Ryan Bader and Danny Sabatello will compete for gold at RIZIN’s final card of the year on Dec. 31, the promotion announced Wednesday. The event will take place at the iconic Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Bader, a former two-division champion in Bellator and longtime veteran of the UFC who recently starred on the Mark Kerr film alongside The Rock, will make his promotional debut against heavyweight tournament winner Aleksandr Soldatkin for the inaugural title.
One-time Dana White’s Contender Series alumni Soldatkin won three straight inside the RIZIN ring as part of the heavyweight grand prix, beating Marek Samociuk via decision in the final this past September to earn the spot on the championship bout.
Bader, on the other hand, hasn’t competed since his sole PFL appearance, a knockout loss to Renan Ferreira in February 2024. The defeat snapped Bader’s three-fight heavyweight reign in Bellator with victories over Fedor Emelianenko, Cheick Kongo and Valentin Moldavsky.
Naoki Inoue, who puts his bantamweight title on the line against Sabatello, captured the vacant belt in 2024 with a first-round finish over Soo Chul Kim and has since defended it against Yuki Motoya and Ryuya Fukuda. Sabatello, a one-time Bellator title contender, gets his crack at the gold following RIZIN wins over Shinobu Ota and Shoko Sato.
RIZIN’s final card of the year will be also feature Japanese superstar Mikuru Asakura challenging featherweight titleholder Razhabali Shaidulloev, Roberto Satoshi defending his lightweight throne opposite Shunta Nomura, super atomweight queen Seika Izawa’s highly anticipated clash with Rena Kubota, and a battle between Hiromasa Ougikubo and Yuki Motoya for the vacant flyweight belt.
Check the current fight card below.
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