Fight Facts: Rizin 40 ‘Bellator MMA vs. Rizin’

Fight Facts is a breakdown of all of the interesting information and ring rarities on every card, with some puns, references and portmanteaus to keep things fun. These deep stat dives delve into the numbers, providing historical context and telling the stories behind those numbers.

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TOTAL NUMBER OF RIZIN FIGHTS: 468
TOTAL NUMBER OF RIZIN EVENTS: 50

Rizin Fighting Federation teamed up with Bellator MMA to put on a fight card that many will remember quite some time. The matches all took place officially under the Rizin banner, with Bellator sharing five of its top talents, and the invasion proved to be a complete success. Rizin 40, also called “Bellator MMA vs. Rizin,” featured a clean sweep for one organization, a new surrounding for a company man and the completion of a one-sided trilogy.

Lend-Lease Dominance: Bellator offered up five gladiators to compete against their Rizin counterparts on the main card: A.J. McKee, Patricio Freire, Kyoji Horiguchi, Juan Archuleta and Gadzhi Rabadanov. All five representatives won for Bellator.

Slow Ending: The last six matches on the card concluded by decision, making Rizin 40 the second event in the organization’s history to end with this many successive fights going to the judges. Rizin 29 in 2021 had all six of its MMA bouts go to decision, plus its main event in kickboxing.

Stranger in a Strange Land: At lightweight, McKee took on reigning Rizin 155-pound champ Roberto Satoshi de Souza. McKee won a decision in what turned out to be his first fight outside of the confines of Bellator, as his first 20 professional matches had all taken place in the Bellator cage.

He Arguably Won, Too: Coming into his pairing with McKee, de Souza had only competed into the second round twice after 15 career outings. He had not reached Round 3 until McKee took him there.

Boarding the Pitbull: Leaving the confines of the familiar Bellator landscape for the first time since 2009, Freire took on Rizin 145-pound kingpin Kleber Koike Erbst and won on the scorecards. At that time in December 2009, only four of the other 27 MMA fighters on the card – including his opponent – had made their pro debuts.

The Dangers in Co-Promotion: “Pitbull” ruined the perfect Rizin record for Erbst by claiming the win in the co-main event. Freire snapped a seven-fight submission win stretch for the Rizin beltholder that included six under the Rizin banner.

Horiguchi is Made to Be a Flyweight: For the third time, Kyoji Horiguchi met Hiromasa Ougikubo in the ring. Horiguchi previously topped Ougikubo by rear-naked choke in 2013 at 135 pounds, then beat him again at Rizin 11 by decision in a catchweight affair. Their third meeting came at flyweight, and Horiguchi swept the trilogy by taking home a unanimous decision.

Repping Bellator, Rizin Local: Prevailing against his rival for the third time, Horiguchi claimed his 12th win under the Rizin lights. This ties Rena Kubota for the most in company history.

Cool Dance: Since making his debut in the majors in 2018, Archuleta has had his hand raised nine times. Following his split decision victory over Rizin 135-pound champion Soo Chul Kim, “The Spaniard” has won by decision in seven of those nine triumphs.

She’s Number One: To win the Rizin atomweight grand prix, Seika Izawa squeaked by Si Woo Mark in their rematch to get it done by split decision. Having turned pro just over two years ago, the 9-0 Izawa remains the top atomweight in the sport by turning away the hard-charging Korean.

Park and Ride: Across her 14 pro appearances, Park dropped a split decision for the first time. She has reached the final bell in 12 of those fights, including each of her last six.

Kimuricanalock: The final stoppage of the fight card came when Naoki Inoue wrenched Kenta Takizawa’s arm with an unusual submission that combined a straight armlock with a kimura grip. His kimura is the fourth in organizational history, and the first for any male fighter lighter than heavyweight.

Making This Sport Look Easy: At heavyweight, Junior Tafa made short work of Tsuyoshi Kamiyama, putting “Sudario” away with punches in 98 seconds. The Aussie who turned pro in July has already amassed four wins, all by knockout.

Dodson Pulled the Trigger: John Dodson made his Rizin debut by flattening Hideo Tokoro in 103 seconds. The knockout was his first as a flyweight since 2014, although his last strike-stoppage win at 125 pounds came against Darrell Montague in 2013.

Rocking Rogerio: After the midpoint of Round 2, Yuki Motoya crushed Rogerio Bontorin with a knee to earn his 10th win as a Rizin fighter. Only three competitors have won more times in the organization: the aforementioned Horiguchi and Kubota (12 each) and Jiri Prochazka (11).

They Call Me Mister Rizin: Motoya made his 16th walk for a Rizin fight when he faced Bontorin. He and Kanna Asakura are currently tied for the most matches in promotional history.

Making His Case: Johnny Case ended a career-long three-fight skid by decking Nobumitsu Osawa in less than 40 seconds. “Hollywood” claimed his 20th pro win by knockout, and lifted his overall finish rate to 86%.

More Than Just ATVs: With a stoppage rate at just 50%, Chihiro Suzuki nevertheless lifted it by starching Yoshiki Nakahara in the first round. The 23-year-old has seen five pro fights end by knockout, win or lose, and they all concluded in Round 1. His lone submission came in the second stanza, while the remainder of his matches reached and concluded the third frame.

Patrick Is His Middle Name: Sho Patrick Usami only needed 45 seconds to blow through Noah Bey, and earned his fifth knockout across six career victories. On the other side, “Black Panther” has now lost three separate ways in the promotion: by three-round decision, second-round submission and first-round knockout.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into Rizin 40, de Souza had never gone the distance (15 fights), Kamiyama (seven fights) and Nakahara (22 fights) had never been knocked out and Yushi Sakura had never gone the distance (three fights).