Rizin CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara is expressing confidence in his bantamweight champion.
Kyoji Horiguchi, the Rizin 135-pound kingpin, will have a chance to make lightning strike twice tomorrow night (June 14). Horiguchi is set to challenge Darrion Caldwell for the Bellator bantamweight gold. Back in Dec. 2018, Horiguchi successfully defended his Rizin title via third-round submission.
Sakakibara Confident In Horiguchi Ahead Of Caldwell Rematch
During the Bellator 222 media day session, which MMA News attended,
Sakakibara guaranteed that Horiguchi will pull off another victory over “The Wolf” (via MMAJunkie.com):
“I believe that Horiguchi is going to become busy, because he’s going to win. He has to keep two belts after tomorrow, because I guarantee Horiguchi will win.”
Sakakibara went on to explain why the crossover between Rizin and Bellator is beneficial for both promotions:
“A lot of Japanese people will be introduced to DAZN because of this fight, and we believe Americans watching DAZN will be introduced to Rizin and Rizin fighters because of this cross-promotion. So definitely it’s beneficial for both parties and healthy for this industry.”
Horiguchi isn’t the only Rizin fighter looking to make waves on U.S. soil tomorrow night. Rena Kubota will also be on the Bellator 222 card. She’ll share the cage with Lindsey VanZandt on the preliminary portion of the card.
