RIZIN FF News

Tom Taylor - October 4, 2019

Sergio Pettis was scheduled to battle Kai Kara-France at UFC 245, but was pulled from the matchup when it came to light that his current UFC contract has concluded. Pettis is now exploring free agency, and from the sounds of it, he can expect some interest from Japan’s RIZIN Fighting Federation. Speaking to BJPENN.com’s Tom Taylor, RIZIN CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara commented on Pettis’ free agency. He believes the long-time UFC flyweight contender could be a great addition to the RIZIN bantamweight division.

Adam Martin - September 9, 2019

Bellator and RIZIN are eyeing a year-end show in Japan featuring some of the best fighters from both promotions. Reports indicate Bellator president Scott Coker and RIZIN bossman Nobuyuki Sakakibara are in talks for a main event between Fedor Emelianenko and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, as well as a light heavyweight co-main event between Ryan Bader and Jiri Prochazka. Veteran MMA scribe Josh Gross of The Athletic shared the news via Twitter that Bellator and RIZIN hope to have a card December 29 in Japan, and they hope to bill it as Emelianenko’s final fight in Japan.

Tom Taylor - August 20, 2019

Nobuyuki Sakakibara, the President of Japanese combat sports promotion RIZIN Fighting Federation, has no objections to promoting an unconventional fight here and there. Look no further than last year’s wild exhibition boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Tenshin Nasukawa for proof of that fact. From the sounds of it, the RIZIN boss is plotting another strange attraction for the promotion’s big New Years Eve show this year.

Cole Shelton - August 18, 2019

RIZIN FF and Bellator bantamweight champion, Kyoji Horiguchi returned to the cage in the main event of RIZIN 18. There, the champ was taking Kai Asakura in a non-title bout.

Drake Riggs - June 1, 2019

RIZIN 16 is kicking off the June MMA calendar in style as two titles will be decided! One of which will see two champions square off… again. In the evening’s co-main event, a rematch three years in the making will see either redemption or a G.O.A.T.’s continued solidification.

Drake Riggs - April 29, 2019

In MMA’s lightest division, the spotlight isn’t too bright in North America, but the fighters are still lighting things up. Leading the way for them in the West is the Invicta FC atomweight champion, Jinh Yu Frey (8-3). After six fights in the promotion, the seventh was her crowning moment when she defeated Minna Grusander via unanimous decision. Since then, Frey has successfully defended the title once by defeating Grusander in their instant rematch.

Drake Riggs - April 28, 2019

The first RIZIN Fighting Federation event of 2019 went down on April 21 with RIZIN 15. It was a great night of fights as per usual from the Japanese based MMA leader. In action, that night was none other than the RIZIN bantamweight king, Kyoji Horiguchi (27-2) who defeated Ben Nguyen via first-round TKO. The dominant 28-year old entered the ring for the first time since he won the title on New Year’s Eve 2018 at RIZIN 14 when he defeated the Bellator champion, Darrion “The Wolf” Caldwell (13-2) in a crazy comeback effort.

Drake Riggs - April 26, 2019

The end of 2018 marked a new era of sorts when it comes to cross-promotion in MMA as Bellator and RIZIN teamed up like never before. For RIZIN’s annual big New Year’s Eve show, in 2018 that was RIZIN 14, one of their biggest stars, Kyoji Horiguchi would fight for the inaugural bantamweight title. His opponent would be none other than Bellator’s bantamweight champion, Darrion Caldwell.

Drake Riggs - April 20, 2019

RIZIN 15 is the first RIZIN event of 2019 and as per usual it looks to be a great one. Stars return and a new champion will be crowned. In the main event, we will see the first ever RIZIN light heavyweight champion be decided when Bellator’s “King Mo” Muhammad Lawal returns to the ring to try and once again pick up a win over the red-hot Czech, Jiri Prochazka.

Tom Taylor - April 9, 2019

Late last week, RIZIN Fighting Federation boss Nobuyuki Sakakibara hinted at a deal with Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao. Sakakibara suggested that Pacquiao’s dealings with RIZIN would be linked to the April 21 RIZIN 15 card, now less than two weeks away, so a fight seemed unlikely from the get-go.

Tom Taylor - April 7, 2019

Back in December, RIZIN Fight Federation flew undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. out to Tokyo to battle one of its brightest young stars, Tenshin Nasukawa, in an exhibition match. Unfortunately for RIZIN, this plan seemed to backfire, as Mayweather walloped the much smaller Nasukawa to a first round knockout. Despite the seemingly disastrous end to this Floyd Mayweather vs. Tenshin Nasukawa fight, RIZIN does not appear to be done flirting with top-level boxers.

Drake Riggs - February 7, 2019

On April 21, RIZIN FF will hold their first event of the year in RIZIN 15 which takes place from the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan. Four very fun matchups have already been announced for the 2019 kickoff show.