Floyd Mayweather Jr. announced that he has signed on to compete for Japanese Mixed Martial Arts promotion Rizin Fighting Federation on Monday in Tokyo, Japan.
Mayweather, 41, will face 20-year-old rising MMA star Tenshin Nasukawa on Dec. 31 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Both fighters participated in Monday's news conference, which was presented by Rizin officials.
Mayweather teased the announcement on Instagram hours earlier with a photo featuring himself wearing Rizin gloves that included the caption "December 31st 2018 #Tokyo."
"It wasn't easy to make this happen," Mayweather said, "but we told the people anything is possible, so now we're here and we wanna make sure that we give the people in Tokyo what they wanna see -- blood, sweat and tears."
Rizin promoter Nobuyuki Sakakibara explained the promotion's partnership with the undefeated champion boxer during Monday's news conference.
"I think my shortest answer to that is the fact that now we are aligned to achieve something together and that is hitting a new challenge, taking a step forward to whatever wonderful thing that we can create together," Sakakibara said via a Japanese translator.
Mayweather expressed his enthusiasm for making more visits to Japan regularly and promoting fighters for his Money Team in the country, adding that he plans on continuing a working relationship with Rizin beyond the match.
"Rizin has done a remarkable job with the fighters," Mayweather said. "I look forward to giving you guys entertainment come December 31, but my relationship with Rizin, it doesn't stop just here. I look forward to taking this worldwide."
Nasukawa, who a 27-0 record as a kickboxer and is 4-0 in MMA bouts, noted the magnitude of sharing the octagon with arguably the most recognizable name in combat sports for the upcoming fight.
"I would probably say that this is my biggest event in life, so far," Nasukawa said, via a Japanese translator. "And I'm very happy that this is going to materialize."
"Nobody has defeated my opponent in the past," he added, referencing Mayweather's 50-0 pro boxing record. "And I would like to be the man who makes history. My punch can change the history and I will show that to you, so please stay tuned."
Though Rizin is an MMA promotion, the type of fight the two would be participating in was never confirmed during the news conference. Sakakibara noted that the contest would be under "special rules," but didn't mention whether it would skew towards boxing, kickboxing or MMA.
There was also never confirmation as to what weight class the fighters would be competing in.
Mayweather hasn't participated in a fight since the heavily-hyped crossover boxing match against UFC champion Conor McGregor in August 2017, which resulted in a 10th-round TKO victory. He has since teased the possibility of competing in MMA on social media.
Nasukawa defeated bantamweight star and former UFC flyweight contender Kyoji Horiguchi during a three-round kickboxing match at Rizin 13 in September.
You can watch the full press conference below:
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