With his win at Super RIZIN 2 back in July, Juan Archuleta not only captured the promotion’s bantamweight crown but made a little more history in the process.
That history? Becoming just the second American champ in a major Japanese promotion. And the first in RIZIN Fighting Federation.
“It was dope, man. Knowing going into there that it hadn’t been done before for an American fighter, it put that stamp of approval on it. Making history that will never be erased,” Archuleta (29-4), also a former Bellator champ, told Cageside Press recently.
“Then finding out there was only two people [from the U.S.] that won Japanese titles, me and Dan Henderson. Putting my name on that platform with him is a dream come true.”
Hendo of course achieved that feat back in PRIDE, the precursor to RIZIN.
While the win came back in July, “The Spaniard” has been busy doing a little globe-trotting of late. In Japan of course, then on the west coast U.S. in San Diego for Bellator 300, then off to Abu Dhabi this past week for UFC 294, supporting a teammate.
The travel is a part of the job that Juan Archuleta loves. “Oh a hundred percent. I do this to travel, go watch my friends beat up people in other countries. Enjoy the cultures, enjoy the food. It’s a dream come true, that’s what my ancestors did. Carrying on that legacy is awesome.”
The future for Archuleta remains a bit of a question mark. He was originally paired up with RIZIN star Kai Asakura, only for Asakura to pull out of their title fight — and one more bout since.
“Hopefully he mans up and take the fight,” said Archuleta, who appears to remain interested at least. If not, he’ll take whoever is next. “It’s like, I trained a whole fight camp to prepare for this guy, and then he pulls out, pulls out of his other fight he was supposed to have in October. I’m not going to do a whole training camp waiting for this guy. I’m going to fight whoever’s in front, the number one contender like I’ve been doing my whole career.”
“Whoever they put in there is about to get f*cked up, that’s for sure.”
Archuleta, who has held gold in every promotion he’s ever fought in, has one more title in mind moving forward: the PFL championship. While they currently don’t have a bantamweight title, Archuleta clearly sees an opportunity should the promotion scoop up Bellator MMA as rumored.
“The last promotion I have to win a title for is the PFL. I fought there during the time they were the World Series of Fighting. I only got to fight once for them, now finding out that they’re going to buy Bellator, they’re making a strong push for it, it kind of makes me happy and very excited,” noted Archuleta. “Because I win that belt, in every promotion I’ve fought for, I have a title. So I’m looking forward to that. That’s going to cement my legacy and who I am, and put me in the history books— that makes me stand out from other fighters.”
Watch our full interview with RIZIN bantamweight champion Juan Archuleta above!
