Mayweather exhibition match facing media blackout

In one of the most bizarre and intriguing combat sports matchups of the year, Floyd Mayweather is set to fight Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa on Monday. However, it seems fans in either fighter’s native country will not be able to watch the action live.

Earlier this week, OTT provider FITE announced it had picked up the broadcast rights for the Rizin 14 event, which the Mayweather-Nasukawa three-round exhibition will headline. However, it has been confirmed that the live stream will not be available to viewers in the US, Canada, Mexico or Japan.

.@rizin_PR & @FiteTV are proud to announce #RIZIN14 will stream LIVE Dec 30th 10PM PT/Dec 31st 1AM ET North America 🇺🇲 🇨🇦 🇲🇽 on https://t.co/qrNFVd4mHo https://t.co/eZgnp17FBO Pre-sale available now! #RIZINFF #RIZIN2018 #RIZIN14 @nobu_sakakibara @takada_nobuhiko pic.twitter.com/RXdNGWiVQA

— FITE (@FiteTV) December 27, 2018

In the restricted territories, the live broadcast will instead feature a main event of Kyoji Horiguchi versus Bellator bantamweight champion Darrion Caldwell for Rizin’s inaugural 135lb (61kg) title. The Saitama Super Arena will play host to the New Year’s Eve extravaganza, with the venue being used for annual end-of-year blockbuster MMA events since 2001.

UK to receive full event live

It’s not all bad news as far as the Mayweather-Nasukawa contest goes, however. The international version of the broadcast, which will be streamed in the UK, will feature the “special rules” bout in its entirety. The fight is set to be a boxing exhibition rather than a mixed-rules match, and will not count on either fighter’s record.

The full Rizin 14 card, which will cost $24.99 via iPPV, is as follows: