During a press conference on Friday morning, Rizin FF announced that Wanderlei Silva will face Kazushi Sakuraba in 2-on-2 grappling match at Rizin 1 show.
On Friday morning, Rizin Fighting Federation held a press conference in Nagoya City to announce a handful of the fight that will take place on April 17 show.
The most notable fight announced was actually a tag team grappling match-up between Kazushi Sakuraba and Hideo Tokoro against Wanderlei Silva and an unanmed opponent. While Rizin did not explain the rule set applicable during the contest, it is being billed as an “extreme rules grappling match.”
Sakuraba, who was present during the press conference, revealed that he is still open to MMA matches under the Rizin banner, including one against Wanderlei, who he said he would “be happy to meet with again.” Silva also appeared on screen with a short message for Rizin as well as the Japanese fans who will attend the show next month.
Silva has not competed professionally since a 2013 victory against Brian Stann back at a UFC on Fuel TV event in Saitama, Japan. He recently signed with Bellator MMA and officially ended his retirement. Though he remains suspended until May 2017, he plans to compete for the North American promotion shortly thereafter.
Sakuraba took part in Rizin’s inaugural show on Dec. 29 in an MMA fight against Shinya Aoki. The contest was a lopsided affair and ended in a vicious TKO victory for the ONE lightweight champion.
Rizin officials also announced a match-up between Bellator’s Hisaki Kato against Yuta, as well as Rena against Kanako Murata.