Some of the noteworthy quotes from RIZIN founder and president Nobuyuki Sakakibara's interview:
“Of course I regret selling PRIDE. I would not be here today — I would not try to revive the Japanese market with RIZIN if I did not regret selling PRIDE.”
“Our goal is to create premiere live entertainment, that's what we are aiming for [with Rizin]. Not only for combat. We’d like to collaborate with music, get best value out of live entertainment content."
“Any company would think it great to go IPO. We need to grow our content and build value in what we produce. That’s what I feel as of right now.”
“We have a solid relation with Bellator, I respect Scott Coker as a promoter very much. We experienced the same era where MMA was considered barbaric. While there are many things I cannot disclose right now, we’re in communication and there’s definitely progress. There are going to be things that will make fight fans very excited."
“At the end of the day, my goal is to put on the World Cup of MMA, so if we could work with everyone to determine the best fighter in the world, that would be fantastic.”
“It’s always nice to have healthy competition, there’s no development if there’s no competition. We hope UFC comes back to Japan. UFC’s negotiations with (broadcaster) Wowow in Japan is a good thing. Although the Japanese market is not as big and lucrative as the US, we think there s a lot of potential, so we hope UFC continues the challenge here so we can have a healthy competitive relationship."
https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2019/4/...regrets-and-ushering-a-new-era-with-rizin-mma
“Of course I regret selling PRIDE. I would not be here today — I would not try to revive the Japanese market with RIZIN if I did not regret selling PRIDE.”
“Our goal is to create premiere live entertainment, that's what we are aiming for [with Rizin]. Not only for combat. We’d like to collaborate with music, get best value out of live entertainment content."
“Any company would think it great to go IPO. We need to grow our content and build value in what we produce. That’s what I feel as of right now.”
“We have a solid relation with Bellator, I respect Scott Coker as a promoter very much. We experienced the same era where MMA was considered barbaric. While there are many things I cannot disclose right now, we’re in communication and there’s definitely progress. There are going to be things that will make fight fans very excited."
“At the end of the day, my goal is to put on the World Cup of MMA, so if we could work with everyone to determine the best fighter in the world, that would be fantastic.”
“It’s always nice to have healthy competition, there’s no development if there’s no competition. We hope UFC comes back to Japan. UFC’s negotiations with (broadcaster) Wowow in Japan is a good thing. Although the Japanese market is not as big and lucrative as the US, we think there s a lot of potential, so we hope UFC continues the challenge here so we can have a healthy competitive relationship."
https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2019/4/...regrets-and-ushering-a-new-era-with-rizin-mma
