‘Don’t start a brawl’: Two years after locker room melee, Patricky Pitbull and Kleber Koike share card in RIZIN

Patricky Pitbull finished Koike’s teammate Roberto Satoshi | Lucas Noonan, Bellator

Kleber Koike and Patricky Pitbull will compete on the same event Sunday morning in Japan, sharing the Super RIZIN 4 card in Saitama, and RIZIN made sure to avoid more drama between them.

Pitbull signed with the promotion after parting ways with PFL and will make his debut as a full-time RIZIN fighter two years after they both had a locker room brawl during Super RIZIN 2.

On July 29, 2023, Patricky knocked out Koike’s teammate Roberto Satoshi. The following night, his brother Patricio Pitbull — who held a past win over Koike — was finished by Chihiro Suzuki. Patricky and Koike had an altercation right outside the ring, and Pitbull team accused Koike of invading his locker room and kicking Patricky from behind later that night.

Koike confirmed the locker room brawl in a conversation with MMA Fighting at the time, blaming Pitbull’s translator for causing rift by mistranslating his words. In the end, Koike said “they started the fight and I defended myself.”

Kleber Koike sent me this video of Patricky Pitbull pushing him ringside at Super RIZIN 2, right after Suzuki knocked out Patricio pic.twitter.com/wrlvY0lcNK

— Guilherme Cruz (@guicruzzz) August 2, 2023

Years later, and now sharing the same card with Koike headlining the show in a rematch with Mikuru Asakura and Pitbull battling Shunta Nomura, they told MMA Fighting that RIZIN specifically asked them not to create any drama before, during or after the event at the Saitama Super Arena.

“The first thing they asked me when signing the contract was, ‘Don’t start a brawl with Kleber,’” Pitbull said. “Don’t go after him, don’t tease him. I said, ‘Ok, tell him to stay cool and I’ll stay cool. But if he teases me or comes after me, I won’t hold back. I don’t get attacked for free.’ … I joke that that was the first clause on the contract [laughed]. I don’t want to speak to him. I only have respect for Roberto Satoshi, a very polite family man, much like me. But Kleber, no contact, no talk.”

Kleber Koike met Patricio Pitbull in a fight between RIZIN, Bellator champions

Koike confirmed he was asked the same thing going into Super RIZIN 4, and said it’s all water under the bridge now.

“I have nothing against them,” Koike said. “It’s in the past. We have to stay focused on doing our job. I don’t want to lose focus because of a brawl. I’m a professional and I depend on this work. What happened, happened. I don’t want to create any more trouble because that’s already brought me enough trouble. I lost sponsors, I lost a lost because of that mess.

“Maybe [brawls] sell for the fight community in Brazil, in the United States, but I live here. I rely on sponsorships, and I’ve lost sponsors. That’s not good for me here, and RIZIN asked me. ‘You can hurt other people. Five minutes there can hurt innocent people and ruin your lives, so be careful.’ And they’re not wrong, right?”

Both Brazilians enter the event with their back against the wall, too. Koike lost his featherweight belt in a 62-second knockout defeat to Razhabali Shaydullaev this past May, and Pitbull has to snap a three-fight losing skid.

“I have to be 100 percent focused on this fight. I need to win this fight,” said Koike, a former KSW and RIZIN champion who turns 36 in October. “I know my career is nearing its end. I still have wood to burn, but I have to stay focused on what I wanna do. I don’t have time for mistakes. I have to make the most of the opportunities, and that’s all I think right now.”

Pitbull, however, said he would love to have the chance to put his hands on Koike for a sanctioned fight inside the RIZIN ring.

“Maybe one day they throw me his head,” Pitbull said. “I think they’re protecting him too much [laughs]. I’d go down [to a] catchweight, 145, whatever they want. But [RIZIN] say they don’t want that, leave him alone, don’t mess with him. Cool, no problem. I still have him stuck [in my throat]. I’m not one to hold grudges, but I’ll control myself, I’ll respect the organization, I’ll respect the sport. But like I said, if he comes joking… I would really want to fight him, but I don’t think the organization wants that. It seems that they’re completely uninterested.”

‘Don’t start a brawl’: Two years after locker room melee, Patricky Pitbull and Kleber Koike share card in RIZIN

MMA Fighting – All Posts