While Bellator lightweight Patricky Pitbull picked up a TKO victory over Roberto de Souza at the cross-promotional event at the Saitama Super Arena, younger brother Patricio was knocked out in a short-notice fight by Chihiro Suzuki.

That setback was Patricio’s second straight loss, after he dropped a unanimous decision against bantamweight champ Sergio Pettis last month. To add insult to injury, meanwhile, an old foe of Patricio Pitbull, Kleber Koike, also allegedly approached the brothers after the event, entering their dressing room and kicking Patricky, according to his brother.

Bellator’s current featherweight champ, Patricio, revealed the news on social media on Sunday, suggesting that RIZIN not allow his fellow Brazilian to compete for their organization moving forward.

‘Kleber Koike is a dirt loser and a coward. He celebrated my loss and argued with my brother after the fight. Later he invaded our locker room, kicked [Patricky Pitbull]
from behind and run (sic) away,” Pitbull wrote. “[RIZIN PR] a fighter like this should never enter your ring again.”

Patricio faced Koike back at December’s Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN event, which saw the promotions go head to head, with Bellator winning the night 5-0. Patricio Pitbull won that non-title fight via unanimous decision — but has not won since.

Koike was stripped of his RIZIN featherweight title in his last fight after missing weight, which led to a submission win against Chihiro Suzuki being overturned to a No Contest.

The post Patricio Pitbull Alleges Kleber Koike Accosted Brother Patricky Following Bellator x RIZIN 2 appeared first on Cageside Press.

The cross-promotion with RIZIN Fighting Federation came with a second half, Super RIZIN 2, that would air (via Fite.tv) after the Bellator portion of the show on Showtime in the U.S. And while the promotion versus promotion format was gone for the most part, due to a staph infection endured by A.J. McKee, RIZIN’s Roberto de Souza stepped into the main event and million dollar grand prix against Patricky Pitbull.

In the co-main event, meanwhile, Kyoji Horiguchi finally had a chance to claim a major title at flyweight. Once a two-promotion champ at bantamweight in both Bellator and RIZIN, Japan’s Horiguchi would face Makoto Shinryu for the inaugural Bellator MMA flyweight championship on Saturday at the Saitama Super Arena.

The former UFC title challenger has long been considered one of the best lighter fighters on the planet, and the chance for a third major title underscored that.

Bellator x RIZIN 2 kicks off at 11PM ET on Showtime — full results can be found below!

Bellator x RIZIN 2: Pitbull vs. De Souza Results

Lightweight: Patricky Pitbull def. Roberto De Souza by TKO (leg kick and strikes), Round 3, 0:49 — Lightweight World Grand Prix Quarterfinal
Flyweight: Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Makoto “Shinryu” ends in a No Contest (accidental eye poke), Round 1, 0:25 — for the Inaugural Flyweight World Championship:
Flyweight: Kana Watanabe def. Veta Arteaga by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Bantamweight: Magomed Magomedov def. Danny Sabatello by submission (guillotine choke), Round 1, 3:55
Welterweight: Andrey Koreshkov def. Lorenz Larkin by split decision (29-28, 28-28, 29-28)

The post Bellator x RIZIN 2: Pitbull vs. De Souza Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

Larkin (25-7, 2NC) returned to the welterweight division a couple of fights ago, after a successful stint at middleweight. Despite that success, however, Larkin told Cageside Press in a recent interview that “It’s going to be welterweight from here on out. I mean don’t get me wrong, if there’s something exciting that pops up, I’m open to it. I am a company man. But the big thing for me is, just keep me busy. I don’t really think about the opponents or nothing like that, it’s just more so, can you guys keep me busy?”

The impetus for going back to welterweight, said Larkin, who has previously admitted that he likes to eat, is staying active. “If I’m not active, then I’m eating up every f*cking thing. I need to be active, I need to have some type of substance where I’m like, I’m training because they’re going to keep me active. But if I’m just one, two fights a year, it’s hard. It’s doable, I’ve done it for x amount of years, but it gets too lax. I’m a better fighter, and I would think the promotion would want me to be a better fighter, would want me to keep active.”

Larkin isn’t one of those older fighters that likes just a couple of fights a year. “Keep me busy. If you can give me three fights a year, give me three fights a year. That’s perfectly fine with me.”

At Bellator x RIZIN, Larkin is set for a rematch with Andrey Koreshkov, who he defeated back in 2019. Given the victory, and his seven-fight win streak, Larkin admitted that he was a bit taken aback with the name being offered.

