Former UFC heavyweight competitor Brendan Schaub weighed in on the issue with Bellator and Rizin FF cross-promotional events.
The issue is being addressed after both promotions collided on Dec. 31 in Japan. The night of fights ended up being a clean sweep for Scott Coker and his team, going 5-0 against Rizin’s best. Coker was particularly impressed with his former featherweight champion AJ McKee who scored a unanimous decision victory over Roberto de Souza.
The fight night took place in the Saitama Super Arena. Due to the different time zones worldwide, the event was difficult to watch live for the United States and United Kingdom viewers. The show was broadcasted in both countries hours later on tape delay.
The interest of two of the promotion’s best fighters fighting one another should accumulate mass attention. However, the event failed to pick up any steam, and Schaub gave his reasons why.
Brendan Schaub weighs in on Bellator MMA / Rizin FF crossover
“The problem with this, with Bellator/Rizin, it wasn’t put on during American time,” Schaub explained. “There’s really nowhere to watch it when it was going on live. I mean, we woke up I think at 4am to watch it live. But I don’t think it was available on like Showtime live… The other thing is, just put it on so the American fanbase, if you care about that, it makes it more accessible.”
Quotes via MMA News
Many have been hopeful of the UFC doing something similar with Bellator MMA or ONE Championship. Still, Schaub understands a cross-promotional event has no benefit to the world’s leading mixed martial arts organization.
Bellator MMA and Rizin FF could find success if they made the crossover a regular occurrence. Most importantly, both promotions need to do a better job at making the live event accessible worldwide and promoting the event consistently in the lead-up.
Do you agree with Brendan Schaub? Would you like to see more crossover MMA events? Let us know in the comments!
