Josh Thomson has thrown down the gauntlet.
RIZIN Fighting Federation and Bellator are set to once again collaborate with a big year-end event this coming Dec. 31, 2022. The promotions announced earlier this week (Mon., Oct. 24, 2022) that they’d be working together on a full scale for RIZIN 40. Featured that night will be five match ups pitting each company’s fighters against each other inside the ring under RIZIN rules, allowing kicks and knees to downed opponents and scoring fights as a whole rather than round-by-round.
This isn’t a new concept for the two mixed martial arts (MMA) organizations, but it will be the first time they’ve worked together on such a scale since the global COVID-19 pandemic. New Year’s Eve always hosts huge RIZIN cards, but because of the joint effort this year, Bellator analyst and former fighter, Thomson, feels the need for a call to action.
“This right now is up to the media to do their f—king job,” Thomson said via Twitter video. “Their job is to promote the s—t out of this. To let everyone know that this is what we’ve all wanted. How quiet are you guys gonna be now? This is your job to promote the s—t out of the fact that two huge promotions with two extremely talented groups of fighters are mixing up with each other and bringing you some of the best fights you’re gonna see in two of the biggest promotions.”
Today (Weds., Oct. 26, 2022) RIZIN and Bellator revealed four of the five anticipated fights which feature current and former champions, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, A.J. McKee, Kyoji Horiguchi, and Juan Archuleta, who are set to face the likes of Kleber Koike, Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza, Hiromasa Ougikubo, and Soo Chul Kim.
RIZIN has recently begun breaking into the North American scene more than in recent years with its recent Super RIZIN and RIZIN 38 doubleheader, featuring Floyd Mayweather this past month (Sept. 2022). Additionally, the promotion has shown interest in doing something in Hawaii at some point.
With two MMA machines combined, the build and interest in RIZIN 40 will surely be larger than a normal event for either brand. However, it still falls on the media to get the buzz generated, according to “The Punk.”
“It’s up to them,” Thomson said. “Are you all just gonna sit back and bite your tongues because you know you won’t get credentialed to the next UFC if you guys cover this and build this up? I just wanna know, I’m calling all of you f—kers out. I’m calling every single one of you guys out. Are you gonna do your job? Are you gonna talk about these two big promotions, champions versus champions, No. 1 contenders versus another champion?
“They’re bringing their best guys together to put on a show for everybody,” he continued. “For the fans, for the media, for everybody. Are you guys gonna sit quietly or are you guys gonna talk about it? Are you gonna do your job? That’s my question. I’m throwing it out there to all the media. Are you guys gonna do your job?”
Check out the current RIZIN 40 lineup below:
- 145lbs.: Kleber Koike vs. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire
- 155lbs.: Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza vs. A.J. McKee
- 125lbs.: Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Hiromasa Ougikubo
- 135lbs.: Soo Chul Kim vs. Juan Archuleta
- 108lbs.: Seika Izawa vs. Si Woo Park