“Yeah, to tell you the truth, but it’s like hey, whatever. They probably knew from the get go, they told me that name, and then they told me Japan. I was like ‘ooh you guys know how to approach me with bad and good news.” A carrot and stick approach, if you will. “The Japan part was a big f*cking carrot,” admitted Larkin.

Paired up against his old foe, Larkin doesn’t see a fighter who has grown much in recent years. Especially given half his fights have come outside of Bellator. “I think one of the fights, he fought a guy who was like a 55’er who came up to 70,” noted Larkin. “I don’t count that.”

“Imagine if Bellator let me fight outside of Bellator in a regional show. I’d have like 18 wins under my belt. Bellator is a big league, and anything outside of that, unless it’s another big league, to be it doesn’t count. So the two fights in Bellator, I don’t know. He hasn’t changed that much to me,” Larkin added.

Then there’s the mystery of how a fighter he has beaten, who has part-timed it in Bellator, is ranked ahead of him. Though Larkin is past worrying about rankings or title fights.

“I don’t know. Like I keep saying, I’m not focused on the title fight. I just want to keep fighting, and I’ll just let that speak for itself. Since his fight, he’s fought two times outside of Bellator, two times in Bellator. I’ve fought five times in Bellator since beating him, and I’m number nine and he’s number five… I mean, I don’t even know how that comes up,” Larkin exclaimed. “I don’t think about the rankings, I don’t think about none of that sh*t. Give me the fight. Give me the fight so I can sign the contract and then get to camp. And that’s pretty much what I’ve been focused on. Keep giving me these fights, and I’m going to keep going, keep going, keep going.”

Watch our full interview with Bellator x RIZIN welterweight Lorenz Larkin above.

The post Lorenz Larkin Questioned Koreshkov Rematch, but Fighting in Japan Sold Him On It appeared first on Cageside Press.

The Bellator x RIZIN 2 bantamweight has a “colorful” vocabulary to say the least, and that was on full display during the event’s media day in Tokyo, Japan. Sabatello faces Magomed Magomedov at the event at the Saitama Super Arena.

Asked by Cageside Press about taking fights personally, Sabatello exclaimed that “a lot of fighters say that this isn’t personal because a lot of fighters are f*cking p*ssies. I’m not a p*ssy so this sh*t is personal to me. I’m going to be locked inside of a cage where a guy is trying to take away my goals and my dreams, trying to put my head into another galaxy.”

“Yeah… That’s going to be a little bit f*cking personal to me.”

“The Italian Gangster” wasn’t done there, not by a long shot. “I don’t really give a sh*t about what the other fighters say, I’m not like any of these other f*cking fighters, that’s why I’m so different. Whether you like me or don’t like me, I don’t really give a f*ck. That’s just how I am. But that is also another reason why I am very successful, because I have a different train of thought going on upstairs. And that’s kind of the reason why I shine, because this is personal to me.”

“I’m going to do whatever it takes that I can in this fifteen minutes to get the job done, no matter what. And I know with my preparation at the best gym in the world, at American Top Team, and my dedication, I am better than this f*cking guy.”

“With everything being said, I should go in there and I should f*ck this guy up,” Sabatello finished, before adding “And I hope this translator is swearing over there.”

It’s Japan. The most polite society on earth. We’re pretty sure they weren’t translating all that cursing. But Sabatello, colorful as always, has a fun fight lined up at Bellator x RIZIN 2 against Magomedov this Saturday (Sunday, July 30 local time) — and that should translate in any language.

The post Bellator’s Danny Sabatello Takes Every Fight Personally, Hopes Translator Includes All His Cursing appeared first on Cageside Press.

The two are both ranked in the top ten of Bellator’s welterweight division and have competed before, back in 2019, in a bout that was decided by a controversial split decision.

Koreshkov and Larkin each dropped each other in the first two rounds, respectively, before Koreshkov took down and controlled Larkin for most of the third. However the Russian was unable to do significant damage while trying to maintain control and as a result two judges gave Lorenz Larkin the decision.

When asking Andrey about that first fight and if wrestling will also be a path for him in the rematch, his thoughts are clear.

“If people re-watched our first fight they would think that maybe it would be a good idea to wrestle with him… but I studied him a lot and I know him as a fighter and I think that he has very, very good takedown defense,” Koreshkov (26-4) told Cageside Press recently. “I watched different guys who would try to take him down and even if someone was able to take him down it is really hard to get any dividends from it. He’s very good at using the cage to get back up. I don’t think that it will work to spend energy to wrestle with him.”

