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VIDEO: Pitbull Stops De Souza At Bellator MMA x RIZIN 2 In Japan

The second co-promoted event between Bellator and RIZIN featured some of the biggest names from both organizations.

Drew Beaupré

VIDEO: Pitbull Stops De Souza At Bellator MMA x RIZIN 2 In Japan
VIDEO: Pitbull Stops De Souza At Bellator MMA x RIZIN 2 In Japan /

Following the success of their first co-promoted event that took place on New Year’s Eve, Bellator and RIZIN teamed up again for Bellator vs. RIZIN 2 on Saturday, July 29 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

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(Bellator MMA/RIZIN FF)

The night’s main event was originally supposed to feature Bellator's former featherweight king AJ McKee taking on Patricky “Pitbull” Freire in the final quarterfinal bout of Bellator’s lightweight tournament. A medical issue unfortunately forced McKee out of that fight, and instead "Pitbull" took on RIZIN Lightweight Champion Roberto de Souza and stopped him with leg kicks in the third round. 

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The co-main event saw former Bellator and RIZIN bantamweight titleholder Kyoji Horiguchi square off with Makoto Shinryu to crown Bellator's inaugural flyweight champion. The bout was paused after just 25 seconds due to an accidental eye poke from Horiguchi, and after considerable deliberation the fight was unfortunately declared a No Contest. 

Screenshot_20230729_093558_Firefox
(Bellator MMA/RIZIN FF)

The rest of the Bellator vs. RIZIN 2 main card also included Kana Watanabe winning a decision over Veta Arteaga, as well as Magomed Magomedov catching Danny Sabatello with a guillotine choke in the first round. The night opened with a welterweight rematch between Andrey Koreshkov and Lorenz Larkin that saw Koreshkov flip the script and take a split decision after Larkin won in the same fashion in 2019. 

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You can find highlights from the event below, as well as the full results for every fight.

Magomed Magomedov def. Danny Sabatello

Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Makoto Shinryu

Patricky Freire def. Robert De Souza

Main Card (Showtime, 11:00 p.m ET)

• Main Event: Patricky Freire def. Robert De Souza via TKO: R3, 0:49 - Bellator Lightweight Tournament Quarterfinal Bout 

• Co-Main Event: Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Makoto Shinryu Ends in a No Contest (Accidental Eye Poke): R1, 0:25 - For the Vacant Bellator Men's Flyweight Title 

• Kana Watanabe def. Veta Arteaga via Unanimous Decision (29-28x3)

• Magomed Magomedov def. Danny Sabatello via Submission (Guillotine Choke): R1, 3:55

• Andrey Koreshkov def. Lorenz Larkin via Split Decision (29-28x2, 28-29)

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