Sabatello, a former Bellator MMA standout, earned bantamweight gold in RIZIN last time out. On April 12, 2026 at RIZIN Landmark 13, he’ll put his belt on the line against Joji Goto.

James Gallagher and Patricky Pitbull, two other Bellator ex-pats, will also feature on the card, which takes place at the Marine Messe Fukuoka in Fukuoka, Japan.

Promotion officials recently announced the news, with the event looking to be one of the most star-studded of the Landmark series.

Known as “The Italian Gangster,” Sabatello (17-4-1) has taken on a Chael Sonnen-style persona in promoting his fights, and used that and a solid run in Bellator to earn a shot at an interim title in Bellator in 2022, only to come up short against Raufeon Stots in a fight that was also a semifinal in the promotion’s bantamweight grand prix.

Sabatello went 1-2-1 in his next four fights including a second loss to Stots, but has been reinvigorated in RIZIN, where he’s 3-0 thus far.

Goto (20-8-1) sits on a four-fight win streak, with his last three victories coming in RIZIN. He’s previously fought for Pancrase, Shooto, and ONE Championship.

Patricky Pitbull (25-15) faces UFC alum Yoshinori Horie (14-6) at RIZIN Landmark 13 in lightweight action. Pitbull has lost his last four, including his final Bellator bout, a pair of losses in the PFL, and his RIZIN debut against Shunta Nomura.

Horie has been trading wins and losses over his last several fights, beating Bellator vet Spike Carlyle and Yamato Nishikawa but losing to Luiz Gustavlo and most recently then-lightweight champ Roberto Satoshi in a championship bout.

James Gallagher (13-3) went 9-3 for Bellator MMA, and had a fight booked for the PFL in August of 2024 that fell through due to visa issues. He later requested and was granted his release by the promotion, joining an exodus of fighters including Patricio and Patricky Pitbull and Aaron Pico. He faces Kazumasa Majima (18-6) in April, in what will be Gallagher’s RIZIN debut.

Former Invicta FC atomweight champ Ayaka Hamasaki (26-7) returns to RIZIN for the first time since 2024 after splitting a pair of fights under the DEEP banner. Also a former RIZIN Super Atomweight champ, she takes on Russian LFA veteran Natasha Kuziutina (9-1), winner of eight straight.

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The former Bellator MMA bantamweight champion and grand prix winner was considered a big signing when he joined the UFC last year. Mix (20-3) had just one professional loss at the time and was considered by many the best 135lb’er outside the UFC. However, he struggled out of the gate, losing a unanimous decision in his lackluster debut against Mario Bautista.

In Mix’s sophomore outing inside the octagon, former KSW star Jakub Wikłacz squeaked past Mix via split decision.

The bout came at UFC 320 last October. It was expected Mix would get another look in the UFC, but on Wednesday, RIZIN officials announced a bout at the upcoming RIZIN 52, featuring Mix taking on Kyoma Akimoto (11-1).

In addition to the new promotion, Mix will also be competing in a new weight class, moving up to featherweight.

Mix holds notable victories over Andre Ewell, Tony Gravely, Albert Morales, Magomed Magomedov, Kyoji Horiguchi, Raufeon Stots, and Sergio Pettis. He holds the promotional record for stoppages and submissions in Bellator bantamweight history.

His latest opponent, Akimoto, is 6-1 under the RIZIN Fighting Federation banner. Akimoto has seen his hand raised in his last four bouts.

RIZIN 52 takes place on March 6, 2026 at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.

The move of Mix from the UFC to RIZIN runs parallel to a couple of RIZIN fighters going the opposite direction, mainly Kai Asakura and Kyoji Horiguchi. The relationship between the promotions has appeared to be closer of late, with UFC CEO and President Dana White and RIZIN’s Nobuyuki Sakakibara meeting in 2024, several months prior to Asakura moving to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

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Among the names involved, former featherweight title challenger Viktor Kolesnik, looking to bounce back from a loss in his title bid last September, and Canadian flyweight standout Tony Laramie.

Kolesnik (26-5-1) was finished by champ Razhabali Shaydullaev in just 33 seconds, after earning the shot at gold by winning his first four bouts under the RIZIN banner. The 29-year old Russian is a former champ in both SBC (Serbian Battleground Championship) and Open Fighting Championship.

He finds himself paired up with the undefeated Kazuki Aimoto (9-0), who will be making his promotional debut with RIZIN after spending the entirety of his career fighting under the DEEP banner. Seven of Aimoto’s nine wins have come via KO/TKO, with the remaining two bouts going the distance.

Tony Laramie (11-3) will look to make it three wins in four fights for RIZIN, and is coming off a win over Wataru Yamauchi. He gets Takaki Soya (13-7-1), who is 1-1 over his last two with a win over former UFC title challenger John Dodson.

