Bellator MMA president Scott Coker recently arranged a cross-promotion deal with Rizin Fighting Federation's leader Nobuyuki Sakakibara to exchange fighters, where appropriate, for exciting headlining events. The most recent example of this creative matchmaking occurred on June 14 at Bellator 222 in New York.
Bellator's bantamweight champion, Darrion Caldwell faced off against Rizin's bantamweight title holder Kyoji Horiguchi in a rematch of their December 31 bout in Japan. In that tilt, Horiguchi won Rizin's inaugural 135-pound belt by submitting Caldwell in the third round.
Ready to settle the score and represent for his promotion, "The Wolf" battled it out against Horiguchi in a five-ground grapple-fest that saw Horiguchi walk away with another victory over Caldwell and a new belt around his waist.