Rizin and ONE Championship have had instances of engaging in a quasi-turf war over the years, with the former intimating recently that the latter is reaching out to raid their talent roster. This was discussed during a recent press conference involving Rizin Fighting Federation figurehead Nobuyuki Sakakibara, who called out Chatri Sityodtong’s organization for reportedly questionable practices but yet, Sakakibara is still indicating an interest in collaborating with ONE Championship someday.
ONE Championship has made more of a focused effort to expand into Rizin’s domestic market of Japan, with the Singapore-based promotion ramping up their schedule in the land of the rising sun. Recapping Sakakibara’s sentiment regarding ONE, as well as several Rizin-related developments that are on the go, freelance journalist Daniel Dziubicki, via his X account @DDziubicki, Dziubicki translated,
“According to [Nobuyuki] Sakakibara, ONE [which is starting doing monthly events in Japan] is trying to poach some of their fighters, but he doesn’t think they will go there. He would like to cooperate with ONE but Chatri won’t meet with them. Hiroshima show will be sold out. ME is Sabatello vs. Kashimura, but there’s a chance they will add something more. Satoshi can potentially fight there.”
“They are looking for new solutions of PPV sell. Monthly shows are must have in terms of international interest. He is seeing some kind of crisis of MMA in the US. They would like to do just a different MMA than UFC.”
Rizin and ONE have shared sharper words previously
This is the latest chapter within the back-and-forth yet somewhat tempered rivalry that has existed over the years with Rizin and ONE Championship. A notable instance of the two crossing paths came in late-Q1 of 2025 saw many giving Chatri Sityodtong negative feedback for what were interpreted as disrespectful slights to Shoot Boxing titleholder Kaito Ono. Responding to the ONE-Shoot Boxing controversy of that time period, Sakakibara stated [via Tokyo Headline],
“An apology has been made, hasn’t it? So I think the situation has shifted a bit. However, if you want to come to Japan and do business in the Japanese martial arts world, you must properly respect Japan’s martial arts organizations. Whether they are small or large doesn’t matter. You need to understand that there is Chairman Takeshi Caesar [Shoot Boxing leader], there is Shoot Boxing (SB), and these are connected to where we are now. Without that understanding, I don’t think you qualify as a promoter to do business in this country.”
“If you want to apologize, you should step forward and do it in the Japanese way … If you claim to be half-Japanese, you should learn about Japanese etiquette, manners, and how to behave towards seniors, not just as a promoter, but as a human being. If you want to do business in Japan, that’s the most important thing. Other emotional issues are already being addressed with apologies, and it will lead to better rule-making.”
