On the Japanese promotion’s side, RIZIN Fighting Federation lightweight champ Roberto de Souza looked to boost his profile against the American, in what was almost certainly his toughest match-up to date.

Despite McKee being a former featherweight, he had a slight reach advantage over Brazil’s de Souza. Early in the fight, following a McKee side kick, the RIZIN champ was able to get the fight where he wanted it, jumping guard and clamping down on McKee before he could pull free. de Souza worked on a triangle, with McKee landing hammerfists. Surprisingly enough, when McKee freed himself, he opted to engage on the ground again.

McKee came close to landing a knee on “Satoshi” Souza on the ground, a perfectly legal move. But moments later, de Souza finally latched on with a triangle. McKee was able to fight that off, keeping the Brazilian pressed against the ring post, leaving him without the necessary room to work. McKee then dropped elbows from the top while de Souza continued to hunt submissions.

At the end of the frame, the ref opted to move the pair out of the corner, much to the annoyance of McKee, who was happy where the fight was. It wouldn’t matter, with the round wrapping up without any further drama.

McKee fired off a spinning kick early in round two, but it was de Souza who grazed the Belaltor fighter with a head kick. “Satoshi” then marched forward, but McKee fired a jump knee. The RIZIN champ was then briefly under fire, falling to his back half from a push following a kick to the body. Then it was back to the feet, before de Souza managed to get McKee to the mat, taking the back! With half a round remaining, de Souza locked on with a body triangle. From there, he went hunting for the rear-naked choke.

With ample time to work, de Souza looked to slip an arm under the chin of McKee. Who, for his part, fired punches back while fighting the hands and trying to turn in and reserve. McKee finally opted to escape out the back door, then fired a soccer kick! He stomped the mid-section of de Souza next, as the Brazilian looked to trap a leg. McKee then backed off, letting Roberto de Souza up just prior to the bell sounding.

Round three opened with some heavy exchanges, before McKee went after a d’arce choke. de Souza freed himself, and would later get McKee in a tight guillotine. McKee gutted it out, finally turning and wrenching himself free. Things didn’t get any easier from there. While both men were tired, de Souza took advantage of McKee jumping a guillotine. While he came up short on an arm-triangle choke, the Brazilian managed to take the back standing at the end of the round, coming close on a rear-naked choke attempt. McKee jumped, rolled, and tried to get de Souza off him, but would finish the round with the RIZIN champ on his back.

Despite the adversity, McKee would go on to win it on the scorecards, with Bellator MMA fighters going 5-0 against their Japanese counterparts in RIZIN.

Official Result: A.J. McKee def. Roberto de Souza by unanimous decision

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While other bouts on the cross-promotional New Year’s Eve battle featured current and former champs, no other fight had the two reigning kings of their respective promotions. So while no belts were on the line, bragging rights certainly were, and perhaps a linear title of sorts, should you care about such things.

With Koike boasting 29 submission wins, Pitbull was likely to want to keep this one standing. Things certainly started out that way, with Pitbull patiently walking his opponent down. Koike soon dropped for a takedown attempt, grabbing a leg — but Pitbull pulled free, wanting no part of being on the mat with Kleber Koike, especially early in the fight.

Several exchanges on the feet then followed, with Koike firing kicks low and high. Pitbull was getting the better of those, but again backed up when Koike tried to lure him down to the mat. When Pitbull later threw Koike to the canvas, he again wisely backed off. Koike, meanwhile, connected with a kick to the body, though many of his standup attacks were blocked.

Pitbull was throwing the more accurate, powerful shots, though Koike managed to hold his own, mainly with his kicks. Late in the round, Koike would land a throw, but he flew wide, unable to stick the landing, and couldn’t get on top.

Round two opened with a bit of a chess match. Strikes were few and far between through the opening two minutes, especially for Pitbull, who landed a couple of solid keg kicks about a minute or more apart. Koike created space with front kicks, but couldn’t get close enough to Pitbull to take the fight down. The Bellator champ appeared willing to bide his time, meanwhile, waiting for an opening — which would come in the final minute. With things opening up, Pitbull landed a right hand that seemed to hurt Koike. The RIZIN champ was soon leaking blood by one eye.

