Nobuyuki Sakakibara looking forward to putting in best efforts to bring RIZIN to Azerbaijan

Nobuyuki Sakakibara created an MMA powerhouse in Japan when he founded Pride Fighting Championship, and is hoping to do the same with RIZIN as he plans to bring the promotion to new markets.

Sakakibara has done an excellent job with RIZIN as he has created a promotion that has featured the likes of former UFC lightweight champion Jiri Prochazka and reigning Bellator light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov. He recently took to Instagram to share his vision of brining an event to Azerbaijan in the future.

The RIZIN founder posted photos of himself with many executives and Ministors of Sport as he hopes to lay the foundation for hosting an event in the country, writing:

"Many individuals in Azerbaijan including the Minister of sports, executives from major corporations, venue owners and the MMA community are eager to host a RIZIN event in Azerbaijan!"

RIZIN could benefit from the added exposure of hosting some of their big events in other markets. Sakakibara stressed that he and his team are committed to hosting an event in Azerbaijan, but noted that there are a number of hurdles in their way.

He wrote:

"There are several obstacles along the way, but we will put in our best efforts on making this happen!"

It remains to be seen what the potential timeline would be for a RIZIN event in Azerbaijan, but it seems realistic because of the effort being made to make it happen.

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What happened when Nobuyuki Sakakibara and Scott Coker hosted a cross-promotion event?

RIZIN and Bellator came together and hosted a unique cross-promotion MMA event this past year on New Year's Eve.

The event feaured 5 bouts featuring current and former champions from both promotions. It didn't go according to plan for Nobuyuki Sakakibara's promotion as Scott Coker's Bellator completed a clean sweep by winning all 5 fights. The two bouts that headlined that event were a champion vs. champion bout between Kleber Koike and Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire and a lightweight bout between former Bellator featherweight champion A.J. McKee and RIZIN lightweight champion Satoshi Souza.

Both promoters seem open to another cross-promotion event, but Coker has mentioned in his media availabilites that if they have collaborate on another event, it will likely take place in the Bellator cage.