“He prefers to fight standing up, I prefer to fight standing up as well, and it makes an exciting fight… I think it would make a fight more exciting.”

Certainly the fans in Saitama Super Arena, famed for its legendary history of having some of the best kickboxing fights in the world take place there, will appreciate a stand up battle between two dynamic strikers.

Koreshkov acknowledges the history of combat sports in Japan, both kickboxing and MMA, especially PRIDE FC, which he has fond memories of.

“Fighting in Japan was always one of my dreams. This dream comes true. Visiting Japan is also amazing, I’ve never been to Japan before. Also MMA has evolved and developed a lot since the PRIDE days. PRIDE created a lot of top level stars in combat sports. Fighting in Saitama Super Arena is like a dream come true.”

Speaking of those PRIDE stars, his favorite fighters of all time come from that promotion.

“My favorite fighters during the PRIDE days were Mirko Cro Cop and Wanderlei Silva because these guys always show very exciting fights, real battles. Either it would be Wanderlei all covered in blood, his blood or his opponents, or Mirko being very precise, very technical in his striking.”

Koreshkov knows how to put on a show himself, with two of his last three knockouts coming by way of spinning kick. He has a litany of other flashy finishes on his record, like his flying knee knockout of Justin Baesman in 2014. His answer when asked about how he got so skilled at these techniques was revealing about the mindset of him and his team.

“I train under Alexander [Shlemenko’s] guidance and we spend a lot of time practicing these moves like spinning moves and flying knees. The reason why, is these moves are very unorthodox. Not many people use them, especially not too many use them successfully, and that is why it is difficult for our opponents to prepare for them. It is hard to find people who use these moves really well [for] training camps.”

It takes a lot of physical skill and coordination to do these techniques, and one thing that helped him develop that was dancing from a young age, as his parents forced him to take dance before they would let him compete in combat sports.

“I think that there were some positive things that dancing from an early age helped me with, most importantly is coordination and stretching,” he said, regarding how dance helped him become a better fighter.

In this next fight Koreshkov will take sole ownership of the most fights in Bellator welterweight division’s history and a win would also give him the most wins in divisional history. He is not worried about such things though; Andrey is a fighter’s fighter and he focuses solely on his fight.

“I don’t pay too much attention to statistics… I never cared about that. For me it is going to be just another fight.”

He also said he will not be able to see the sights in Japan, despite having always wanted to visit, as he will be completely focused on preparing for the fight.

We asked Koreshkov about his life outside of fighting and he revealed himself to be a family man with a love of the outdoors.

“I have a family; I have a wife and two wonderful kids so I like to spend time with them. Also fighting, fishing is one of my hobbies that I really enjoy that helps me relax, going someplace outside of the city.”

Really though, what drives him is clearly a desire to fight. This next fight is a big one for Bellator’s fifth-ranked welterweight, but he declined to make a prediction of how it will go.

“I really hate to make any prediction in the fights because they never [come true], but in this fight I will try to use all my techniques and my spinning kicks as well. However, I am not going to devote too much energy to just doing them because I am quite sure that Lorenz Larkin is aware of what I’m doing and he will be very well prepared for that. It will be hard to catch him again with the same technique. So I am working on inventing something new, something that will give me an ability to catch him by surprise. I want to surprise him in this fight.”

If Andrey can defeat his rival, ninth-ranked Lorenz Larkin, at Bellator vs RIZIN 2 then he will be on a five-fight win streak and be next in line for a title eliminator, with an eye on perhaps facing the champion, Yaroslav Amosov. This card is a big one for Bellator and that only creates more opportunity for the Russian striker to earn his path towards that belt.

Watch our full interview with former Bellator MMA welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov above.

The post Bellator x RIZIN 2: Andrey Koreshkov Predicts Exciting Stand-Up Fight in Japan appeared first on Cageside Press.

“Honestly, I don’t care, you know?” Horiguchi (31-5) told Cageside Press in a recent exclusive interview. “I’m a little disappointed with him. He’s not professional. It is what it is. I actually was believing him that he was going to make weight, but what happened was what happened.”

The mishap seems to have worked out in the end. Borg badly blew weight for Bellator 295 in April, then retired from the sport. Horiguchi is now fighting Makoto Shinryu at Bellator x RIZIN this weekend, for the inaugural Bellator MMA flyweight championship.

