Bellator will return to Japan this summer as part of another co-promotion with Rizin.
It’s something that has been on the radar for Bellator president Scott Coker for months. He told MMA Junkie and other reporters earlier this year in San Jose, Calif., that the wheels were in motion for Saturday’s announcement.
Coker, who has spent plenty of time in Japan in the course of long his combat sports career, said he sees a surge happening there. In addition, his long friendship and working relationship with Rizin president Nobuyuki Sakakibara is a boon to Bellator.
“I’ve seen the early days of PRIDE and the growth of PRIDE and the sale of PRIDE, the beginning of K-1, the end of K-1, and I feel like Japanese MMA is back,” Coker said before Bellator 292 in March. “I feel when you’re there and you can feel what you’re feeling in that audience – the fans are just like nobody’s business. They’re fanatic fans, but they love their fighters. They respect the fighters. They’re very good about paying respect in a proper way.
“I feel like there’s a swell that’s growing there, and we want to be a part of it. We want to help out as much as we can.”
Bellator X Rizin 2 takes place July 30 at Saitama Super Arena near Tokyo. In the main event, Bellator’s lightweight grand prix continues with a fight between former featherweight champion AJ McKee and ex-lightweight champ Patricky Freire. In the co-feature, Bellator starts its new men’s flyweight division with former Bellator and Rizin champ Kyoji Horiguichi vs. Makoto Takahashi (16-1-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) for the inaugural title.
Bellator first went to Japan for a co-promoted event with Rizin in late December 2019. Then this past New Year’s Eve, the promotion returned for a special Bellator vs. Rizin event that saw Bellator fighters go 5-0 vs. their Japanese counterparts.
“I’ve always felt like Japanese MMA or kickboxing, whatever it is, this is kind of to me where it started, so I want to help them as much as I can to keep Japan healthy,” Coker said. “If we can throw a fighter here, two there, we do a co-promotion once a year, it’s something I’m definitely going to support.
“We have our own business to run. We’re very busy, too, and … we have a lot going on, and we’re traveling all over the world, too. We have our business, but if it’s a fight, something that makes sense (with Japan), we’re going to go do it.”
The promotion returns June 16 for Bellator 298 in Chicago and arguably one of its most stacked lineups in history.
