Rizin Fighting Federation

The precursors of RIZIN Fighting Federation were PRIDE (founded 1997, dissolved 2007), and DREAM (founded 2008, dissolved 2012). PRIDE was an original competitor of the UFC, largely considered to be the premier mixed martial arts organization worldwide, and produced many of the stars during the 'golden age' of MMA, who went on to become UFC champions and Hall of Famers. Once PRIDE was purchased by the UFC, they absorbed most of their contracted roster. Less than 1 year after PRIDE's final event, DREAM was founded. Most of the executives and staff from PRIDE sought to recreate the same philosophy and ambition that their former organization had. Upon the dissolution of HERO'S, Fighting and Entertainment Group collaborated with Dream Stage Entertainment to create DREAM. Despite running nearly 25 events across from 2008 until the end of 2012, and establishing partnerships with Shooto, M-1 Global, Elite XC, Strikeforce, ProElite, and ONE Championship, the promotion sunsetted in the summer of 2012.

On September 19, 2015 during Bellator 142 Dynamite 1 event, it was announced that Nobuyuki Sakakibara had signed one of the most successful and famous heavyweights in history, former Pride Heavyweight Champion 'The Last Emperor' Fedor Emelianenko to headline his new promotion's New Year's Eve Show in Tokyo. Then, on October 8, 2015 the former President of Pride FC - Nobuyuki Sakakibara - held a press conference to announce his return to MMA with Rizin Fighting Federation. Sakakibara returned to mainstream MMA, along with Nobuhiko Takada and other former Pride FC employees. The concept of the event was to create a platform where all promotions and fighters can compete while keeping their diverse culture, customs and characteristics. With countless promotions existing globally, RIZIN seeks to gather top competitors to determine who is the best; not competing with existing organizations as a sole promotion. Rather, to structure a federation to host, hold and operate fights.

Aside from the previously announced presence of Emelianenko (who was speculated to fight against Jaideep Singh), Kazushi Sakuraba was announced to take on Shinya Aoki, as well as female competitors Gabi Garcia and RENA.[5] Finally, the classic Grand Prix tournament was announced (held at 100kg or roughly 220lbs), with champions and competitors from Bellator, KSW, Jungle Fight[6], BAMMA, and King of Kings. Most notably, King Mo was announced to represent Bellator in the tournament.[7] All bouts will take place in a ring under PRIDE rules. In attendance were Bellator president Scott Coker, and Spike TV executive Jon Slusser, with Coker stating that his promotion and network were fully committed to supporting RIZIN. Coker went on to say, "There was a time not long ago where the best fighters in the world fought here in Japan four or five times a year."[8] The winner of the Grand Prix was to take home the prize of $500,000. The 8-man bracket was officially finalized on November 30th, 2015, with other bouts also being announced shortly thereafter.[9][10][11][12]

Kron Gracie (whose father Rickson competed at the inaugural PRIDE event) was announced to participate against Asen Yamamoto.[13] Amongst the veterans in the Japanese scene, Tsuyoshi Kosaka would face James Thompson,[14] and Akebono Tarō would face Bob Sapp.[15] In the spirit of Japanese MMA, Sakakibara mentioned that he wanted to bring back every fighter that shined in PRIDE to the RIZIN ring, and even proposed a potential 'master class' for those who were over 45 years old, citing Dan Henderson as an example of someone who can still compete at that age. Sakakibara was quoted, "My personal opinion is that athletes today don’t fight because of a few kilos. Because of two or three kilos, we can’t book a fight that could be very interesting. We want to change this mentality. Fans are missing many great fights, like Cris Cyborg and Ronda Rousey, because of a little difference in weight. We won’t force anyone to fight, of course, but if the athlete wants to fight despite a few kilos, we will promote the fight. Of course, always respecting the safety of the fighters." Initial plans for the annual schedule were to do at most four events per year, as opposed to the frequent schedule of the UFC, in order to build up the excitement and anticipation for RIZIN events - similar to the World Cup of soccer. Scheduled to take place on the 29th and 31st of December in 2015, the first event will commemorate PRIDE, and the second event will usher in the RIZIN era.[16]

