With Wanderlei Silva and Shane Carwin out of the Rizin Openweight Grand Prix, two notable fighters have now taken their places in Bellator MMA veteran King Mo (who faces Mirko Cro Cop) and UFC veteran Heath Herring (who faces Amil Aliakbari).
Mo (19-5-0) will be competing in Rizin for the first time since he won the 2015 Rizin Heavyweight Grand Prix, defeating Jiri Prochazka in the finals. Mo just competed this past weekend at Bellator 169, where he defeated Satoshi Ishii by unanimous decision. Mo is also a former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion, he defeated Gegard Mousasi to win the belt in April 2010.
Herring (30-15-0) will be competing for the first time in over eight years, he retired after suffering a defeat to Brock Lesnar at UFC 87. Herring is a longtime veteran of the Japan based PRIDE organization, he once challenged for the PRIDE Heavyweight Title, but lost to then champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Herring was the color commentator on the last Rizin event and he has appeared in the crowd at previous Rizin events.
Rizin 3 takes place on Thursday, December 29 from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan with King Mo and Mirko Cro Cop headlining.