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Dream (mixed Martial Arts)
Dream (styled DREAM in capitals) was a Japanese mixed martial arts (MMA) organization promoted by former PRIDE FC executives and K-1 promoter Fighting and Entertainment Group. Dream replaced FEG's previous-run mixed martial arts fight series, Hero's. The series retained many of the stylistic flourishes and personnel from Pride FC broadcasts, including fight introducer Lenne Hardt. In America, the promotion was aired on HDNet. They promoted over 20 shows highlighting some of the best Japanese and international MMA talent, establishing or enhancing the careers of top ranked fighters such as Shinya Aoki, Gesias Cavalcante, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Ronaldo Jacaré, Eddie Alvarez, Jason Miller, Kazushi Sakuraba, Gegard Mousasi and Alistair Overeem. History Pride FC's buyout and Yarennoka! After the Zuffa buyout of Pride FC, the former Dream Stage Entertainment executives put on a collaborative New Year's Eve mixed martial arts show with Shooto, M-1 Global, and the Fighting and E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sadaharu Tanikawa
(27 September 1961 in Nagoya) is a Japanese combat sports promoter and the president of Fighting and Entertainment Group. Tanikawa graduated from Nihon University College of Law and worked as a journalist and executive at various sports media, most notably puroresu. After K-1 founder Kazuyoshi Ishii's resignation, Tanikawa became the president of the newly founded Fighting and Entertainment Group that was established in September 2003 to encompass K-1 as well as subsidiary mixed martial arts and puroresu promotions. In January 2011, Tanikawa told that current conditions indicate Fighting and Entertainment Group was likely to end. On April 5, 2012, Tanikawa announced that he resigned from his position in K-1, which was mostly sold to the real estate firm Barbizon Co. Ltd. on July 28, 2011. On May 16, 2012, Tanikawa officially declared the bankruptcy of FEG. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alistair Overeem
Alistair Cees Overeem (born 17 May 1980) is a Dutch professional heavyweight mixed martial artist and kickboxer, currently competing in the heavyweight division of Glory. He is a former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Dream Heavyweight Champion, K-1 World Grand Prix Champion, and was the first fighter to hold world titles in MMA and K-1 kickboxing at the same time. Biography Overeem was born in Hounslow, England, to a Jamaican father and a Dutch mother, whose family tree connects him to King William III of the Netherlands. When he was six years old, his parents divorced and he moved with his mother and older brother to the Netherlands. As a child, Overeem started training martial arts with his older brother Valentijn in order to defend himself from bullying. He decided to pursue a competitive sports career by his brother's example, first in Judo and later Track and Field and Basketball. At the age of 15, he followed Valentijn into Chris Dolman's Martial Arts gym to beco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hayato Sakurai
also known as , born August 24, 1975, is a Japanese mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 1996, he has formerly competed for the UFC, PRIDE, DREAM, Shooto, Vale Tudo Japan, DEEP, and participated in the Yarennoka!, Dynamite!! 2008, Dynamite!! 2009, Dynamite!! 2010, and Fight For Japan: Genki Desu Ka Omisoka 2011 events. Sakurai finished second (Silver) in the Absolute Class (no weight limit) ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in 1999 at just under 77 kg. During the height of his career in 2000 and 2001 he was considered to be one of the top pound for pound fighters in MMA. He is the former Shooto Middleweight Champion. His nickname, " Mach", pronounced ''ma-ha'' in Japanese was taken as a tribute to his childhood professional wrestling hero, Higo Shigehisashi better known as Mach Hayato, the first Japanese professional wrestler to completely embrace the Mexican style of lucha libre and was also among the group of professional wres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mitsuhiro Ishida
Mitsuhiro Ishida (, born December 29, 1978) is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist who competed in Shooto, Strikeforce, PRIDE, DREAM, and DEEP. A professional competitor from 2001 until 2011, Ishida also participated in the Yarennoka event in the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. Background Originally from the Ibaraki Prefecture in Japan, Ishida was a talented wrestler, ranking in the top five nationally during his high school years for the Greco-Roman category. Mixed martial arts career Early career Ishida's professional debut was on July 6, 2001 at Shooto: To the Top 6 against Daisuke Sugie where he lost via unanimous decision. He then went on to win his next four fights. On February 17, 2006 he defeated Kenichiro Togashi to become the Shooto Pacific Rim Welterweight Champion. PRIDE Ishida won his first four fights in the PRIDE organization, defeating fighters such as Marcus Aurelio and Cristiano Marcello. At PRIDE Shockwave 2006 he lost to Takanori Gomi in a non-ti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mirko Filipović
Mirko Filipović (; born 10 September 1974), better known by his ring name Mirko Cro Cop, is a retired Croatian professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer and amateur boxer. He is mostly known for his time in Pride Fighting Championships. Cro Cop fought in the UFC, K-1, RIZIN and Bellator. He is widely considered one of the greatest Heavyweight Kickboxers and MMA fighters of all time. Cro Cop is the 2006 Pride Open-Weight Grand Prix Champion, the 2012 K-1 World Grand Prix Champion and the 2016 Rizin Openweight Grand Prix Champion becoming the second fighter in the world to win mixed martial arts and kickboxing championships and tournaments. He is also a former IGF Champion. His nickname, Cro Cop, short for "Croatian Cop", comes from his employment in the Lučko Anti-Terrorist Unit, Croatia's elite Police Special Forces tactical unit. Cro Cop's signature move was his lightning-quick left high roundhouse kick, once famously described as "right leg, hospital; left leg, cem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
JZ Calvan
