Kleber Koike treats his RIZIN 54 main event clash against Kyoma Akimoto on Tuesday as his final chance to earn a shot and regain the RIZIN featherweight title, and watching the Japanese promotion partner with the PFL — and automatically MVP — gives him extra motivation to pursue more gold.
Koike, who turns 37 in October, said the promotion has already made it official that the winner of the RIZIN 54 main event will challenge for the 145-pound belt next. RIZIN featherweight champion Razhabali Shaydullaev is currently slated to face A.J. McKee Jr. on Sept. 10, looking to defend his RIZIN gold and win the inaugural PFL belt that night.
“This merge