The third saw Pitbull rip the body then finish the combo upstairs. And while Koike would take Patricio down moments later, he could not keep the Bellator champ there. Pitbull then chopped the legs as Koike sat back, hoping beyond hope that Pitbull might wade into his guard. The leg kicks kept coming, until the ref opted to stand Koike up. That afforded Koike the opportunity to get the fight down, giving him just over two minutes to work. Just when it seemed like Koike finally had a chance to shift momentum, Pitbull escaped up and out, Koike chasing him. In a later clinch, Koike pulled guard, firing from bottom. Patricio Pitbull then freed himself, and fired a soccer kick, but didn’t land it.

The fight would finish up with Koike being stood up one last time, not that it mattered. Pitbull had the clear win, improving Bellator to 4-0 against RIZIN with one fight remaining on the card.

Official Result: Patricio Pitbull def. Kleber Koike by unanimous decision

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His RIZIN-backed foe was Hiromasa Ougikubo, over whom Horiguchi had two previous wins. Both men were returning to the flyweight division after stints at bantamweight.

The trilogy bout opened with Horiguchi firing a leg kick. Ougikubo fired a right. Clinched. But Horiguchi freed himself and moved back to center. Another leg kick landed for Horiguchi, but Ougikubo put on a body lock, looking for a takedown. He backed Horiguchi up against a ring post, only for Horiguchi to reverse. Knees to the thigh followed, until Ougikubo turned things around again, firing knees of his own.

With two minutes remaining, Horiguchi worked his jab, then fired a leg kick. Another followed. When Ougikubo launched a kick of his own, Horiguchi caught it, driving his opponent back to a corner. A knee to the body by Horiguchi, then another, landed. But Ougikubo was chasing Horiguchi moments later. He may have gotten a little too aggressive, as Horiguchi took Ougikubo’s legs out from under him with a kick! The former RIZIN and Bellator champ rained down ground n’ pound after that, but Ougikubo was saved by the bell.

Round two opened with a question mark kick from Kyoji Horiguchi. He then pressed the action, forcing Ougikubo to a corner, where he fired knees to the thighs as Ougikubo fought the wrists. Horiguchi then landed a throw, dragged Ougikubo away from the ropes, and took the back. While Horiguchi had just one hook in, a scramble gave him the second. But Ougikubo reversed, getting on top with just under two minutes left in the round.

From top position, Hiromasa Ougikubo landed an elbow, while Horiguchi perhaps looked to set up a guillotine. That didn’t last long; Horiguchi instead attacked with punches from bottom, while Ougikubo seemed to struggle to get much offense in after that initial elbow, despite being in a dominant position.

Right off the opening bell of the third, Horiguchi dropped his opponent with a well-timed counter. He quickly moved into mount; Ougikubo gave up his back trying to escape. Horiguchi couldn’t hold the position, and Ougikubo reversed; the pair wound up in north-south briefly before a couple of scrambles resulted in Horiguchi back on top, in guard this time. The bulk of the round would play out this way, with Kyoji Horiguchi on top, in control. Ougikubo scrambled free with a minute to go, but was taken back down, eating a knee while in a headlock that busted him up.

Official Result: Kyoji Horiguchi def. Hiromasa Ougikubo by unanimous decision

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The second fight in at the Saitama Super Arena just outside Tokyo had former Bellator MMA champ Juan Archuleta paired up with South Korean Soo Chul Kim.

Kim appeared to be trying to set the tone before the fight even began, outright racing to the ring with the riffs of Welcome to the Jungle blaring in the arena. The opening seconds of the fight were just as quick, with the pair coming together and going to the ground care of an Archuleta takedown, after which the American was happy to fire a few knees on the grounded Kim — completely legal under the RIZIN rule set.

Moments later, they were back to the feet, with Kim jumping into a guillotine with Archuleta still standing. Archuleta gutted it out, then went to the ground; moments later, he was free of the choke and on top, while Kim fired elbows and punches off his back. Archuleta went body-head, and worked Kim over as he worked his way up against the ring post. Kim did make it up, but was bloodied, and had to eat a couple of foot stomps.

