Bellator vs. Rizin 2 will return to the Saitama Super Arena in Japan on July 30. The follow-up to their New Year’s Eve collaboration is headlined by a Bellator Lightweight World Grand Prix quarterfinal showdown between AJ McKee and Patricky Pitbull, the promotion announced Saturday. .
There is no love lost between former Bellator featherweight champion McKee and Patricky Pitbull, the former lightweight champion. McKee and Patricio Pitbull, the brother of Patricky Pitbull, are currently tied 1-1 in a bitter series. McKee is perfect in his first two fights as a lightweight, defeating UFC alumnus Spike Carlyle and Rizin’s current lightweight champion Roberto de Souza. This is Patricky Pitbull’s first fight since he lost the lightweight title to Usman Nurmagomedov in November.
The co-main event will crown the inaugural Bellator flyweight champion. Kyoji Horiguchi, a former Bellator and Rizin bantamweight champion who once challenged Demetrious Johnson for the UFC flyweight title, will take on Rizin’s Makoto Takahashi, the latter of whom boasts a fantastic record of 16- 1-1. A fight between Kana Watanabe and Veta Arteaga is also scheduled.
The structure of Bellator vs. Rizin 2 will be different from the inaugural event. The first card featured five Bellator fights against Rizin contested under Rizin’s rules. This time, the broadcast will be split into Bellator and Rizin parts. Bellator’s fights will be contested under the Unified Rules of MMA, while Rizin’s portion will be contested in his traditional ring. Bellator fighters Juan Archuleta and Tofiq Musayev are scheduled to compete in the Rizin segment of the event against opponents yet to be announced.