences,” he concluded. “But even so, I thought it was a wonderful response that put the athlete first.”
