Two of the world’s top mixed martial arts promotions will clash at
Bellator MMA vs. Rizin.
The card will feature five key cross-promotional fights, with Rizin
lightweight champion Roberto
Satoshi de Souza facing off against A.J. McKee in
the main event. Also notable is the co-main event, which will see
Bellator MMA featherweight titleholder Patricio
Freire take on Rizin featherweight king Kleber
Koike Erbst. No belts are on the line in any of the five
matches on this section of the card, while the weigh-in information
of the additional participants at Rizin 40 has not yet been
disclosed.
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De Souza (14-1) is currently on a five-fight win streak since
losing via TKO to Johnny Case
in 2019. The Brazilian captured the throne in 2021 by submitting
Tofiq
Musayev, then defended it against Yusuke
Yachi before getting revenge against Case in April. De Souza
weighed 156 pounds on the dot.
Meanwhile, McKee (19-1) made his lightweight debut in his last
outing, a unanimous decision win over Spike
Carlyle. Previously, “Mercenary” had won and lost the Bellator
MMA featherweight championship in a pair of fights against Freire.
McKee came in at 154.7 pounds and will look to make a statement in
his new weight division.
Bellator MMA vs. Rizin will air via tape delay on Showtime at 8
p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on New Year’s Eve.
Bellator MMA vs. Rizin Weigh-in Results
A.J.
McKee (154.7) vs. Roberto
Satoshi de Souza (156)
Kleber
Koike Erbst (145.2) vs. Patricio
Freire (145)
Kyoji
Horiguchi (124.8) vs. Hiromasa
Ougikubo (125.4)
Juan
Archuleta (134) vs. Soo Chul
Kim (133.8)
Gadzhi
Rabadanov (155.9) vs. Koji Takeda
(156)