“I’m really happy, because Bellator opened a new weight class, flyweight. So I’m really happy, and I will get the belt,” said Horiguchi. The Japanese star, a former UFC title challenger and ex-RIZIN and Bellator MMA bantamweight champ, has been campaigning for Bellator to open a flyweight division for a while. We spoke to him about it last year, but Horiguchi understands that the process takes time.

“I guess it’s hard, because fighters, and date. They offer [contracts to] new fighters, a lot of things to do,” Horiguchi noted. “Right now it’s open, so I’m really happy.”

The introduction of a flyweight title in Bellator means Horiguchi has the opportunity to become a two-fight champ, having already held gold at 135lbs. There’s also the possibility of moving up to become double champ, but that’s for another day.

“Honestly, I’m just focused on the next belt. Flyweight belt,” said Horiguchi. “Maybe in the future [I’ll try for another], not right now.” But there is a second belt he will pursue if the opportunity presents itself: a RIZIN flyweight title. “Yeah, of course. I will get the belts.”

Horiguchi made history by holding both the RIZIN and Bellator MMA bantamweight titles at the same time, until an injury forced him to relinquish both. It’s clear he’s game for making that attempt against.

As for flyweight, it seems like a return was inevitable. But Horguchi said simply that it “it depends, you know? It depends,” when asked if he always expected to make a 125lb return. As for the motivation, he feels stronger in the weight class. “I think so. More stronger, and the sizes are not different,” he added, indicating height.

The weight cut is not an issue either. “Weight cut is always easy, because my weight is low. I’m light. That part is easy for me.”

Recent UFC flyweight title winner Alexandre Pantoja credited Horiguchi for his support ahead of his own title fight earlier this month.

“He learned from me, and I learned from him,” Horiguchi said of that praise. “It’s a good teammate.” Those sort of training partners are what drew Horiguchi to Florida’s American Top Team. “I want to go to a high level, that’s why. Training partners also need a high level. That’s why I’m here.”

We also polled Horiguchi for his pick in the upcoming Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou boxing match. “It’s a really, really fun fight. I think [Fury], I think he’s going to win, because he’s a boxer,” he predicted. “It’s a totally different sport, that’s why.”

Horiguchi has in the past suggested he would try his hand at the sweet science. “Yeah, it’s going to be fun. If somebody calls me and [we] make good money, of course I will do that.”

Watch the our full interview with Bellator x RIZIN flyweight Kyoji Horiguchi above.

The post Kyoji Horiguchi Says Ray Borg “Not Professional,” Open to Chasing Both Bellator, RIZIN Belts appeared first on Cageside Press.

Fighting in Japan again was an easy sell for McKee (20-1), who is a former featherweight champ, and made his Japanese debut back in December.

“Do it. Let’s do it! That’s one of the best places to fight, strategically speaking, and just energetically-wise,” McKee told Cageside Press in a recent exclusive interview, ahead of his fight with Patricky Pitbill. “The crowds are amazing out there, they don’t boo, they only cheer when you shoot for submissions or takedowns, it’s just very respectful. They have a different respect for the sport and the art aspect of the sport.”

“Coming full circle and taking the grand prix out there, starting it off with Patricky, I couldn’t think of a better way or a better fight to start off the tournament with.”

Given McKee’s history with Patricio Pitbull — they remain tied 1-1 in their career series, with McKee hoping to land the trilogy fight down the line — the booking with Patricky, the elder Pitbull brother, felt like an obvious one. But despite a sometimes heated rivalry with the Brazilians, McKee explained that past animosities have not carried over.

“No, not at all. At the end of the day he’s his own man,” explained McKee. “They may share similar styles and so forth, but he’s his own man. He was his own champ, and I can’t look at him as, he is his brother, nor vice versa. So this is a fight where I’m just looking forward to going in there, looking at him face-to-face, and putting on a show.”

“At the end of the day, we both have mutual respect for each other, and we both know that we’ve got a job to do.”

Of course, trash talk may not entirely fall by the wayside. “Patricky knows that I like to talk my smack, but at the end of the day, when we get in that cage, our hands and our feet are going to do the trash talking,” McKee later added.

While McKee is treating the Pitbull brothers as separate entities, and deservedly so, in terms of fighting style, there are of course comparisons to be made.

“Definitely. They’ve got very similar styles, they’ve trained together their entire lives. I’m going to see a lot of similarities, it’s just being able to make those little adjustments, and make those adjustments mid-fight,” said McKee. “Where Patricio is a lot longer, Patricky is a lot more in tight. It’s being cognitive of those little things.”

