Roberto de Souza, RIZIN’s reigning lightweight champion, caps off the Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN card on New Year’s Eve by taking on former Bellator featherweight champ A.J. McKee.
The fight features two of the best athletes in either company, and is one that feels like it could turn out to be a striker vs. grappler affair. That, despite McKee being no slouch on the ground. McKee previosly told Cageside Press that he felt the smart path to victory was on the feet, but he’s also a fighter who holds a Submission of the Year award.
Asked about McKee’s ground game during this week’s Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN media day, de Souza told Cageside Press via translator that “I think he’s a very good and also dangerous fighter. I know that it’s very difficult to have jiu-jitsu moves in MMA, to use them in MMA, but he has the capability of doing that, so I think he’s a very good fighter.”
Bellator CEO Scott Coker and his RIZIN Fighting Federation counterpart, Nobuyuki Sakakibara, have suggested that Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN could be the first of two events. The sequel, if all goes according to plan, would likely come stateside next year. That means fights in a cage, rather than ring. For his part, Roberto “Satoshi” says he’s down to take part.
“I like the idea. Actually my first professional match was in a cage,” he said when asked about taking part. “So having the opportunity to fight in the cage in the U.S., I think it would be a very good idea.”
Ahead of his match-up with McKee, the Brazilian grappler has been working on his striking with another RIZIN fighter, Johnny Case. There’s one particular takeaway that has helped the lightweight champ.
“He [Case] showed me how to keep distance, how to use my timing. But the [biggest] thing I learned from him is just having confidence in myself,” said de Souza. “There are other details that I’ve learned, but the biggest thing is keeping the confidence [up].”
Watch the full Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN media day appearance by Roberto de Souza above. The event takes place on December 31, 2022 with the main card airing live on Showtime in the U.S. Elsewhere, the event can be viewed live on Fite.tv.