When Kim finally created some space, he attacked the legs of Archuleta, pressing forward and staying light on his feet. The pair both landed in an exchange, followed by Archuleta clamping on with a body lock as the final minute of the opening round arrived. Kim would go down to a knee, but was able to extricate himself with about 15 seconds left in the round. Kim would close out round one landing a leg kick.

Inside of a minute into round two, Archuleta landed a blast double, staying on the attempt and turning to put Kim on his back. As he did in the first, Kim fired elbows off his back, while Archuleta worked the body. After a moment, Kim scrambled free, but Archuleta had him back down moments later. This time as Kim got up, he was forced to eat a couple of forearm strikes from Archuleta. And while Kim was up, he could land just a couple of blows before “The Spaniard” took him right back down.

Round three saw an early scramble go south for Juan Archuleta. Apparently off-balance, Archuleta wound up on his back, with Kim working from a dominant position basically for the first time in the fight. As he hit the body, however, the ref stood the fight up — almost certainly a quick stand-up. Kim then engaged in some mental warfare, raising his hands, trying to goad Archuleta into something. It was Archuleta landing a jump knee with just under 90 seconds left, however — though it didn’t land flush. Archuleta then tied the action up, pinning Kim on a single-leg attempt against the ring post.

Then came the Hail Mary attempt from Soo Chul Kim. He locked on a ninja choke, dragging Archuleta to the canvas. The choke was tight, and Archuleta appeared to be in some real discomfort. But he grabbed a leg and later freed himself, snatching away Kim’s last chance to salvage the fight. While one judge would award the fight to Kim, Archuleta took the win on the remaining two scorecards.

Official Result: Juan Archuleta def. Soo Chul Kim by split decision

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While yes, Bellator and RIZIN had cross-promoted before, there was little danger for either side in the fights that were booked. Fedor Emelianenko and Rampage Jackson were both Bellator fighters when they faced off at Bellator 237 in Japan in 2019, a card advertised as “powered by RIZIN.” Yes, Lorenz Larkin fought Keita Nakamura while Michael Page faced Shinso Anzai, but none of the above were champions.

Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN, on the other hand, paired up current reigning featherweight champions Patricio Pitbull (Bellator) and Kleber Koike (RIZIN), while current RIZIN lightweight champ Roberto de Souza met ex-Bellator featherweight champ A.J. McKee, who recently made the move up to 155lbs.

Another former champion for Bellator, Juan Archuleta, faced RIZIN’s Soo Chul Kim, while one of the promotion’s brighter prospects, Gadzhi Rabadanov — who trains under Khabib Nurmagomedov — kicked off the card against Koji Takeda.

Former Bellator bantamweigth champ Kyoji Horiguchi, who holds RIZIN’s bantamweight title currently, represented the American promotion when he took on Hiromasa Ougikubo, the Bellator bantamweight grand prix winner, for the third time in their career series.

Horiguchi aside (there would be no loser if he won, quite frankly), there were some serious bragging rights attached to these fights. And the head-to-head format came after RIZIN 40, which started earlier in the night and featured the likes of Seika Izawa, Naoki Inoue, John Dodson, Junior Tafa, and Johnny Case. A solid way to ring in the new year (a little early, for those outside Japan).

Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN and RIZIN 40 take place on December 31, 2022 with the main card airing live on Showtime in the U.S. Elsewhere, the full event can be viewed live on Fite.tv.

Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN / RIZIN 40 Results

Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN

A. J. McKee def. Roberto de Souza by unanimous decision
Patrício Pitbull def. Kleber Koike Erbst by unanimous decision
Kyoji Horiguchi def. Hiromasa Ougikubo by unanimous decision
Juan Archuleta def. Soo Chul Kim by split decision
Gadzhi Rabadanov def. Koji Takeda by unanimous decision

RIZIN 40

Seika Izawa def. Si Woo Park by split decision – RIZIN women’s super atomweight grand prix final
Naoki Inoue def. Kenta Takizawa by submission (straight arm-bar), Round 2, 3:53
Junior Tafa def. Tsuyoshi Sudario by TKO (punches), Round 1, 1:38
John Dodson def. Hideo Tokoro by KO (punches), Round 1, 1:43

