Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN FFtook place on New Year’s Eve at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan, and MMA News has all of the results and highlights from the event!
The two organizations havecollaborated on eventsand shared fighters in the past, but this was the first time they’ve co-promoted an event entirely comprised of their top talent going head-to-head.
The card opened with a lightweight bout between RIZIN’s Koji Takeda andBellator’s Gadzhi Rabadanov, followed by a bantamweight tilt between former Bellator champion Juan Archuleta and Soo Chul Kim. Current RIZIN champion and former Bellator title-holder Kyoji Horiguchi also made his return to flyweight and represented Bellator against his Japanese compatriot Hiromasa Ougikubo.
In the co-main event, Bellator Featherweight Champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire faced Kleber Koike Erbst, who capped off an incredible run of seven-straight submissions by claiming RIZIN’s featherweight title in October.
The lightweight main event featured a pair of fighters that had each only tasted defeat once in their respective careers. AJ McKee lost Bellator’s featherweight title to Freire in April but successfully moved up to lightweight in October, and he met submission specialist and RIZIN Lightweight Champion Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza.
You can catch all of the results and highlights from the event below!
Gadzhi Rabadanov def. Koji Takeda
Juan Archuleta def. Soo Chul Kim
Kyoji Horiguchi def. Hiromasa Ougikubo
Patricio Freire def. Kleber Koike Erbst
AJ McKee def. Roberto de Souza
Main Card
Main Event – Lightweight Bout: AJ McKee def. Roberto de Souza via Unanimous Decision
Co-Main Event – Featherweight Bout: Patricio “Pitbull” Freire def. Kleber Koike Erbst via Unanimous Decision
Flyweight Bout: Kyoji Horiguchi def. Hiromasa Ougikubo via Unanimous Decision
Bantamweight Bout: Juan Archuleta def. Soo Chul Kim via Split Decision
Lightweight Bout: Gadzhi Rabadanov def. Koji Takeda via Unanimous Decision