Rizin and ONE Championship have had cases of participating in a quasi-turf struggle through the years, with the previous intimating lately that the latter is reaching out to raid their expertise roster. This was mentioned throughout a current press convention involving Rizin Combating Federation figurehead Nobuyuki Sakakibara, who known as out Chatri Sityodtong’s group for reportedly questionable practices however but, Sakakibara remains to be indicating an curiosity in collaborating with ONE Championship sometime.
ONE Championship has made extra of a targeted effort to broaden into Rizin’s home market of Japan, with the Singapore-based promotion ramping up their schedule within the land of the rising solar. Recapping Sakakibara’s sentiment relating to ONE, in addition to a number of Rizin-related developments which can be on the go, freelance journalist Daniel Dziubicki, by way of his X account @DDziubicki, Dziubicki translated,
“Based on [Nobuyuki] Sakakibara, ONE [which is starting doing monthly events in Japan] is making an attempt to poach a few of their fighters, however he doesn’t suppose they may go there. He wish to cooperate with ONE however Chatri gained’t meet with them. Hiroshima present might be bought out. ME is Sabatello vs. Kashimura, however there’s an opportunity they may add one thing extra. Satoshi can probably combat there.”
“They’re searching for new options of PPV promote. Month-to-month reveals are will need to have when it comes to worldwide curiosity. He’s seeing some type of disaster of MMA within the US. They wish to do only a totally different MMA than UFC.”
Rizin and ONE have shared sharper phrases beforehand
That is the most recent chapter throughout the back-and-forth but considerably tempered rivalry that has existed through the years with Rizin and ONE Championship. A notable occasion of the 2 crossing paths got here in late-Q1 of 2025 noticed many giving Chatri Sityodtong damaging suggestions for what had been interpreted as disrespectful slights to Shoot Boxing titleholder Kaito Ono. Responding to the ONE-Shoot Boxing controversy of that point interval, Sakakibara acknowledged [via Tokyo Headline],
“An apology has been made, hasn’t it? So I believe the scenario has shifted a bit. Nevertheless, if you wish to come to Japan and do enterprise within the Japanese martial arts world, it’s essential to correctly respect Japan’s martial arts organizations. Whether or not they’re small or massive doesn’t matter. You must perceive that there’s Chairman Takeshi Caesar [Shoot Boxing leader], there’s Shoot Boxing (SB), and these are related to the place we are actually. With out that understanding, I don’t suppose you qualify as a promoter to do enterprise on this nation.”
“If you wish to apologize, you must step ahead and do it within the Japanese method … If you happen to declare to be half-Japanese, you must study Japanese etiquette, manners, and easy methods to behave in the direction of seniors, not simply as a promoter, however as a human being. If you wish to do enterprise in Japan, that’s an important factor. Different emotional points are already being addressed with apologies, and it’ll result in higher rule-making.”