Intermission

Ren Hiramoto vs. Mystery Fighter (Genji Umeno) announced as a draw (Umeno knocked down at the bell/ref waved off the fight in round 2, but exhibition/special rules results in no winner) – Special Standing Rules
Yuki Motoya def. Rogério Bontorin by KO (knee), Round 2, 2:56
Johnny Case def. Nobumitsu Osawa by TKO (Punches), Round 1, 0:36
Chihiro Suzuki def. Yoshiki Nakahara by KO (Punches), Round 1, 4:44
Sho Patrick Usami def. BeyNoah by KO (Punch), Round 1, 0:45
Yushi def. Tatsuya Nakazawa by unanimous decision – Special Rules bout

The post Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN / RIZIN 40 Full Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

Down 0-2 in his career series against Kyoji Horiguchi, the RIZIN bantamweight grand prix winner gets a third crack at his rival on New Year’s Eve. The fight sees Horiguchi, who has fought for both promotions simultaneously, representing Bellator, while Ougikubo flies the flag for RIZIN during the cross-promotional event.

Perhaps to underscore the importance of beating Horiguchi, Ougikubo stated during this week’s media day that he’s been looking forward to defeating the current RIZIN bantamweight champ for a decade now.

“For the last ten years, I’ve been looking forward to beating Kyoji Horiguchi,” said Ougikubo. “In two days’ time, I’ll have that opportunity. So I’m thinking that it will become the best day of my life.”

The pair first came together in 2013, under the Shooto banner. Ougikubo found himself submitted early in the second round in that instance. Five years later at RIZIN 11 in 2018, the pair met in a rematch. A better outing for Ougikubo followed, in the sense that he went the distance with the ex-UFC title challenger. The outcome, however, was the same; Horiguchi won, this time via a unanimous decision.

Hiromasa Ougikubo told Cageside Press during the Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN media day that he has learned from those encounters.

“I think Horiguchi has a very unique way of keeping his distance from his opponent. So from the past fights, I know how far he may be standing, so I’m more understanding of how he keeps his distance,” Ougikubo stated. “So I should be able to use that to my advantage.”

When it comes to how Horiguchi has changed over the years, “since he injured his knee, I think he’s standing a little bit closer to his opponents,” noted Ougikubo. Horiguchi tore his ACL in 2019, which led to him vacating both the Bellator and RIZIN bantamweight titles at the time. As for his own development, “for myself, since my fight with Soo Chul Kim, I’ve learned from that fight, so I’d like to try to use what I learned from that fight in this match.”

Watch the full Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN media day appearance by Hiromasa Ougikubo 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.

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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.

The post Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN: Roberto de Souza Game for Second Cross-Promotion Fight — In the Cage appeared first on Cageside Press.

“The Spaniard,” a former champion in the promotion, spoke in poetic terms of the warrior spirit that is driving him as he prepares to take on Soo Chul Kim in the cross-promotion set for the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.

Without question, two promotions coming together and pairing up their best fighters is historic. While Bellator and Japan’s RIZIN have worked together in the past, the card is a little deeper this time out. There’s a little more on the line, frankly.

Archuleta, however, went even further than that, suggesting Bellator’s fighters were “hand-selected” by the “Emperor” (that would be CEO Scott Coker) for this task. A fitting analogy, perhaps, given the word “Bellator” comes from Latin, and means “warrior.”

“Yeah, I mean definitely you do rounds to make yourself as familiar as possible. But at the end of the day, a fight’s a fight,” Archuleta told Cageside Press during the event’s media day, asked whether he’d put in any rounds in a ring as opposed to a cage.

The former bantamweight champ then gave his perspective on the event that sees the best of two organizations collide.

“This whole promotion got set up, this whole event got set up, because we got hand-selected. You’ve got fighters that Scott Coker, out of his whole roster, selected five fighters that he knew can come to any fighting arena and fight against anyone’s rules that were thrown at them.”

“We were hand-selected by the Emperor. This goes back into my ancestor’s days, where in the Mesoamerica, there were certain warriors that were selected to go out there after tribes to capture humans and make human sacrifices,” Archuleta continued. “Those were called Jaguar Warriors. That’s what I feel like I am right now, I feel like I’m a Jaguar Warrior hand-selected by the Emperor to go and capture an opponent for him. Capture someone’s soul and bring it to his table.”

