Roberto Satoshi Wants RIZIN-PFL Crossover to Unlock His Dream Fights

Roberto Satoshi sees the wall between RIZIN and the PFL coming down, and he wants through it. The former RIZIN lightweight champion is backing the promotions' co-promotion model, which reaches a peak Thursday at Super RIZIN 5 when A.J. McKee meets Razhabali Shaydullaev to unify both featherweight belts. Satoshi's own business is on Sept. 10 in Osaka, where he faces Shunta Nomura at the Kyocera Dome.

The pitch is simple: champion-versus-champion crossovers, the kind boxing has run for decades and MMA rarely delivers. Satoshi told MMA Fighting the merger benefits everyone, and he's already naming names — PFL lightweights Usman Nurmagomedov, Paul Hughes, Alexandr Shabliy and Gadzhi Rabadanov. His whole career has played out in Japan, so a fight on American soil would be new ground.

The Fight In Front Of Him

Before any of that, there's Nomura. This is the third time RIZIN has booked them, which means Satoshi has had a long runway to study a fighter he calls tricky — a karate stylist who darts in and out with real speed. Nomura is a rising Japanese prospect who has already beaten two Brazilians in the division, including current RIZIN champ Luiz Gustavo.

That last detail is the whole point. Satoshi also holds a win over Gustavo, and with no challenger named for the belt, this matchup effectively functions as an eliminator. Whoever wins is next in line, and Satoshi framed it as a chance to prove the veteran still belongs while the younger man tries to shove him aside.

A grappler's problem is always the same. Satoshi said avoiding the mat has been the game plan of every opponent he's faced, so he's spent this camp sharpening his striking and building confidence. He wants a real fight, not a tidy striker-versus-grappler script.

A Legend In The Building

The card carries extra weight for Japanese fans thanks to Shinya Aoki, back in RIZIN 11 years after his only prior appearance before he signed with ONE Championship. Satoshi remembers when supporters campaigned hard for the two of them to meet — back when he held the RIZIN belt and Aoki held ONE gold. He called Aoki a legend who carried Japanese lightweight MMA, and reckons that even now, aging or not, the jiu-jitsu is still dangerous enough to make a grappling match compelling.

For Satoshi, the logic runs one way. Beat Nomura, and the path back to the title gets short. Then, if RIZIN and the PFL keep tearing down borders, the dream fights he keeps listing stop being hypotheticals.