Japan will be getting a non-TUF new-format TV show from the UFC

Gong Kakutougi, which has authority in the Japanese MMA industry, published an article discussing the awaited Japanese UFC program. It includes speculation, but it also tells us a lot about what is planned for the new show in Japan.

The Japanese UFC TV show will be more of a documentary than a reality show because of terrestrial broadcasting that won't permit an extreme character-based show. As such, they won't use a "House" or have cameras chasing fighters. Because of that, the name of show won't be "TUF" and a new name remains to be announced.

Zuffa wants Vale Tudo Japan (VTJ) to run the event, and they want talent not only from Shooto but also from Pancrase and DEEP. DEEP's Shigeru Saeki has said that MMA becoming a major attraction again is completely beneficial to DEEP itself, and so he will cooperate with this TV program.

The show's format has four fighters competing in a league-style tournament with two leagues in total. The winners of the leagues will fight in the finale and the first season of the show will only include Japanese fighters.

I have made my personal list of fighters fit for the show's cast. The UFC uses age as an important factor, so I've used age (30 or younger) and cleaner records for the list, but those two factors do not always determine the best talent.

I want to see some veteran fighters on the show as well. My 145-pound list is very weak, so veterans and other fighters dropping down from 155 should make for a better list. I also think that selecting either 155 or 125 as the sole division for the show will result in a better competition.


155:

Yusuke Kasuya (Akimoto Dojo Jungle Junction)
Nobumitsu Osawa (Tsudanuma Dojo)
Kazuki Tokudome (Paraestra Hachioji) 
Yuki Kawana (Shinwa Total Combat)
Kota Shimoishi (BLOWS)
Akira Okada (Kugayama Rascal)
Takasuke Kume (ALIVE)
Tetsuya Yamada (Shinwa Total Combat)
Chuji Kato (Reversal Gym Yokohama Groundslam)


Yusuke Kasuya

145:

Yusuke Yachi (Krazy Bee)
Isao Kobayashi (Sakaguchi Dojo) 
Akiyo Nishiura (STGY)
Ryogo Takahashi (Krazy Bee)
Tatsuya Ando (Tribe Tokyo MMA)
Yuta Sato (Akimoto Dojo Jungle Junction)
Yutaka Saito (Paraestra Koiwa)
Hiroyuki Oshiro (Vos Gym)


Yusuke Yachi

135:

Shintaro Ishiwatari (Cave)
Teruto Ishihara (Chokushinkai)
Keita Ishibashi (Wajutsu Keishukai Duro) 
Takafumi Otsuka (AACC)
Daichi Takenaka (Paraestra Izumi)
Ryo Okada (Paraestra Matsudo)
Go Kashiwazaki (K-Place)
Shoko Sato (Sakaguchi Dojo)


Keita Ishibashi

125:

Yuki Motoya (Club Barbarian Impact) (Can go straight to the UFC)
Tatsumitsu Wada (Yoshida Dojo) 
Hiromasa Ogikubo (Paraestra Chiba)
Yusaku Nakamura (Alpha Male Japan)
Takeshi Kasugai (Shimura Dojo)
Hayato Suzuki (Brave)
Yuya Shibata (Style)
Seiichiro Ito (Reversal Gym Yokohama Groundslam)


Yuki Motoya

Big thanks to Robert Sargent  (MMA Rising) for English editing.

What lies ahead for Japanese MMA in 2014

Shooto's main promoter, Sustain, runs Vale Tudo Japan (VTJ) as an upper-tier MMA promotion now, and the most interesting bout at their recent event, Yuta "Uruka" Sasaki vs. Teruto "Yashabo" Ishihara, became Fight of the Night. Uruka scored a choke-out win over Yashabo. After the fight, Uruka called out Shintaro Ishiwatari. On the other hand, when Kim Soo-Chul knocked out Motonobu Tezuka, his training partner Yashabo said he was going to fight Kim. I am curious to see whether a match will be made between them.


Yuta Sasaki

Hideo Tokoro vs. Will Campuzano became a controversial decision at VTJ 3rd. After an official argument against the decision was denied, Tokoro and his team refused to fight for VTJ in the future if the problem was not resolved. This argument also led to Shooto's official authority, Toshiharu Suzuki, refusing to referee at VTJ 4th because that judging problem hurt the Shooto Commission's image. Therefore, VTJ invited Larry Landless to come to VTJ 4th not only to referee but also to open a seminar to explain the Unified Rules to Japanese officials.


Hideo Tokoro

We learned recently that World Series of Fighting has affiliated with Pancrase. If you follow Japanese MMA news, you can watch the press conference with SRC Entertainment. WSOF Japan will be run by Pancrase president Masakazu Sakai, but SRC Entertainment is also involved. So will the new organization perhaps be known as a revived Sengoku or SRC?

At the press conference, we were informed that SRC Entertainment is no longer related to Don Quijote, which was the main sponsor for Sengoku, but SRC Entertainment will take part in running events for WSOF Japan and will also distribute classic Sengoku and SRC fight videos. At same press conference, Ray Sefo announced that the first WSOF Japan event will be in August or September, and Emi Fujino will participate in that event.

Finally, DEEP promoter Shigeru Saeki has said that he wants to hold a New Year's Eve event because right now only IGF does a NYE event with MMA in Japan and it's not a pure MMA event.

Shooto, Pancrase and DEEP are each trying to hold bigger upper-tier events and adapt more to American ideals, and that is the theme of 2014's Japanese MMA scene.

Big thanks to Robert Sargent  (MMA Rising) for English editing.