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Bellator MMA is gearing up to co-promote with RIZIN FF for the second time on July 30th at the historic Saitama Super Arena. After their past New Year’s Eve event produced a shutout for the American league over their Japanese counterpart, this time around they will ditch the head-to-head format and instead put on two separate cards. The Bellator bouts will occur in a cage, while the RIZIN matchups will happen in their traditional ring. Also, the American promotion will honor the unified rules of MMA, whereas RIZIN will stick to their guns and allow for the much more awesome knees to the head of a grounded opponent.
Headlining this event will be a lightweight Grand Prix quarterfinal matchup between Bellator’s former featherweight champion, AJ McKee Jr. and previous GP tournament finalist, Patricky ‘Pitbull’ Freire. McKee has already faced of with Pitbull’s brother, Patricio, two times in his career, but Patricky provides his own unique set of challenges. Having only lost once, AJ is riding a two-fight winning streak, while Pitbull is looking to get back into the win column. The winner will advance in Bellator MMA’s 155-pound tournament.
After all this time, the Bellator promotion will finally launch a flyweight division at BELLATOR X RIZIN 2: McKee vs. Pitbull. The card’s co-main event is getting a 125-pound title fight between former Bellator and RIZIN bantamweight champ, Kyoji Horiguchi, and surging 22-year-old prospect, Makoto Shinryu. The third bout unveiled for the upcoming cross-promotion will involve Japan’s own Kana Watanabe and Bellator MMA mainstay Veta Arteaga.
BELLATOR X RIZIN 2: McKee vs. Pitbull fight card
- AJ McKee Jr. vs. Patricky Pitbull Freire: Lightweight GP Quarterfinal
- Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Makoto Shinryu: Flyweight Title
- Kana Watanabe vs. Veta Arteaga: (W) Flyweight
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