The title 'RIZIN' is a combination of two meanings, one of which is "Raijin", the god of lighting, thunder and storms in ancient Japan, and the other being "rising" - as to prosper and thrive. The final touch is added by the last alphabet letter, 'Z', meaning 'ultimate'. The title expresses the goal to rise to the very top and still continue to climb higher. The concept of the event is to have a platform for the top competitors from the best organizations in the world gather, and compete to determine the best. As a pioneer of an event of such kind, RIZIN is aiming to apply the three following concepts:

• "Finale" - a platform where fighters at the top of their careers may one more time create an indescribable heat on stage
• "Foundation" - a platform where young, ambitious MMA talents may rise and create a dramatic change to the new generation
• "Future" - a platform where all promotions and fighters may compete while keeping their own unique culture, customs and traditions

RIZIN FF is a platform where all the three concepts take place in a single event.

In December 2015, Rizin Fighting Federation hosted the first Rizin World Grand-Prix, a two-part 100 kg tournament held to find the "world's best fighter". The tournament was held over the course of two events, with eight fighters competing in an opening round and the four winners returning two days later for the final round. The second round of the tournament was broadcast in the United States and featured American fighter Muhammed Lawal winning the tournament by defeating Brett McDermott, Teodoras Aukstuolis, and Jiri Prochazka in the two-day event.

On July 16, 2016 Nobuyuki Sakakibara announced at a press conference that Rizin Fighting Federation will host a 16-man openweight tournament September 25 in Tokyo. Former PRIDE Grand Prix champion Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and former PRIDE middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva to participate in the tournament. Despite the rubber-match not being realized due to an injury sustained by Silva, Mirko "Cro Cop" won the championship, defeating Hyun Man Myung, King Mo, Baruto, and Amir Aliakbari all via stoppage.

After the RIZIN Yokohama event in April, Nobuyuki Sakakibara announced that they will host a women Super Atomweight 49kg Grand Prix, Bantamweight 61kg Grand Prix, as well as a one-night 4-man kickboxing tournament on New Years.[17] Former UFC title challenger Kyoji Horiguchi finished all of his opponents en route to winning the championship, and Kanna Asakura caused an upset in the tournament, defeating RENA in the finals to become the first ever RIZIN women's champion. Kickboxing sensation Tenshin Nasukawa knocked out both of his opponents to win the kickboxing tournament.

At RIZIN's new year event - RIZIN 14 - Kickboxing sensation Tenshin Nasukawa squared off in an exhibition bout against boxing legend Floyd Mayweather, Horiguchi defeated Bellator Bantamweight Champion Darrion Caldwell to win RIZIN's first ever Bantamweight championship.

After Roberto Satoshi Souza was set to face Mizuto Hirota in a lightweight grand prix qualifier bout, Sakakibara announced that Satoru Kitaoka will face UFC vet Johnny Case at RIZIN 17 for another place in the 8-man grand prix, which starts in October. Bellator lightweight Patricky Freire will also participate, deepening the partnership that Bellator has with RIZIN.

Weight limit: 93 kg (205.0 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Jiří Procházka def. Muhammed Lawal	Rizin 15 Yokohama, Japan	April 21, 2019	1. def. C. B. Dollaway at Rizin 20 on December 31, 2019
Title vacated after Procházka left Rizin for UFC.

Weight limit: 61 kg (134.5 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Kyoji Horiguchi def. Darrion Caldwell	Rizin 14 Saitama, Japan	December 31, 2018
Title vacated after Horiguchi was unable to defend the title due to injury.
2	Manel Kape def. Kai Asakura	Rizin 20 Saitama, Japan	December 31, 2019
Title vacated after Kape signed with the UFC.[21]

Weight limit: 49 kg (108.0 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Ayaka Hamasaki def. Kanna Asakura	Rizin 14 Saitama, Japan	December 31, 2018	1. def. Jinh Yu Frey at Rizin 16 on June 2, 2019
2	Seo Hee Ham	Rizin 20 Saitama, Japan	December 31, 2019