The first bout for new promotion Rizin Fighting Federation has been revealed, and it features two legends in Japanese combat sports as Shinya Aoki takes on Kazushi Sakuraba.
The bout was confirmed at Rizin’s press conference this morning in Tokyo.
Aoki (38-6, 1NC) is the current ONE Championship lightweight champion who is 6-0 in ONE. He has won eight-straight since losing to Eddie Alvarez at Bellator 66 in 2012. As well as the current ONE champion, he is also a former DREAM, WAMMA and Shooto champion. He also challenged Gilbert Melendez for the Strikeforce lightweight title.
Sakuraba (26-16-1, 2NC) A.