Nobuyuki Sakakibara new interview!!!

Former Pride boss and the first name of the new Japanese MMA organization Rizin Nobuyuki Sakakibara visited Brazil these days. After Saturday's Jungle Fight event has talked with the local press. Sakakibara's plans for the organization Rizin are following:

"In 2016 we plan two events in August and two in December. Our goal is to motivate fighters from around the world to prepare for Rizin which would be something like the World Cup. Also we think about the introduction of so-called combat veteran fights, fighters with 45+. Ken Shamrock has already expressed interest."

In contrast to the glory days of Pride, today all the elite is in the UFC.

"I have  deep respect for the UFC and Fertitta brothers and Dana White. They are big today because they worked very hard. But I want to do something different, better for all parties to strengthen the MMA."

About New Year's Eve two scheduled events Sakakibara said:

" Rizin fight will take place in the ring, but not in an ordinary ring, but a new never seen before. Event on December 29 will be Pride style but event on December 31 will be something completely different, with a completely different structure. In these two days we will held about 26 fights."

Who is Fedor fighting?

"All will be known for 10 days. It's hard to choose, we have to justify the expectations and the opponent must be a good name."

Sakakibara also revealed that his great desire was to bring out Mirko Filipovic and Wanderleia Silva, but they are tied with UFC contract.

"We thought about Wanderlei Silva and Cro Cop as the main stars of the event, but we decided to use Fedor because he has no other contractual obligations. The Japanese audience would be more excited about Wanderleija Silva than Fedor but  Wanderlei still has a contract with the UFC. If Wanderlei gets rid of that agreement, I will immediately call.

http://www.profightstore.hr/novosti/sakakibara-osim-fedora-zeljeli-smo-i-wanderleija-i-cro-copa-no-oni-su-u-ufc-u-/21028.aspx

btw I also read(on Croatian MMA sites) that Rousimar Palhares could get sign by Rizin!

Next year only two events in August and two in December?

backdoor to zuffa wrote:Next year only two events in August and two in December?

Better to have quality over quantity I will enjoy more in 2(4) Rizin events than 50+ UFC events combined

wait so is it in a ring or a RAGE?

ffs just have it in a fucking ring!

Rizin fight will take place in the ring, but not in an ordinary ring, but a new never seen before. Event on December 29 will be Pride style but event on December 31 will be something completely different, with a completely different structure


I bet one event is in ring and the next will be cage or something like that.

Would be cool if they used rage.

So rizin is going to do ken shamrock vs don frye??? Lol

How do you guys feel about rizin doing the very same geezer fights you bitched about bellator Doing?

I think different ring will be ring with netting on bottom (like M-1) what btw I tweeted to him as proposal couple weeks ago

Rizin=PRIDEFC wrote:

backdoor to zuffa wrote:Next year only two events in August and two in December?

Better to have quality over quantity I will enjoy more in 2(4) Rizin events than 50+ UFC events combined

Agreed. Same here.

I wish they would just stick with the PRIDE/DREAM ring. Looked great and worked well. No need to change it. M-1 Rage ring sucks as do all the other non-standard rings.

Rizin=PRIDEFC wrote:

backdoor to zuffa wrote:Next year only two events in August and two in December?

Better to have quality over quantity I will enjoy more in 2(4) Rizin events than 50+ UFC events combined

Of course, but I'd rather they be spread out over the year, not just in August and December. Maybe it's still just too much in the beginning stages to do that right now though.

CDF47 wrote:

Rizin=PRIDEFC wrote:

backdoor to zuffa wrote:Next year only two events in August and two in December?

Better to have quality over quantity I will enjoy more in 2(4) Rizin events than 50+ UFC events combined

Agreed.  Same here.

yeah i agree though august

Well let's be optimistic and hope that rizin does well so that they can make more shows a year. Like for example winter and summer Olympics.

Aperture cup
Have a qualifier event in March
Then a World Cup tournament in July

Closing cup
Then another qualifier in August with other talented fighters
And finally the Oficial World Cup closer in December/ nye

Longtime Fan wrote:Well let's be optimistic and hope that rizin does well so that they can make more shows a year. Like for example winter and summer Olympics.