That, continued Archuleta, is how he feels his fight with Kim is going to happen. “I’ve got to go in there, I’ve got to be fast, I’ve got to be quick, I’ve got to be agile. It doesn’t matter the terrain, it doesn’t matter who I’m performing in front of. I have got one job to do, and that’s go and capture this guy’s soul. So I’m going to put on the uniform to go out there and perform for my organization, and that’s Bellator.”

Watch the full Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN media day appearance by Juan Archuleta 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.

The post Juan Archuleta Says Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN Fighters Were “Hand-Selected by the Emperor” appeared first on Cageside Press.

More than just a handful of fun throw-away fights, Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN paired up some of the best from both organizations, most notably at featherweight, where champions were set to collide as Patricio Pitbull took on Kleber Koike. At lightweight, meanwhile, former 145lb champ A.J. McKee represented the Bellator side, taking on RIZIN’s reigning champion, grappling ace Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza.

Weigh-in results for Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN and the RIZIN 40 card can be found below. The event takes place on New Year’s Eve, with Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN airing via tape delay on Showtime. RIZIN 40 (and, where available, both cards) can be streamed via Fite.tv.

Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN / RIZIN 40 Weigh-In Results

Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN

Lightweight: A. J. McKee (154.7) vs. Roberto de Souza (156)
Featherweight: Patrício Pitbull (145) vs. Kleber Koike Erbst (145.2)
Flyweight: Kyoji Horiguchi (124.8) vs. Hiromasa Ougikubo (125.4)
Bantamweight: Juan Archuleta (134) vs. Soo Chul Kim (133.8)
Lightweight: Gadzhi Rabadanov (155.9) vs. Koji Takeda (156)

RIZIN 40

Super Atomweight: Seika Izawa (48.70kg) vs. Si Woo Park（48.80kg）- RIZIN women’s super atomweight grand prix final
Bantamweight: Naoki Inoue（60.85kg) vs. Kenta Takizawa (60.85kg)
Heavyweight: Tsuyoshi Sudario (117.95kg) vs. Junior Tafa (108.75kg)
Flyweight: John Dodson (56.90kg) vs. Hideo Tokoro (56.70kg)

Intermission

Catchweight: Ren Hiramoto (69.70kg) vs. Mystery Fighter – Special Standing Rules
Bantamweight: Yuki Motoya (61.00kg) vs. Rogério Bontorin (60.00kg)
Lightweight: Johnny Case (70.95kg) vs. Nobumitsu Osawa (70.90kg)
Featherweight: Chihiro Suzuki (65.85kg) vs. Yoshiki Nakahara (65.90kg)
Lightweight: BeyNoah (71.00kg) vs. Patrick Sho Usami (70.90kg)
Bantamweight: Yushi (61.65kg) vs. Tatsuya Nakazawa (61.95kg) – Special Rules bout

The post Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN / RIZIN 40 Weigh-In Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

It’s a non-title affair, given the logistics of the situation, with two promotions coming together in a way rarely seen in mixed martial arts. For Pitbull, however, the winner of this cross-promotional super-fight has a claim to being the best lightweight in the word.

“Oh yeah,” he told Cageside Press during Wednesday’s media day, ahead of the event at the Saitama Super Arena. “There’s so many things that is happening in this sport. It’s a cross-promotion, Bellator versus RIZIN. Champion against champion. I’m very excited for the opportunity [for] that.”

Pitbull would have welcomed the idea of a title unification bout between himself and Koike. But the Brazilian also recognizes the difficulties inherent in even booking such an event.

“The most difficult part was to do a cross-promotion, and they were able to establish that,” he noted, speaking via translator. Pitbull (real name Patricio Freire) added that he “would have liked them to be able to see some sort of unification of the belts, and maybe create a new title, or unify the belts somehow.”

Regardless, Patricio Pitbull is now, as he put it, living a dream come true by fighting in Japan, with its storied history in mixed martial arts. Not too long ago, he had the chance to watch brother Patricky do that same, and has been biding his time, waiting for his turn ever since.

“Yes, when he fought here, I was jealous,” Pitbull stated, asked whether Patricky fighting in Japan was a motivational experience. “I was just trying to wait for my time, and now it’s a dream come true. I’m very happy.”

Watch the full Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN media day appearance by Patricio Pitbull 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.

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