McKee is the one man in the Bellator Lightweight Grand Prix to have gone the distance in a tournament for the promotion previously, having defeated Patricio Pitbull to win the million dollar featherweight grand prix two years ago. As for any edge, McKee downplayed the role it might play.

“I wouldn’t say it gives you an edge, but it gives you something, to know what to look forward to. The tournament aspect, for me, everybody’s 0-0. Everybody’s undefeated right now,” stated McKee. “It’s whoever comes out 3-0. We’ve got a couple of guys that are 1-0. For me, it’s going out there and becoming 1-0, 2-0, 3-0 and continuing the hit list. I’ve got one title that’s got 16 names on it, so I’m looking forward to conquering another one with another eight.”

McKee is that rare fighter to have spent his entire professional career with a single promotion, coming up on 22 fights now. Debuting for Bellator in 2015, he ran up an 18-fight win streak before suffering his only loss, in his second fight with Patricio Pitbull. During that time, he’s become the face of the promotion, especially with Michael Chandler‘s move to the UFC.

That’s a situation that A.J. McKee says is “awesome.” McKee never expected to be in this role— “I didn’t think I’d be the face of the company,” he told us — but having put in the work over the years and set/met his own goals, he’s happy to see his craft appreciated. As nice as it is to get that recognition, however, “at the end of the day I’ve got a job to do, and stepping into this grand prix at 155 pounds, everything else in the past is all voided out. Now coming full circle, this is where it’s at. This is the pressure, and this is what I like. Diamonds to well under pressure, it’s how they’re created. I’ve got that fire in me, so I’m ready to go burn some stuff up.”

Of course, whether Bellator will even be Bellator when this grand prix wraps up is a valid question. The company is up for sale, news confirmed by Bellator CEO Scott Coker. McKee, however, isn’t paying that too much mind.

“For me, I’m going to just do what I do best. Send me a contract, and I’m going to do what I do. Just don’t leave me in the wind hanging around, baby. I’m ready to get active. This is how I support my family, this is how I support my father’s family and so forth.” That includes a new baby brother, Halo McKee. “We’ve got new additions to the family. I’m a dog that’s trying to eat, let me eat!”

Watch our full interview with Bellator x RIZIN star A.J. McKee above.

The post A.J. McKee Says There’s “Mutual Respect” with Patricky Pitbull, Despite Rivalry with Brother appeared first on Cageside Press.

“Yes and no,” Arteaga (7-5) told Cageside Press in a recent exclusive interview, asked whether she knew she’d be destined to fight in Japan at some point in her career. “I was like, ‘oh that would be so cool if I was to fight in Japan one day,’ and then the opportunity came to me— I was like ‘okay, this is great, this is real. Now let’s go!’ So I’m excited to go out there. Not only to go to Japan, but to compete in Japan.”

Japanese fans are a vastly different crowd in comparison to some of the more rowdy fight fans globally. Respectful of the athletes, and with a deeper understanding and appreciation for the martial arts, including the ground game. There’s no “you’re gonna die!” chants in Japan.

“I feel like they’re probably going to love me out there, but who knows,” Arteaga told us. Used to heading into enemy territory, however, Arteaga doesn’t expect to be bothered either way.

A former title challenger, Arteaga saw a two-fight win streak snapped in her last outing when she dropped a decision against Hawaii’s Sumiko Inaba.

“It’s so cliche to say you learn from your losses, but at the same time I feel like cliche things have truth behind them, and that’s what it is,” Arteaga said when asked what she had taken away from that fight. “I had to learn, it just didn’t go my way, that’s okay, and what do I need to do to improve as an athlete and as an individual.”

“And so I definitely have been training hard, but that’s never stopped me before. I’m training hard, consistently, and that night just wasn’t my night. I have to learn how to lose with grace, and that’s what it is. I’m like ‘hey, this sucks’ but now I gotta move on and pick up the pieces. I’m ready, I’m excited, I’m ready to go out there and fight Kana [Watanabe]. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Losing with grace is something Arteaga has grown into over the years. “Yes, and I think that’s also what a champion is. You have things, somethings they’re not easy, you have to overcome adversity, you have to learn to adapt and to respond to those emotions, and the situation. Every fight I’ve always matured and grown as an athlete, as like ‘hey, this is what it is,’ and now how do you move on in it? Not necessarily dwell on it.”

Losses, after all, “are part of the sport. And you’ve got to learn that. The mindset,” she added.