Also announced for RIZIN 52, Luiz Gustavo faces Tasei Sakuraba, while Saori Oshima meets Kate Lotus.

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Included will be a full six title fights, including the debut of Ryan Bader (31-8), who will face Aleksandr Soldatkin (18-4) for the promotion’s heavyweight title. Bader, a former Bellator double champ at light heavyweight and heavyweight, will be facing one of the toughest heavyweights outside the UFC, with Soldatkin’s lone loss since 2019 being a DQ for an illegal knee on the Contender Series. Soldatkin is 3-0 under the RIZIN banner to date, and won the promotion’s heavyweight grand prix in September.

Razhabali Shaidulloev (16-0), the promotion’s undefeated featherweight champ, will face Mikuru Asakura (19-5), brother of UFC flyweight title challenger and ex-RIZIN champ Kai Asakura, in the night’s main event. Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza (20-3), meanwhile, will be looking to make the sixth defense of his lightweight title when he takes on Shunta Nomura (10-2).

Women’s super atomweight gold will be on the line when Seika Izawa (17-0), who defended her title earlier this month at RIZIN Landmark 12, faces off against the popular Rena Kubota (15-5). UFC alum Naoki Inoue (20-4) will put his bantamweight belt on the line against former Bellator MMA motormouth Danny Sabatello (16-4-1), while a flyweight title fight sees former Ultimate Fighter hopeful Hiromasa Ougikubo (29-8-2) take on Yuki Motoya (39-14) for the vacant RIZIN 125lb strap.

In a final fight announced on Sunday via press release, Yutaka Saito (21-9-2) faces kickboxer Ren Sugiyama (2-2) in featherweight action.

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Bader (31-8, 1NC), a former UFC contender at 205lbs, has inked a deal with RIZIN Fighting Federation, and is set to make his debut for the company later this year. “Darth” Bader appeared in the ring at the Tokyo Dome during Sunday’s RIZIN Otoko Matsuri broadcast alongside RIZIN CEO Noboyuki Sakakibara to announce the news.

As confirmed by the broadcast, Bader will face the winner of the heavyweight grand prix, which kicked off on Sunday, at the promotion’s annual New Year’s Eve show, promising to become heavyweight champion at the end of the year.

Bader, 41, has not competed since a February 2024 loss to Renan Ferreira at the PFL Champions vs. Bellator Champions crossover event. Up until his release, he remained the Bellator MMA heavyweight champion, a title he defended three times, the most of any heavyweight champion in the now-defunct promotion’s history.

After wrapping up his UFC career on a two-fight win streak in 2016, Ryan Bader was a massive free agent signing for Bellator, and made his debut the following year. He won light heavyweight gold in his promotional debut, defeating fellow UFC ex-pat Phil Davis to do so. Bader would hold that title until a 2020 loss to Vadim Nemkov, becoming a simultaneous double champ along the way.

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James (15-7-1, 1NC), missed weight by 0.8kg (1.76 pounds) on Saturday for his opening round fight with Marek Samociuk. Under the Japanese promotion’s rules, that would normally bring a No Contest into play, as historically, if a fighter who misses weight wins their bout, the result is flipped to a No Contest (while a loss remains a loss).

However, that will not be the case for James, mainly because of the tournament format. Per a press release by RIZIN officials, the No Contest rule will not be applied on Sunday. James will, however, start the fight with a red card and point deduction, meaning he’ll have to work a little harder if the bout goes to the scorecards.

Of course, Daniel James has only won a fight by decision once in his entire career, so it’s a safe bet the American heavyweight isn’t expecting to hear from the judges on Sunday. He holds 11 KO/TKO finishes and three submissions among his 15 professional victories, and has lost on the scorecards four times.

Saturday’s mishap at the scales is the second straight occasion where James has missed weight. His last bout, a win over Marcelo Golm under the PFL banner, also saw him come in heavy.

RIZIN Otoko Matsuri takes place Sunday, May 4, 2025 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan.

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Historically, RIZIN have hosted shows almost exclusively in Japan, with the exception of an event in Azerbaijan in 2023 (RIZIN Landmark 7).

After forging a relationship with Bellator MMA and Scott Coker prior to that promotion’s demise, RIZIN appear to be branching out a little, and have established a relationship with the UFC, facilitating the transition of Kai Asakura and Kyoji Horiguchi, both former RIZIN champs, to that company.

As for the South Korea date, RIZIN World Series in Korea will take place on May 31, 2025 at the Paradise City hotel in Incheon, South Korea. The main event sees RIZIN lightweight champ Roberto Satoshi Souza in a non-title fight with Korean standout Ki Won Bin, one of several Japan vs. South Korea match-ups announced for the event.

