The cross-promotional event between Bellator MMA and Rizin Fighting
Federation ended with a complete victory for Bellator fighters, who
went 5-0 at the end of the evening.

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The Rizin
40 headliner featured a clash between current Rizin 155-pound
titleholder Roberto
Satoshi de Souza and former Bellator featherweight champion
A.J.
McKee. The pair went back-and-forth for three rounds, where
McKee (20-1, 1-0 Rizin) showed he had the advantage over his foe
with his striking, while de Souza (14-2, 7-2 Rizin) attempted to
force the action to the canvas. Overall, “Mercenary” was the better
man in the ring, showcasing versatility in landing soccer kicks
whenever he found the opportunity. De Souza attacked with different
submission attempts during the bout, but McKee defended well. The
Brazilian attempted a last foray in the waning seconds of the third
frame, capturing McKee’s back and going for a rear-naked choke, but
he ran short of time to defeat the American. Ultimately, McKee
punctuated his performance with a unanimous-decision victory, the
seventh in his 21-bout career.

In the co-main event, Bellator 145-pound kingpin Patricio
Freire (35-5, 1-0 Rizin) dominated Rizin featherweight champion
Kleber
Koike Erbst (31-6-1, 6-1 Rizin) en route to a unanimous
decision in their non-title encounter. “Pitbull” adapted quickly to
the squared circle and the peculiar Rizin rules, implementing a
safe yet effective strategy. While Freire was shorter than his foe,
he was quicker with his punches and kicks and moved in and out of
Erbst’s reach. Freire also proved physically stronger than Erbst,
throwing his opponent on the mat on different occasions. Throughout
the fight, Freire played smart and risked almost nothing. The
one-sided performance was unanimously rewarded by the ringside
judges. In addition to taking home the win, Freire also snapped
Erbst’s seven-bout winning streak.

Elsewhere, Kyoji
Horiguchi (31-5, 12-1 Rizin) continued to have Hiromasa
Ougikubo’s (25-7-2, 7-4 Rizin) number, as he overcame his
long-time rival for the third time in their respective careers by
outclassing Ougikubo en route to a unanimous decision. Meanwhile,
former Bellator 135-pound titleholder Juan
Archuleta (27-4, 1-0 Rizin) did just enough earn a split
decision against Soo Chul
Kim (18-7-1, 2-1 Rizin), and Gadzhi
Rabadanov (19-4-1, 1-0 Rizin) defeated Koji Takeda
(15-4, 5-4 Rizin) via unanimous decision at the end of a
hard-fought lightweight battle.

On the preliminary card, Seika Izawa
(9-0, 5-0 Rizin) eked out a narrow split decision over long-time
rival Si Woo Park
(9-5, 3-1 Rizin) in the super atomweight grand prix final;
135-pound talent Naoki Inoue
(16-3, 6-1 Rizin) forced Kenta
Takizawa (13-9, 3-5 Rizin) to tap due to a modified keylock at
3:53 of Round 2; Junior Tafa
(4-0, 1-0 Rizin) battered fellow heavyweight prospect Tsuyoshi
Kamiyama (6-2, 6-2 Rizin) with punches at 1:38 of the opening
frame; former UFC flyweight title challenger John Dodson
(23-13, 1-0 Rizin) finished Hideo Tokoro
(35-32-1, 3-4 Rizin) with punches at the 1:43 mark of Round 1; the
custom-rules boxing clash between Ren
Hiramoto and Genji Umeno ended in a draw even though Hiramoto
knocked his opponent out in the last second of the second frame;
Yuki
Motoya (33-9, 1 NC; 10-5, 1 NC Rizin) crushed former UFC
135-pounder Rogerio
Bontorin (16-5, 2 NC; 0-1 Rizin) with a knee 2:56 into the
second stanza; UFC alum Johnny Case
(28-9-1, 4-3 Rizin) wobbled and finsihed last-minute replacement
Nobumitsu
Osawa (14-7, 0-2 Rizin) 36 seconds into their lightweight tilt;
rising featherweight star Chihiro
Suzuki (10-3, 5-1 Rizin) demolished Yoshiki
Nakahara (17-6, 2-1 Rizin) with punches at the 4:44 mark of
Round 1; 155-pounder Sho
Patrick Usami (6-1, 2-0 Rizin) flattened former Rise kickboxing
welterweight titleholder Noah Bey (1-3,
1-3 Rizin) 45 seconds out of the gate and Yushi
Sakura (3-1, 3-1 Rizin) outgrappled Tatsuya
Nakazawa (1-1, 0-1 Rizin) en route to a unanimous decision
victory in a 137-pound catchweight affair.

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

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