Bellator vs. Rizin: Souza vs McKee
Bellator X Rizin was the first joint event by Bellator MMA and Rizin FF on December 31, 2022. Taking place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, the event was headlined by a lightweight bout between Roberto de Souza and AJ McKee.
EVENT INFO
- Date: December 31, 2022
- Location: Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan
- Start Time: Taping from 5 am ET, Airing from 8 pm ET
SYNOPSIS
Bellator MMA of the US and Rizin FF of Japan announced a joint event which was the first joint event between these two promotions. Both promotions put several current and former champions in 5 inter-promotional bouts on the card. The event was aired in United States on Showtime with a tape delay from 8 PM ET onwards on December 31, 2022. It aired live in other countries via Fite TV.
Rizin Lightweight Champion Roberto de Souza headlined the card against former Bellator Featherweight Champion AJ McKee. Bellator Featherweight Champion Patricio Pitbull represented Bellator to take on KSW Featherweight Champion Kleber Koike Erbst in the co-main event. Two more former Bellator Champions Juan Archuleta and Kyoji Horiguchi were on the card.
All 5 Bellator fighters were able to win their respective fights on the card to get a 5-0 clean sweep over Rizin fighters.
RESULTS
Main page: Bellator vs Rizin Results
- Main Event: A. J. McKee vs. Roberto de Souza- Lightweight Bout
- A. J. McKee won via unanimous decision
- Co-Main Event: Patrício Pitbull vs. Kleber Koike Erbst- Featherweight Bout
- Patrício Pitbull won via unanimous decision
- Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Hiromasa Ougikubo- Flyweight Bout
- Kyoji Horiguchi won via unanimous decision
- Juan Archuleta vs. Soo Chul Kim- Bantamweight Bout
- Juan Archuleta won via a split decision
- Gadzhi Rabadanov vs. Koji Takeda- Lightweight Bout
- Gadzhi Rabadanov won via unanimous decision
