Bellator v Rizin: New Year's Eve event like 'MMA's Olympics', says Scott Coker

Former Bellator featherweight champion McKee will be taking on Rizin's lightweight title holder De Souza

A cross-promotional event with Japanese company Rizin on New Year's Eve will be "like the Olympics", says Bellator president Scott Coker.

A five-fight main card will see the best of Bellator take on Rizin's MMA stars at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.

Bellator lightweight AJ McKee faces Rizin's Roberto de Souza in the main event.

"This is like a mini-Olympics in my mind," said Coker.

"What I mean by that is you bring five of your best athletes in different weight classes and they bring five of their best athletes, it's like the Olympics."

It is uncommon for MMA promotions to pitch their fighters against each other because of limitations produced by fighter contracts and television rights deals, among other reasons.

Brand reputation is also on the line, but Coker says it is a risk worth taking.

"You are putting your fighters in harm's way, you're putting your brand in harm's way and that's OK because that should be the martial arts way," he said.

"Historically because of the way the MMA companies have been so separated or maybe working with their own verticals, it just hasn't happened. The UFC doesn't do it. In the past, we haven't done it.

"We've done one-offs, but to do something like this where it's five-on-five, the best fighting the best, it's a historical event which is why I think the people are so excited."

The co-main event features Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull against Kleber Koike, while Kyoji Horiguchi, Juan Archuleta and Gadzhi Rabadanov all feature on the undercard.

The fights will take place in a ring rather than Bellator's cage, and will be shown on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer at 21:00 GMT on 31 December.