| Bellator MMA x Rizin 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Promotion | Bellator MMA Rizin Fighting Federation | ||
| Date | July 30, 2023 | ||
| City | Saitama, Japan | ||
| Venue | Saitama Super Arena | ||
| Bellator MMA events chronology | |||
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| Rizin events chronology | |||
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Bellator MMA x Rizin 2 and Super Rizin 2 was a mixed martial arts event being co-promoted by Bellator MMA and the Rizin Fighting Federation that took place on July 30, 2023, at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. [1] [2] [3] [4]
The event marked the second co-promotion between Bellator MMA and the Rizin Fighting Federation, and Bellator's third visit to Saitama; following Bellator MMA vs. Rizin in December 2022, and Bellator 237 on December 29, 2019. [5]
A Bellator Lightweight World Grand Prix quarterfinal bout between former Bellator Featherweight Champion A. J. McKee and former Bellator Lightweight Champion Patricky Pitbull was scheduled to headline the event. [1] However, on July 26, it was announced McKee had pulled out of the bout due to medical issues and was replaced by current Rizin Lightweight Champion Roberto de Souza at a catchweight of 161 pounds. [6]
For the co-main event, an inaugural Bellator Flyweight Championship bout between former Bellator Bantamweight Champion Kyoji Horiguchi (also former two-time Rizin Bantamweight Champion) and Makoto Takahashi took place at the event. [7] If successful, Horiguchi would have become the fourth fighter in Bellator history to win a title in different divisions (after Joe Warren at Bellator 128, Ryan Bader at Bellator 214, and Patrício Pitbull at Bellator 221). [3]
A Rizin Bantamweight Championship bout for the vacant title between former Bellator Bantamweight Champion Juan Archuleta and former champion Kai Asakura was scheduled to take place at the event. [8] [4] Former champion Kyoji Horiguchi vacated the title on December 22 after moving down to the flyweight division. [9] However on July 18 it was announced that Asakura withdrew due to injury and was replaced by Hiromasa Ougikubo. [10]
| Part 1: Bellator MMA x Rizin 2 (Showtime) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Catchweight (160 lb) | Patricky Pitbull | def. | Roberto de Souza | TKO (leg kicks) | 3 | 0:49 | [lower-alpha 1] |
| Flyweight | Kyoji Horiguchi | vs. | Makoto Takahashi | No Contest (accidental eye poke) | 1 | 0:25 | [lower-alpha 2] |
| Women's Flyweight | Kana Watanabe | def. | Veta Arteaga | Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Magomed Magomedov | def. | Danny Sabatello | Submission (guillotine choke) | 1 | 3:55 | |
| Welterweight | Andrey Koreshkov | def. | Lorenz Larkin | Decision (split) (29–28, 29–28, 28–29) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Part 2: Super Rizin 2 (FiteTV PPV) | |||||||
| Featherweight | Vugar Keramov | def. | Mikuru Asakura | Submission (rear-naked choke) | 1 | 2:41 | [lower-alpha 3] |
| Bantamweight | Juan Archuleta | def. | Hiromasa Ougikubo | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 5:00 | [lower-alpha 4] |
| Super Atomweight | Seika Izawa (c) | def. | Claire Lopez | Submission (ninja choke) | 1 | 1:06 | [lower-alpha 5] |
| Intermission | |||||||
| Catchweight (154 lb) | Chihiro Suzuki | def. | Patrício Pitbull | KO (punch) | 1 | 2:32 | |
| Lightweight | Tofiq Musayev | def. | Akira Okada | KO (punches) | 2 | 1:11 | |
| Bantamweight | Shinobu Ota | def. | Kenta Takizawa | TKO (punches) | 1 | 4:54 | |
| Middleweight | Igor Tanabe | def. | Daichi Abe | Submission (heel hook) | 1 | 4:34 | |
| Catchweight (128 lb) | Yuki Ito | def. | Hiroya Kondo | Decision (split) | 3 | 5:00 | |
Patrício Freire, known professionally as Patrício Pitbull, is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in Bellator MMA where he is the current three-time Bellator Featherweight Champion and former Bellator Lightweight Champion. He is the younger brother of lightweight fighter Patricky Pitbull. He is the second-ever simultaneous two-weight champion in Bellator MMA history, and is widely considered to be the best Bellator fighter of all-time. He is also considered one of the best ever, pound-for-pound, to have never fought in the UFC.
Patricky Freire, known professionally as Patricky Pitbull, is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing in Bellator's Lightweight division, where he is a former Bellator Lightweight Champion. He is the older brother of featherweight fighter Patrício Pitbull.
Kyoji Horiguchi is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently competing in Bellator MMA and Rizin FF in the Flyweight division, where he is the current RIZIN Flyweight Champion. He is also the former bantamweight champion in both organizations.
Sergio Jerome Pettis is an American mixed martial artist who is currently signed with Bellator MMA, where he is the former Bellator Bantamweight Champion. Prior to signing with Bellator, Pettis competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he fought in both the Bantamweight and Flyweight divisions.
Rizin Fighting Federation is a Japanese mixed martial arts organization created in 2015 by the former Pride Fighting Championships and Dream Stage Entertainment president Nobuyuki Sakakibara.
A. J. McKee is an American professional mixed martial artist. He is currently competing in Bellator's Featherweight and Lightweight division, where he is the former Bellator Featherweight Champion.
Juan Archuleta is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the bantamweight divisions of Bellator MMA and Rizin Fighting Federation, where in the latter promotion, he is the former Rizin Bantamweight Champion. A professional MMA competitor since 2013, he has also previously fought for King of the Cage and the World Series of Fighting. Archuleta is also a former Bellator Bantamweight World Champion.
The year 2018 was the fourth year in the history of the Rizin Fighting Federation, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. The year began with Rizin 10 in Fukuoka on May 6, 2018.
The year 2019 was the fifth year in the history of the Rizin Fighting Federation, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. The year began with Rizin 15 in Yokohama on April 21, 2019.
2020 in Bellator MMA was the twelfth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 18 events in 2020.
Kai Asakura is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently competing as a bantamweight in the Rizin Fighting Federation, where he is the current Rizin Bantamweight Champion. A professional competitor since 2012, he formerly competed for Road Fighting Championship, Fighting Network Rings and DEEP.
Hiromasa Ougikubo is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently competing as a flyweight in the Rizin Fighting Federation. A professional since 2006, he has also competed for Shooto, Vale Tudo Japan, and The Ultimate Fighter.
Bellator 272: Pettis vs. Horiguchi was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on December 3, 2021 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
2022 in Bellator MMA was the fourteenth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States.
Bellator 283: Lima vs. Jackson was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on July 22, 2022 at Emerald Queen Casino and Hotel in Tacoma, Washington, United States.
2023 in Bellator MMA was the fifteenth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States.
Bellator MMA vs. Rizin FF and Rizin 40 was a mixed martial arts event being co-promoted by Bellator MMA and the Rizin Fighting Federation that took place on December 31, 2022, at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Roberto Satoshi de Souza is a Japanese-Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division of Rizin Fighting Federation, where he is the current Rizin Lightweight champion.
The year 2023 was the ninth year in the history of the Rizin Fighting Federation, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan.
Makoto Takahashi is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist also known as Makoto Shinryu, who competes in the flyweight division of Deep and Rizin. He is the current Deep Flyweight Champion. A professional MMA fighter since 2016, he has also competed in Bellator MMA and previously, Pancrase and the Cage Fury Fighting Championships (CFFC), the latter in where he is a former Cage Fury Flyweight Champion.
