here has been a shakeup to this week’s BELLATOR x RIZIN event, which takes place Sunday, July 30 (Saturday, July 29 in America). RIZIN Lightweight World Champion Roberto “Satoshi” De Souza (15-2) has replaced AJ McKee, who has been forced to withdraw from the bout due to medical reasons. “Satoshi” joins the star-studded Lightweight World Grand Prix and now faces former BELLATOR Lightweight World Champion Patricky Pitbull (24-11). BELLATOR x RIZIN: Pitbull vs. De Souza emanates from the world-famous Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
The bout will take place at a contract weight of 161-pounds and remains a five-round BELLATOR Lightweight World Grand Prix quarterfinal fight.
In the co-main event former BELLATOR and RIZIN Bantamweight Champion Kyoji Horiguchi (31-5) challenges Makoto “Shinryu” Takahashi (16-1-1) for the inaugural BELLATOR Flyweight World Championship.
While the five BELLATOR matchups will be taking place in the BELLATOR cage under the Unified Rules of MMA, the RIZIN fights will be taking place in their normal ring and feature a trio of BELLATOR stars. With today’s news, BELLATOR Featherweight World Champion Patricio Pitbull is set to take on Chihiro Suzuki (10-3, 1 NC) in a non-title fight at a contract weight of 154 lbs., while former champion Juan Archuleta (28-4) faces Hiromasa Ougikubo (25-7-2) at bantamweight and Tofiq Musayev (20-5) squares up with Akira Okada (19-9-4) at lightweight.
BELLATOR X RIZIN 2’s headliner, Patricky Pitbull, is one of BELLATOR’s longest-tenured and most accomplished athletes. Tied for the promotion’s all-time knockout record, Pitbull captured the Lightweight World Championship previously in 2021 and now Pitbull hopes to make one last, valiant run at the 155-pound title by blitzing his way through the talent-stacked BELLATOR Lightweight World Grand Prix — starting with the dangerous RIZIN champion Roberto de Souza.
De Souza, known by many as “Satoshi,” has been a force to be reckoned with throughout his ten-year professional MMA career. The reigning RIZIN Lightweight Champion earned his BJJ black belt from his father Adilson De Souza and won multiple jiu jitsu world championships. The 33-year-old De Souza most recently scored a unanimous decision victory over Spike Carlyle at RIZIN 42 in May.
Patricio Pitbull, the reigning BELLATOR Featherweight World Champion, is among the greatest MMA fighters to ever compete professionally. The 36-year-old stands alone atop the BELLATOR record books in the categories for wins, fights, and championship victories, and he joined the elite few to ever hold championships in two weight classes with his 2019 first-round knockout of then-Lightweight World Champion Michael Chandler. Today, Pitbull continues to helm the 145-pound division and most recently dared to challenge for the bantamweight title in a bid for an unprecedented status of triple-champion.
Bellator X Rizin 2: Pitbull vs De Souza Main Card:
Sunday, July 30 (AEST) 1300-1530 - live and free on 10 Play
- Lightweight World Grand Prix Quarterfinals: #2-Patricky Pitbull
- (24-11) vs Roberto De Souza (15-2)
- Inaugural Flyweight World Championship: Kyoji Horiguchi (16-9) vs. Makoto “Shinryu” (16-1-1)
- Bantamweight Bout: #5-Danny Sabatello (14-2) vs. #4-Magomed Magomedov (19-3)
- Women’s Flyweight Bout: #3-Kana Watanabe (11-2-1) vs. #7-Veta Arteaga (7-5)
- Welterweight Bout: #5-Andrey Koreshkov (26-4) vs. #9-Lorenz Larkin (25-7, 2 NC)
