Juan Archuleta had big ambitions for his holiday trip to Japan, but a big wrench has been thrown into the works of his plan.
Archuleta (29-4) missed weight by about 6 pounds Saturday for his bantamweight title defense against Kai Asakura (20-4) at Rizin FF 45, which takes place New Year’s Eve in Saitama, Japan. Former Bellator champion Archuleta has been stripped of the Rizin title due to the weight infraction, and now only Asakura can win the belt in the co-main event.
After the official weigh-ins in Japan, Archuleta told fans and media in attendance that an illness while traveling was the culprit for his large weight miss. And right after that, Asakura said he would talk to his team and make a decision since the weight disparity was so big.
Archuleta’s grand plan was to defend the Rizin bantamweight title against Asakura, then fight Bellator champ Patchy Mix for that title. Archuleta is the only fighter to beat Mix in his career. He won Bellator’s vacant bantamweight title against him in 2020. He subsequently lost it, won Rizin’s belt in a crossover fight, and Mix went on to win Bellator’s interim title, then the full belt in November.
Archuleta never has officially missed weight prior to Saturday, though a fight against Enrique Barzola at Bellator 286 in October 2022 was moved from 135 pounds to a 141-pound contract weight fight during the weigh-in window. After his win over Barzola, Archuleta told MMA Junkie his management team was contacted and told to stop cutting weight, and that a 141-pound fight had been agreed to. Archuleta did not confirm at the time if he was the one struggling to hit the bantamweight limit, or if it was Barzola, or perhaps both, but reiterated that he hadn’t missed weight prior to that.
In the wake of Bellator’s sale to the PFL, Archuleta told MMA Junkie earlier this week he’s not certain what will happen with him, given he had a setup that allowed him to fight for both Bellator and Rizin.
Heading into the Asakura fight, Archuleta has four straight wins, all by decision.