The current line-up breaks down as follows:

Roberto Satoshi Souza vs. Ki Won-bin – Lightweight
Juri Ohara vs. Johnny Case – Lightweight
Kim Soo-chul vs. Shoko Sato – Bantamweight
Ji Min-hyuk vs. Koji Takeda – Featherweight
Yang Ji-yong vs. Kintaro – Bantamweight
Song Jae-young vs. Yoshiki Nakahara – Featherweight
Shim Yu-ri vs. Kate Lotus – Super Atomweight
Kim Si-won vs. Sho Patrick Usami – Lightweight
Kwon Yong-chul vs. Kota Miura – Catchweight 139lbs
Kang Bum-jung vs. Seiya Inoue – Kickboxing
Cho San-hae vs. Hide Meison Usami – Kickboxing

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In an announcement issued on Wednesday, RIZIN officials revealed that their heavyweight grand prix would be featured at the event, with a number of names announced. In addition, fights involving Danny Sabatello and John Dodson, among others, were confirmed.

The 2025 Heavyweight Grand Prix is set to feature eight fighters, six of which were introduced on Wednesday. Not surprisingly, Japanese heavyweight and RIZIN regular Tsuyoshi Sudario (9-3) is among them. A former sumo wrestler, Sudario is coming off a stoppage win over Hisaki Kato at RIZIN Landmark 10.

Shoma Shibisai (10-3), who competed under the Bellator banner at one of their Japanese shows, and who also featured in a special rules bout against former UFC heavyweight champ Josh Barnett, will also take part. Mikio Ueda (4-2) is the final Japanese fighter named, while KSW’s Marek Samociuk (7-4), on a three-fight win streak, will represent Poland. A Russian fighting out of Germany, Alexander Soldatkin (14-5), who lost on the Contender Series in 2023, is also in the grand prix. Finally, LFA and Bellator vet Jose Augusto (10-4, 1NC), a former light heavyweight, will represent Brazil.

The remaining two names have yet to be revealed, as have any potential match-ups.

Bookings confirmed on Wednesday, however, see former UFC title challenger and current BKFC flyweight champ John Dodson (24-14) returning to MMA, as he takes on Takaki Soya (12-6-1) in a rematch of their bareknuckle fight, which Dodson won last year.

Bantamweight Danny Sabatello (14-4-1) makes his RIZIN debut opposite Shinobu Ota (7-4), a former Olympic wrestler. Our sympathies to Sabatello’s translator ahead of this one.

Also announced on Wednesday, Erson Yamamoto faces Daichi Tomizawa, while Joe Hiramoto meets Toki Tamaru. Both of those bouts are scheduled at flyweight (57kg).

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During Tuesday’s RIZIN Decade/RIZIN 49 broadcast, promotion officials confirmed that Yuki Motoya would be the first man to challenge for Inoue’s belt.

Motoya (36-12, 1NC) earned his shot at gold care of a unanimous decision victory over Kyoma Akimoto as part of the night’s main card. The victory marked Motoya’s third straight win, including one under the DEEP banner, in 2024.

Naoki Inoue vs. Yuki Motoya will take place on March 31, 2025, per the promotion. No venue or location was announced for the fight. Both fighters were brought into the ring as part of the announcement.

Inoue (20-4) is a familiar name to Western fight fans, having competed for the UFC twice in 2017-18. After going 0-2 and being cut by the promotion, he returned to his native Japan, moving up to bantamweight after spending years at 125lbs. He’d win his first six fights in his new weight class, going to the final of the 2021 RIZIN bantamweight grand prix.

3-1 in his last four, Inoue defeated South Korean Kim Soo-chul at RIZIN 48 in September, finishing the fight via TKO in the opening round to claim his first major title. At 27, he’ll have youth on his side, with Motoya having turned 35 earlier this year.

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During Tuesday’s RIZIN Decade broadcast, promotion officials announced that Ren Hiramoto vs. Mikuru Asakura 2 will take place at the venue in Tokyo, Japan on May 4, 2025. The fight comes roughly nine months on from their first meeting, which saw Hiramoto, in just his seventh MMA fight, finish the fight in the opening round.

The knockout victory was something of an upset, though Hiramoto (4-3) amassed years of kickboxing experience, including appearances for K-1, prior to jumping to MMA in 2020.

Still, Asakura (17-5) had been considered the favorite by most pundits. Brother of recent UFC flyweight title challenger Kai Asakura, Mikuru holds wins over UFC vet Hatsu Hioke, Yusuke Yachi, Yutaka Saito, and others.

He also took part in an exhibition boxing match with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2022, only to be stopped in the second round.

Asakura has lost his last two fights in MMA, while having a kickboxing defeat also in the mix, leaving him in something of a slump. Ren Hiramoto, on the opposite trajectory, has won two straight. Neither man has competed since their first meeting at Super RIZIN 3 last July.

More fights are expected to be announced for RIZIN’s return to the Tokyo Dome in the coming weeks.

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