Gesias Cavalcante (born July 6, 1983) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight ... division. He was the 2006 and 2007 List of HERO's events#K-1 Hero's Premium Dynamite 2005!!, K-1 HERO Middleweight Champion, and has also fought for Strikeforce (mixed martial arts), Strikeforce, Dream (mixed martial arts), DREAM, Shooto, World Series of Fighting, and Cage Rage Championships, Cage Rage. Cavalcante also participated in the Dynamite!! USA event. MMA career While Cavalcante is primarily an Mixed martial arts, MMA fighter, he made his K-1 debut fighting against Masato (kickboxer), Masato in the K-1 World MAX 2007 World Tournament Final Elimination, 2007 World Max tournament, losing via decision. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yoshihiro Akiyama
, also known as and by his nickname Sexyama, is a Japanese mixed martial artist and judoka who won the gold medal at the 2001 Asian Championships for South Korea and for Japan at the 2002 Asian Games. A fourth-generation Japanese of Korean descent, he acquired Japanese nationality in 2001. He is the former K-1 HERO's Light Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament Champion. Judo career Before his professional mixed martial arts career, Akiyama was a decorated Judoka. He began training in Judo at the age of three. He has also trained Karate, Boxing, Kick Boxing, Wrestling and also Submission Wrestling with Greg Jackson. 2001 Asian championships Representing South Korea, Choo won the gold medal at the 2001 Asian Judo Championships. 2002 Asian Games Representing Japan, Akiyama won the gold medal at the 2002 Asian Games defeating Ahn Dong-Jin of South Korea in the finals. 2003 World Judo Championships controversy Akiyama defeated three opponents from France, Mongolia and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norifumi Yamamoto
was a Japanese mixed martial artist and kickboxer who competed in the bantamweight division of the UFC. He quickly gained popularity in the Shooto organization due to his aggressive, well-rounded style and controversial persona. He moved on to K-1 Hero's, where he became the K-1 Hero's 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament Champion in December, 2005 after defeating Genki Sudo via a controversial TKO due to punches. Though by most measures he was a natural bantamweight, many of Yamamoto's most significant bouts have been in the lightweight division as it was the lightest division in Hero's. More recently, he competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the bantamweight division, although he did not perform well there, going winless in his first four fights. Background Yamamoto came from a wrestling family. His father Ikuei Yamamoto represented Japan at the 1972 Olympic games in Munich and his sisters Miyuu Yamamoto and Seiko both won world championships in freestyle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pride FC
PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts events, broadcast to about 40 countries worldwide.What is Pride? , Official Pride site. Last retrieved December 5, 2006 PRIDE was owned by the Dream Stage Entertainment (DSE). For the ten years of its existence, PRIDE was one of the most popular MMA organizations in the world. Pride broadcast its event on Japanese |
Yarennoka!
''Yarennoka!'' () was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event that took place on December 31, 2007 at the Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo, Japan. The event was promoted by the Yarennoka! Executive Committee, composed of former Pride Fighting Championships executives, and held in association with Fighting and Entertainment Group, DEEP, and M-1 Global. The event aired on HDNet and was billed as "Fedor Returns" in the United States; while it was shown on SKY Perfect, a Japanese pay per view network. It was headlined by a fight between former Pride heavyweight champion and 2004 heavyweight Grand Prix champion Fedor Emelianenko and K-1 2007 World Grand Prix Finalist Hong-man Choi. The undercard showcased many top lightweight fighters and was also marked by a marquee matchup of the Pride 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix Champion Kazuo Misaki and the Hero's 2006 Light Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion Yoshihiro Akiyama. The event was a farewell show to Pride fans after their acquisition by the Ult ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
M-1 Global
M-1 Global (Mixfight-1) or MMA-1 (Mixed martial arts-1) is a mixed martial arts promotion based in St. Petersburg, Russia which organizes between 10 and 20 competitions per year. It hosted its first major show (rather than co-promoting with other organizations) entitled M-1 Global Presents Breakthrough on August 28, 2009 at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas. M-1, in 2009, signed a contract to co-promote with Explosion Entertainment. UFC partnership On July 18, 2018, it was announced that M-1 has agreed in a partnership with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) where M-1 Global serves as the farm league for the UFC to scout Russian fighters for the UFC and involves in preparation and organizes new shows in Russia. Part of the deal also allows M-1 champions to have the opportunity to sign with the UFC. M-1 Challenge M-1 Challenge is a competition organized with a series of events held in many places around the world. The events are broadcast in over 100 countries, mainly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shooto
Shooto is a combat sport and mixed martial arts organization that is governed by the ''Shooto Association'' and the ''International Shooto Commission''. Shooto was originally formed in 1985, first as a particular fighting system and then in 1989 as a mixed martial arts promotion. It is considered one of the first true mixed martial arts competitions, with its Vale Tudo Japan events being essential to the rise of PRIDE Fighting Championships and the development of modern MMA. Many Japanese MMA fighters had their start at Shooto and the organization still holds both professional and amateur tournaments. The list of current and past MMA fighters to come from Shooto roots is quite impressive. As a fighting system, Shooto is considered a hybrid martial art derived from Shoot Wrestling. It is focused on all aspects of fighting: striking, stand-up grappling and ground fighting. Practitioners are referred to as shooters or shootists. Shooto rules have evolved with time, are differen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
