Roberto Satoshi’s championship reign hasn’t been all he’d hoped it could be.
The RIZIN light-weight titleholder, who has reigned atop his division since June 2021, has gained 11 of 12 fights since becoming a member of the Japanese promotion regardless of solely 4 title defenses in his previous six wins. He returns to the ring to face Received Bin Ki at RIZIN Korea on Saturday, and but once more it gained’t rely as a title protection as his 155-pound belt isn’t on the road.
“The legacy is totally different,” Satoshi advised MMA Combating. “Once you battle and say, ‘I’ve already defended the belt 4, 5, six instances,’ you’re constructing a special legacy.”
Satoshi’s title was at stake when he completed Yusuke Yachi, Johnny Case, Luiz Gustavo and Vugar Karamov, however matches with Spike Carlyle and Keita Nakamura, each instantly after losses below the Bellator banner, weren’t for gold.
Ki, his upcoming foe, makes his first stroll to the RIZIN ring after knocking out Tatsuya Saika at a Highway to UFC present in Could 2024.
“It’s odd that the champion is preventing and his belt isn’t on the road,” Satoshi stated, “However I additionally suppose it’s a mistake that the promotion doesn’t have a rating that folks would earn the fitting to battle me. However it could even be a bit odd that somebody got here in straight for the belt in his debut. As an athlete, I’d choose to all the time battle with my belt on the road.”
The Brazilian expertise stated it will likely be bizarre to look again in time and see he doesn’t have as many title defenses as wins in RIZIN, and that would change his legacy as champion. The identical has occurred in PRIDE, when long-reigning champions like Fedor Emelianenko and Wanderlei Silva incessantly fought with out their belts on the road.
“Once I noticed that in PRIDE, I assumed it was form of regular,” Satoshi stated. “I even thought it was bizarre {that a} champion within the UFC all the time fought along with his belt at stake. Typically you had a champion lose to a man that wasn’t even ranked that prime and you then needed to run it again.
“If you consider it, it could be cool if the UFC did the identical factor as a result of then it could stop from a sure factor occur, just like the UFC light-weight division proper now. [Islam] Makhachev didn’t wish to battle [Ilia] Topuria as a result of he needed to show himself [at 155], Charles [Oliveira] was subsequent in line and needed to look forward to a title battle. If it wasn’t for that, Makhachev may have fought Topuria in a non-title battle; if [Topuria] proves he can win, then it’s for the belt subsequent. However it could be a bit complicated, proper?”
Satoshi admits he was shocked to see Ki wasn’t signed by the UFC after going 2-2 on Highway to UFC, with one of many defeats being a DQ attributable to unlawful punches. He appreciates the actual fact he’s going through a person that was put to the check in a UFC setting. Satoshi plans on scoring one other submission in Asia, however gained’t desperately go for takedowns.
“Understanding this man was a part of this UFC tryouts excites me to show myself,” stated Satoshi, a jiu-jitsu skilled who has now gained two of his previous three by knockout. “You possibly can’t battle just like the previous days, 1-2 combo, facet kick to the knee and shoot [laughs]. However on the identical time you possibly can have a plan and it return to your pure habitat when issues get laborious. I’m positive we’ll commerce arms early, I wanna really feel that, however there’s no method round it: Once I see a possibility, if he makes a mistake and I see a shot, I’ll attempt to take it to the bottom.”
