Juan Archuleta acuses Kai Asakura of 'running scared' from original booking ahead of Rizin 45

Juan Archuleta believes Kai Asakura robbed MMA fans earlier this year of what he predicts to be a quality fight.

Archuleta and Asakura were booked to fight in July at Bellator MMA x Rizin 2, but Asakura withdrew from the matchup citing injury. Although the two are now set to fight on New Year’s Eve at Rizin 45, Archuleta feels Asakura is scared to fight him.

“I’m in the best shape of my life, and you don’t have to worry about that because there’s no one running scared,” Archuleta said at the pre-fight press conference. “There’s only one person that’s running scared, that’s you.”

He went on to add,

“This is for you guys. This event and this signing of the contracts, this brings excitement. This brings what you guys deserve, what he left behind last time for you guys, and now Rizin, Sakikibara, everyone in the staff made this happen, because he ran scared last time.”

Archuleta defeated replacement opponent Hiromasa Ougikubo at the Bellator MMA x Rizin 2 event. He won the vacant Rizin bantamweight title, which he defends on Sunday at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

“I’m here to retain my title,” Archuleta said. “I’m here to defeat Kai Asakura and continue to be a great champion. I’m going to continue to give my best performance that you guys truly deserve. This is going to be a battle that’s going to be unprecedented. I’ve been waiting for this opportunity with Kai for a very long time. I believe he’s a great fighter, but I’m just that much better, and I’m going to show fight night that I’m the best bantamweight in the world.”