Pro wrestling’s hottest free agent Kota Ibushi will be taking on ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey at Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport 9 as part of GCW’s The Collective. The match is scheduled for March 30th, and Ibushi will later compete at Joey Janela’s Spring Break on March 31st. Both matches will take place at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Los Angeles, CA.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Ibushi accepted the Bloodsport booking due to his love of RINGS growing up. The Japanese wrestler has been wanting to work a RINGS-style match for quite some time, which is similar to that of Bloodsport. Fighting Network Rings was popular for mixing real and worked physicality. Ibushi grew up watching the show and its stars, namely, Volk Han, Kiyoshi Tamura, and Akira Maeda.
Ibushi parted ways with NJPW on January 31st following the expiration of his contract.
