Vale Tudo Japan 2012 trailer
Shooto promoter Sustain announced that it will hold its Vale Tudo Japan
event on December 24, 2012 at Yoyogi Gymnasium. Vale Tudo's concept is
to bring together a wide range of talent from throughout the world,
starting with inviting Rickson Gracie.
Of all the Japanese fighters currently on the UFC's
roster, Yushin Okami has the most wins, followed by Takeya Mizugaki.
These two fighters share a similar history, having both fought at GCM
events (e.g. Cage Force and D.O.G.). Naturally, the global success of
Japanese fighters such as Okami and Mizugaki are crucial towards
maintaining the popularity of MMA in Japan. For the Vale Tudo Japan
event, Shooto promoter Sustain will be holding their fights in a cage,
rather than the more commonly used ring. They hope to hold two to three
events per year, possibly utilizing the unified rules of MMA. Sustain
is open to fighters coming from other organizations, and will also
encourage Zuffa fighters to participate in Vale Tudo Japan.
Pancrase, which is now under a new organizer, as
well as DEEP will also begin to use a cage for its fights. It is the
hope of promoters such as DEEP's Shigeru Saeki that experimenting with a
cage will help increase the global popularity of Japanese MMA.
