Kota Ibushi's Bloodsport Opponent Announced

As of yesterday, former NJPW and DDT Pro Wrestling star Kota Ibushi is officially a free agent. Ibushi is set to begin this new stage of his career by appearing at two shows for GCW's The Collective, a series of wrestling events that take place during WrestleMania weekend in Los Angeles. Ibushi is scheduled to compete at Joey Janela's Spring Break and Josh Barnett's Bloodsport.

Ibushi's opponent for the latter event has been announced as "Speedball" Mike Bailey.

Following a five-year ban on working in the United States due to visa issues, Bailey began appearing for promotions such as Impact and GCW last year. The Canadian native had been making waves in the UK and Germany before crossing over to the U.S. He signed with Impact in October 2021 and went on to win the Impact X-Division Championship. Bailey has had memorable matches against the likes of Will Ospreay, Jonathan Gresham, and Konosuke Takeshita in the past year alone. With his upcoming match against Ibushi at the end of next month, his profile will likely continue to rise.

As for Ibushi, the 40-year-old reportedly hopes to remain a freelancer for the immediate future rather than sign a full-time contract with a major promotion. However, there are said to be a number of promotions interested in bringing the former IWGP World Heavyweight champion in. As it stands now, his match against Bailey is scheduled to be his first match outside of NJPW since 2018. Josh Barnett's Bloodsport will take place on Thursday, March 30 at the Ukrainian Culture Center in Los Angeles.