Coker, Sakakibara Explain How Relationship Makes Bellator-Rizin Event Possible

There are multiple moving parts behind a successful co-promoted event involving two large MMA promotions.

Perhaps the most important aspect of such a venture is a solid relationship between the people at the top of said promotions. Such is the case for the upcoming Rizin 40 card, which features five bouts pitting athletes from the Japanese organization against five fighters from Bellator MMA on the main draw. It wouldn’t have happened without the bond that Rizin CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara forged with Bellator president Scott Coker many years ago.

“We’ve both been in the business for a long time and seen the ups and downs. The healthy competition we have is why. We’re doing this because of Scott Coker, and more because of Scott than because of Bellator. That’s one reason,” Sakakibara said during a recent media call.

The feeling was mutual, according to Coker.

“This is a relationship that started in 2004, 2005. It’s been many years of working together,” Coker said. “It’s been a friendship and a relationship that has led to these fights taking place. It’s not always easy; there have been bumps along the way to get to this. I’m extremely happy about what we’ve been able to do with this event. We’re ready to go.”

For Sakakibara and Rizin, it’s also an opportunity to prove that a Japanese organization can compete against one of the top MMA promotions in the world.

“The modern-day industry is from North America; it’s the place for martial arts right now, and Bellator is one of them,” he said. “As a promotion from Japan, it’s very exciting for us to take on and challenge one of the major leagues. For us, it’s very important to challenge the major league, to challenge North America, to challenge the global market: that’s what the Japanese fans want to see.”

Coker initially wasn’t sure which fighters from the Bellator roster would be suitable for such an event, but Sakakibara’s competitive spirit helped with that decision.

“When we first started talking about this event, I really was thinking OK maybe we could send a couple of our top guys, a couple of our B-level guys, a couple of our C-level guys, and bring a very mixed team,” Coker said. “Sakakibara was the one who said, ‘No, bring all your best guys, we want to fight all your top fighters’ and I was surprised.”

The Bellator lineup includes two of its biggest names at the top of the card —A.J. McKee and Patricio Freire — as they take on the Rizin lightweight champ Roberto Satoshi de Souza and featherweight king Kleber Koike Erbst, respectively.

“When we first saw Bellator’s lineup, we truly felt how serious Scott was with this co-promoting event,” Sakakibara said. “Like he said, he brought the best. He was sincere with our request. When we saw the lineup, we were excited, but we also knew we needed our fighters to fully commit to taking the fight. We needed to respond by giving our best. We’re very excited, but we’re very nervous at the same time.”

There’s a certain amount of risk involved for sides when it comes to having a promotion’s best fighters compete against those from another organization. That’s part of the appeal, according to Coker, but it only works with a solid foundation in place.

“Working with other promoters there has to be a certain amount of trust and what are they bringing to the table,” he said. “I think really the question is what is the relationship going to look like moving forward and what fighters are they going to want to fight. You are putting your fighters in harm’s way, you're putting your brand in harm’s way and that’s OK because that should be the martial arts way.”