A pair of new announcements were made on Friday night for the New Year’s Eve event from the new Japanese promotion Rizin, with Nobuyuki Sakakibara back in a Bellator cage to announce the fight between Gabi Garcia and Lei’D Tapa for the event, as well as a light heavyweight grand prix which will feature Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal.
According to a subsequent press release from Spike, the event, which takes place from the Saitama Super Arena in Japan and will be headlined by the return of Fedor Emelianenko, will air on Spike in the U.S. at 10AM ET on Dec. 31.
The eight-man light heavyweight tournament will kick off on the first of two events that week, happening in the same arena on Dec. 29. He’s the only announced competitor thus far, and will be representing Bellator in the field.
Garcia is a well-known jiu jitsu competitor making her MMA debut against Tapa, a pro wrestler whose uncle was a former WWF and WCW wrestler “The Barbarian.”
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