Against Watanabe, ranked #3 in the division, “I see myself coming out victorious,” said Arteaga. “I see myself being me, and going in there, putting the pressure on, using my strengths. I’ve also built off of my weaknesses. I consider myself a well-rounded fighter, I’ve prepared for everything, but I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t aggressive, because that’s just my type of fighting style.”

“I see me being victorious, but going in there and showing that I belong in the top 5.”

As for that ranking — Arteaga currently holds the #7 spot in the weight class — “rankings matter but they also don’t matter,” Arteaga suggested “It’s really tough. I feel like this win will put me closer to where I need to be, and that’s one step closer to the title shot considering she is ranked above me.”

Watch our full interview with Bellator x RIZIN flyweight Veta Arteaga above. The event takes place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on July 29, 2023 (July 30 locally).

The post Veta Arteaga Plans to Be Aggressive at Bellator x RIZIN, Believes Win Over Watanabe Leaves Her One Step Closer to Title appeared first on Cageside Press.

On Wednesday, Bellator officials announced via press release the addition of two more key match-ups to Bellator X RIZIN on July 30, 2023.

In the first, former welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov will face off against UFC vet and current Bellator standout Lorenz Larkin. In bantamweight action, meanwhile, a pair of grand prix alums will face off, as one-time title challenger Danny Sabatello meets Magomed Magomedov.

Sabatello (14-2) recently returned to the win column, defeating Marcos Breno by submission this past April to bounce back from his interim title fight loss against Raufeon Stots. That fight was additionally a semi-final in the Bellator Bantamweight Grand Prix, which Patchy Mix would go on to win.

Magomedov (19-2) is 3-2 in Bellator, but coming off a loss against Mix in the other grand prix semi-final.

Koreshkov (26-4) has not competed for the company since February of 2022, and took his last fight outside of the promotion, beating Leonardo Cavalheiro last June in Omsk, Russia. Overall, the former champ has won his past four fights, while Larkin has won seven straight outside of a no contest due to an illegal elbow in his first fight with Mukhamed Berkhamov.

Larkin took just over a minute and a half to knock Berkhamov out in the pair’s rematch this past February.

Bellator X RIZIN is set to take place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, just outside Tokyo. Unlike December’s Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN card, the promotions are not going head-to-head this time out.

The following bouts have been announced for the event so far:

• Patricky Pitbull vs. AJ McKee — Lightweight World Grand Prix Quarterfinal
• Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Makoto “Shinryu”
• Danny Sabatello vs. Magomed Magomedov
• Kana Watanabe vs. Veta Arteaga
• Andrey Koreshkov vs. Lorenz Larkin

The post Bellator X RIZIN Adds Sabatello vs. Magomedov, Koreshkov vs. Larkin appeared first on Cageside Press.

Facing off in the traditional RIZIN ring on July 30 will be former Bellator MMA bantamweight champ Juan Archuleta (28-4) and ex-RIZIN bantamweight champ Kai Asakura (20-4). The high-profile bout will be Archuleta’s second for RIZIN; he appeared at RIZIN 42 earlier this month, winning a decision against Naoki Inoue.

That victory extended Archuleta’s current win streak to three straight.

Asakura is 4-1 in his last five, and will be coming off a win over Yuki Motoya when he goes up against “The Spaniard.” Asakura fought his way to the final of RIZIN’s 2021 bantamweight grand prix, falling to Hiromasa Ougikubo in the finale.

The bout was announced by RIZIN officials on social media Saturday morning.

Also announced for the Super RIZIN 2 position of Bellator X RIZIN 2 is Mikuru Asakura (17-3, 1NC), the older brother of ex-champ Kai. He’s set for a featherweight match-up with Vugar Karamov (18-4) of Azerbaijan.

Both fighters have won three straight, though in Mikuru Asakura’s case, a 2022 loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in an exhibition boxing bout is sandwiched between wins in MMA.

Bellator X RIZIN 2 (and Super RIZIN 2) takes place on July 30, 2023 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Thus far, the card consists of the following announced bouts:

• A.J. McKee vs. Patricky Pitbull — Bellator MMA Lightweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal
• Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Makoto “Shinryu” Takahashi — for the inaugural Bellator MMA flyweight championship
• Kana Watanabe vs. Veta Arteaga
• Juan Archuleta vs. Kai Asakura
• Mikuru Asakura vs. Vugar Karamov

The post Kai Asakura vs. Juan Archuleta, Mikuru Asakura vs. Vugar Karamov Announced for Bellator X RIZIN 2 appeared first on Cageside Press.