RIZIN CEO claims upcoming Bellator cross-promotion event will be first step towards ending UFC's domination

RIZIN CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara recently acknowledged that the UFC is the most dominant MMA promotion in the world. However, the 59-year-old Japanese businessman believes that his upcoming event in collaboration with Bellator will mark the beginning of the end of UFC's dominance.

RIZIN and Bellator are pitting five of their best fighters against one another at a cross-promotion mega event in Japan, scheduled to go down on New Year's Eve, which is a big deal in the country. Sakakibara, who is a year younger than Bellator founder Scott Coker, hopes to leave behind a legacy with his American counterpart in their twilight years. The MMA promoter recently said in a video on Twitter:

"The influence the UFC has in our industry is about 80-85%. So we all have to get together and do something that they aren't doing. And build it into something that will penetrate the global market. The Japan vs. World NYE event that is finally happening. And if we're going to do this, we will have to fully commit. So it has to be between our absolute best, like the world cup of MMA... We're both up there in age, we need to leave a legacy for the younger generation."

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Bellator CEO claims to already be in talks with RIZIN about a second event

Bellator chief Scott Coker has shared a good relationship with his RIZIN counterpart Nobuyuki Sakakibara since the Strikeforce days.

Coker still remembers the time Sakakibara lent him Alistair Overeem to fight Vitor Belfort to save a Strikeforce fight card.

The two have continued to work together since, culminating in the upcoming RIZIN vs. Bellator event on New Year's Eve. Coker has also vowed that this is not a one-off. The 60-year-old promoter claims to already be in talks with Sakakibara regarding a return matchup between the promotions on Bellator’s home turf, inside the cage. In a recent presser, Coker said:

"Sakakibara and I talked about two events. The next one has to be in the cage, and it has to be Bellator rules. It would be different, whether in the US, or somewhere else. I think Hawaii would be fun. I just want to get through this one on the 31st, and then we can go from there.”

Watch the presser below: