Team Bellator makes the long journey to Japan to fight the best Rizin offers in a cross-promotional all-star event. AJ McKee vs. Roberto Satoshi Souza and Patricio Pitbull vs. Kleber Koike Erbst are among the intriguing matchups presented at Bellator vs. Rizin on Dec. 31, which will be contested under Rizin rules.
Saturday's main event pits Bellator's former featherweight champion and No. 3 pound-for-pound fighter McKee against Rizin's lightweight champion Satoshi at the legendary Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo, Japan. McKee (19-1) is a well-rounded offensive dynamo with long, explosive strikes and a tricky submission game. Expect McKee to keep the fight at range against Satoshi (14-1), a powerful jiu-jitsu specialist with 10 career submissions and four knockouts.
"He's good," McKee said during this week's press conference. "I feel he hasn't fought anybody in my caliber yet, so I'm looking forward to just bringing him a good fight and pushing the pace.
"It's gonna be a fun fight, it's gonna be an exciting fight. It's gonna be a fight where I think the people are gonna love it, I'm gonna love it, I'm just gonna be out there having fun, doing what I love to do. It's a ring, so for me it's gonna be a bit different but for this fight in particular, I'm not too worried about it."
The Bellator vs. Rizin co-main event is a super fight between featherweight champions Patricio Pitbull and Kleber Koike Erbst. Similar to the main event, Bellator possesses the more well-rounded fighter in Pitbull (34-5) taking on a serious submission threat in Erbst.
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The undercard will also feature the return of former Bellator bantamweight champions Juan Archuleta and Kyoji Horiguchi. Archuleta, who picked up a decision win over Enrique Barzola in his last outing, will take on Soo Chul Kim. Horiguchi, who previously held the Rizin bantamweight title before moving over to Bellator and capturing the gold, will move down to flyweight to take on Hiromasa Ougikubo.
Take a look below at how you can view all the action on New Year's Eve.
Bellator vs. Rizin main card viewing information
Date: Dec. 31 | Start time: 8 p.m. ET/PT
Location: Saitama Super Arena -- Tokyo, Japan
TV Channel/Strea: Showtime (Tape delayed)
Here is the Bellator vs. Rizin main card.
Bellator vs. Rizin main card
| Bellator | Rizin | Weightclass |
|---|---|---|
| AJ McKee | Roberto Satoshi Souza | Lightweight |
| Patricio Pitbull | Kleber Koike Erbst | Featherweight |
| Kyoji Horiguchi | Hiromasa Ougikubo | Flyweight |
| Juan Archuleta | Soo Chul Kim | Bantamweight |
| Gadzhi Rabadanov | Koji Takeda | Lightweight |
