UPDATED UFC Veteran Rogerio Bontorin to Make Rizin Debut on New Year’s Eve

Editor's note: The article has been updated at 12:45 p.m. ET on Nov. 17 to reflect additional booked matchups.

Several bouts have been added to the Rizin 40 card scheduled for New Year’s Eve, including UFC veteran Rogerio Bontorin vs. Yuki Motoya.

Three other contests were also recently confirmed for the card: Seika Izawa vs. Si Woo Park in a non-title affair at super atomweight; Tsuyoshi Kamiyama vs. Junior Tafa at heavyweight and Naoki Inoue vs. Kenta Takizawa at bantamweight.

Rizin 40 takes place on Dec. 31 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan and will feature five Bellator vs. Rizin matchups on the evening’s main card. The headliner will see former Bellator featherweight king A.J. McKee face Rizin lightweight champion Roberto de Souza in a 155-pound clash.

Bontorin enters his Rizin debut on a four-bout winless streak in UFC competition. The Gile Ribeiro Team representative last appeared at UFC on ESPN 32, where he dropped a split decision to Brandon Royval. The Dana White’s Contender Series alum began his Octagon tenure with back-to-back wins over Magomed Bibulatov and Raulian Paiva. He owns a 16-4 career mark.

Motoya, meanwhile, has won four consecutive fights under the Rizin banner. In his last outing, the 33-year-old Japan native outpointed Kazuma Kuramoto at Rizin Landmark Vol. 4 on Nov. 6. He is 32-9 with one no contest since beginning his pro career in May 2011.

Additional fight announcement for RIZIN.40

Hideo Tokoro vs. John Dodson#RIZIN #RIZIN40 pic.twitter.com/BMvsWr0hiP

— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English) November 17, 2022

On Wednesday night, the organization released a few additional pairings on the growing Rizin 40 lineup. Fresh off a resounding victory in the bare-knuckle ranks, former Ultimate Fighting Championship mainstay John Dodson (22-13) will throw down with 45-year-old Japanese vet Hideo Tokoro (35-31-1) at 125 pounds. In a lightweight contest, fan-favorite Noah Bey (1-2) will tangle with youngster Sho Usami (5-1) as well. Finally, lightweights collide as Luiz Gustavo Felix dos Santos (12-2) brings his 100% finish rate to the table against ex-title challenger Johnny Case (27-9-1), who himself posts 85% of his victories by stoppage.