The announcement of two highly exciting mixed martial arts events on December 31st will be a delight for fans to end the year. Especially, the upcoming crossover event, Bellator MMA vs Rizin FF has already generated some big attractions in the community.
Preview:
Two MMA promotion giants, Bellator MMA and RIZIN FF are teaming together for an interesting MMA event titled “Bellator MMA vs Rizin FF”. Scheduled to launch alongside Rizin 40 on December 31st, it will be organized under Bellator MMA in Saitama, Japan.
The event will feature a total of 5 professional mixed martial art fights, all of which will be under the main card. AJ KcKee Jr. representing the Bellator side will fight against Roberto de Souza representing Rizin for the main card feature fight. This will be their first fight against each other inside the cage. For the co-main bout, Patricio Pitbull from Bellator MMA will face off against Kleber Koike Erbst from Rizin.
AJ McKee is a featherweight & lightweight division professional with a 19-1 record. Additionally, he is the former Bellator featherweight champion, currently ranked 2nd in the standings. This year, he participated in Bellator 277 and 286. During the 277 event, he faced Patricio Pitbull and faced his career’s first loss, losing the featherweight title in the process. However, McKee quickly made a return by defeating Spike Carlyle in the following event he participated.
Roberto de Souza is the Japanese MMA professional, better known as “Satoshi”. The Rizin FF lightweight division fighter has a 14-1 professional record. He is a former Jiu-jitsu professional who won the Asian Jiu-jitsu Championship 3 times consecutively from 2014 to 2016. He earned the inaugural Rizin lightweight championship by defeating Tofiq Musayev in 2021. Following that, he successfully defended the title twice. To do so, he had to defeat Yusuke Yachi last year and Johnny Case this year, both achieved via submission.
When will be Bellator MMA vs Rizin FF held?
- Date: Sunday, December 31, 2022
- Time: 08:00 a.m. ET
Bellator MMA vs Rizin FF is scheduled for Sunday, December 31, 2022. The event will initiate at around 08:00 a.m. ET.
How to Watch the event on TV?
There is no official tv broadcast partnership for the Bellator MMA vs Rizin FF event. Therefore, it won’t be available on tv for fans to enjoy.
How to Livestream Bellator MMA vs Rizin FF?
- Showtime
- BBC iPlayer
In the United States, Showtime will provide live stream of the fights from Bellator MMA vs Rizin FF’s event. While in the United Kingdom, streams will be available to BBC iPlayer users.
Where will the event be held?
- Venue: Saitama Super Arena
- Location: Saitama, Japan
The venue of Rizin 40, Super Saitama Arena will also host the nightly event of Bellator MMA vs Rizin FF. The venue with around 20,000 seat capacity is located in Saitama, Japan.
Bellator MMA vs Rizin FF Fight Cards:
Below is the complete fight card list for tonight’s Bellator MMA vs Rizin FF event:
Main Card:
- AJ McKee Jr. vs Roberto de Souza
- Patricio Pitbull vs Kleber Koike Erbst
- Kyoji Horiguchi vs Hiromasa Ougikubo
- Juan Archuleta vs Soo Chul Kim
- Koji Takeda vs Gadzhi Rabadanov