Aperture cup
Have a qualifier event in March
Then a World Cup tournament in July

Closing cup
Then another qualifier in August with other talented fighters
And finally the Oficial World Cup closer in December/ nye

I like it

CDF47 wrote:

Longtime Fan wrote:Well let's be optimistic and hope that rizin does well so that they can make more shows a year. Like for example winter and summer Olympics.

Aperture cup
Have a qualifier event in March
Then a World Cup tournament in July

Closing cup
Then another qualifier in August with other talented fighters
And finally the Oficial World Cup closer in December/ nye

I like it

Hell yeah should send it to sakkikabarra via twitter he might like the idea .

Are you guys hyped for the 45+ year old fights?

I am. I've been wanting a seniors division for awhile now. There are many possible fair matchups. I think we will see many come out of retirement to fight

I'm thinking that's the plan with the biannual events. Pride started slow and concise. This first year is figuring out what they have on their hands then take it from there and build the stars they see fit to carry the promotion later on.

Not a fan of different rules. They need to settle on an identity and accept being the alternative to the bland state of the upper echelon of mma.

There's also a place for legacy fights. The problem is healing your big shows with him. That's telling unbeknownst viewers that the support hasn't advanced at all if that's who your headliners are.

I think that every Rizin card should :

-have awesome in depth, behind the scenes interviews and promos with  the fighters that allow viewers to grow attached to their personalities as well as their fighting styles.

-start with an opening Olympic type of ceremony that introduces all of the fighters with an orchestrated motivational intro theme that has an adrenaline-inducing, heart-pumping crescendo to it (just like pride, which had two of these that I really loved) and ends with a thunderous clash of the bong.

-start with freak show fights and "legends" (45+) fights. Always put those in the beginning, not the middle nor the end.

-the fight order: incrementally each fight should be more competitive and meaningful than the last in ascending ladder form.  When I say meaningful I don't mean in rankings or popularity but both. Meaningful to hardcore fans is what I mean.

-end in the traditional ceremonial fashion where all the winners are brought back into the ring for a mass promo picture that symbolizes that mma is about the fighters and not just the promotion.

Longtime Fan wrote:I think that every Rizin card should :

-have awesome in depth, behind the scenes interviews and promos with  the fighters that allow viewers to grow attached to their personalities as well as their fighting styles.

-start with an opening Olympic type of ceremony that introduces all of the fighters with an orchestrated motivational intro theme that has an adrenaline-inducing, heart-pumping crescendo to it (just like pride, which had two of these that I really loved) and ends with a thunderous clash of the bong.

-start with freak show fights and "legends" (45+) fights. Always put those in the beginning, not the middle nor the end.

-the fight order: incrementally each fight should be more competitive and meaningful than the last in ascending ladder form.  When I say meaningful I don't mean in rankings or popularity but both. Meaningful to hardcore fans is what I mean.

-end in the traditional ceremonial fashion where all the winners are brought back into the ring for a mass promo picture that symbolizes that mma is about the fighters and not just the promotion.

Agreed. PRIDE was great at these things.

PRIDE shit all over the UFC product. I hope RIZIN is the same and now UFC over-saturated Reebok version is worse than ever so this is a great time for the PRIDE revival.

Im not very excited to see geezer battles honestly....i dislike them in bellator and i will dislike them in rizin.

I understand the need i suppose since both orgs are based entirely on tv ratings but it doesn't really get me excited.

I really hope they focus on gps and new stars

fka wrote:Im not very excited to see geezer battles honestly....i dislike them in bellator and i will dislike them in rizin.

I understand the need i suppose since both orgs are based entirely on tv ratings but it doesn't really get me excited.

I really hope they focus on gps and new stars

Yeah, RIZIN should bring back the PRIDE type GPs spread over multiple events, Shockwave,...., with top fighters. Those were some of the best GPs ever.

"introduction of so-called combat veteran fights, fighters with 45+. Ken Shamrock has already expressed interest."


So teamjonperetti how do you feel about this?

I guess it depends on the old timer.

Randy looked great past 45.


Don frye, ken shamrock, and others havn't.

Hey im with you it depends on who is fighting who.

My point is calling out peretti cuz he always gripes about bellator doing essentially the same thing...now that its rizin and in a ring....its probly elite fighting at its best lol.

So in this one it's says 2 Aug and 2 dec. But in more recent interviews they were saying something about it being Sep (and I think they even said June once). Also no mention of the April show they just had. How many shows will they have this year?