Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal will participate in an eight-man tournament promoted by Rizin Fighting Federation on Dec. 31 in Tokyo.
An opponent has not yet been announced for Lawal (16-4), who is still signed to Bellator MMA. The New Year's Eve event, which will take place at Saitama Super Arena, will air on Spike TV in the U.S. at 10 a.m. ET. Legendary heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko will headline against an unnamed opponent.
Rizin is headed by former Pride Fighting Championship president Nobuyuki Sakakibara. Bellator already had announced several of its fighters would compete in the new promotion's debut event. Lawal is the first and only Bellator fighter on the card thus far.
Fighting out of American Top Team, Lawal defeated Linton Vassell at Bellator 142 in September. The win was supposed to carry him into the finals of a one-night light heavyweight tournament, but he suffered a cartilage injury to his rib cage and was forced to withdraw. The former Strikeforce champion has won his past four fights. His last loss came via decision to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at Bellator 120 in May 2014.
In addition to Lawal's participation in the Rizin Grand Prix, the promotion announced a catchweight fight between Shinya Aoki (38-6) and Kazushi Sakuraba (26-16-1).