According to a recent interview, former Pride FC boss and current Rizin FF CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara revealed that he was interested in Royce Gracie, Wanderlei Silva and Mirko Crocop for his NYE show.
It appears Rizin Fighting Federation wanted to recreate the Pride FC days as much as possible for their first Dec, 31st show.
According to a recent interview with Russian media, former Pride FC boss and current Rizin FF owner Nobuyuki Sakakibara showed interested in veterans Wanderlei Silva and Mirko Crocop. However, he was unable to obtain them due to their contractual obligations with the UFC.