By:  | October 13, 2022 3:32 pm

Rizin CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara has had a meeting with one of the most successful DJs of all time. It could lead to Steve Aoki lending his considerable talents to the Japanese promotion.

Sakakibara shared a photo of the two men together on his Instagram:

Stay tuned

Underneath the photo Sakakibara posted a caption which reads,

“Met up with Steve Aoki who was in Japan for the week! We had a great productive talk about future activities! Hopefully we can put something together next year and have him help us with our production. Everybody stay tuned!”

Japanese MMA events are known for their pageantry. The Pride theme song is still instantly recognizable to fans of the sport despite that promotion being defunct for nearly 14 years.

Rizin has tried to follow in the footsteps of Pride by using laser shows and sound systems to accompany the fighter who are walking into the ring:

Successful DJ

The idea of Rizin working with one of the most successful DJs of all time is an exciting one although details of exactly how this would work in practise are a little hazy. Aoki does have strong links with Japan as both his parents are from the country.

In fact his father, Rocky Aoki, was a successful wrestler who qualified for the 1960 Olympics but did not compete for reasons which remain opaque. But he was offered a wrestling scholarship by an American university and ended up relocating permanently to the country.

Steve Aoki was born in the US but has been visiting Japan and found time to hang out with the Rizin CEO on his trip:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Steve Aoki (@steveaoki)

More imaginative

Aoki is instantly recognizable in dance music circles. He is consistently named in lists of the world’s top ten DJs and is the highest-grossing electronic dance music artist in North America from tours.

Whereas the UFC tends to keep thing very simple when it comes to music and fighter entrances promotions in Asia tend to be a bit more imaginative. The idea of Aoki working with Rizin is an intriguing one and MMA fans will be interested to see if this idea ever comes to fruition.