Bob Sapp last fought for Rizin in 2018. But Nobuyuki Sakakibara clearly hasn’t forgotten him and the two men were reunited in Thailand yesterday.
In fact they go back a lot further than Sapp’s two fights for Rizin. In 2002 the American fought three times for Pride, Sakibara was integral to the promotion at that stage and would be named president the following year.
Sakakibara is on a tour of the country that appears to have taken in both Bangkok and Chiang Mai. He hooked up with Sapp and fellow Pride veteran Quentin Jackson in the latter city.
The two men appear to be training in Chiang Mai ahead of their siamese twins kickboxing fight at Fight Circus 6. It is not clear just how much preparation is required for one of these fights but there is no question that Sapp is in fantastic shape.
Sapp claims to be in the best shape of his life and it is difficult to disagree:
https://twitter.com/nobu_sakakibara/status/1639074550632820737?s=20
Pride veteran
Jackson fought 16 times for Pride. He reached the final of the middleweight Grand Prix in 2003 but was stopped by Wanderlei Silva in in one of the most famous MMA fights of the era.
He has never fought for Rizin. But Jackson did appear on the Bellator Japan card which was co promoted by Sakakibara, he was stopped by Fedor Emelianenko in 2019.
Both men are in Thailand to compete at Fight Circus 6 although Sapp appears to be based there permanently. They will be competing against Jon Nutt and Andrew Wood in a siamese twins kickboxing fight on April 1st.
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Fellow promoter
Sakakibara also spent time in Bangkok with Fight Circus and Full Metal Dojo promoter Jon Nutt. While his promotions in Japan were known for pushing the envelope when it comes to matchmaking the American has taken things to a completely new level.
The upcoming Fight Circus 6 card will feature a two one one fight, a ring girl tug of war, musical chairs of death, the wheel of violence and the human pinata. Sapp and Jackson will also be strapped together into one, large shirt in order to participate in their siamese kickboxing fight.
