Deep (previously Deep2001) is a Japan-based

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

promoting and sanctioning organization. It is promoted by

Shigeru Saeki is a Japanese mixed martial arts promoter and executive. Saeki had worked as a photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in b ...

who is also the former Public Relations Director of

Pride Fighting Championships 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 eve ...

. Their inaugural event took place in 2001 and featured Paulo Filho and Royler Gracie. On May 17, 2008, Deep announced a partnership with

ZST ZST (pronounced ''Zest'') is a Japan-based mixed martial arts promotion and sanctioning organization holding amateur and semi-professional MMA events. ZST adopts unique rules in the MMA industry and also used to hold tag-team MMA matches. Hist ...

to share fighters, co-promote shows and eventually unify the promotions.

History

Deep was established in 2000 as "Deep 2001", and the first event was promoted on January 8, 2001. In 2003, Deep 2001 changed its name to Deep. Deep started playing the role of a subcontractor for

since Dream Stage Entertainment (DSE) started promoting the Pride Bushido series in September 2003, which focused training Japanese fighters at middleweight and

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 b ...

. As a result, a number of Japanese fighters, such as Ryo Chonan and Ikuhisa Minowa, started their careers fighting in DEEP before moving on to larger and more famous MMA promotions. Deep is also known as one of the few major Japanese organizations to cultivate Korean talent, including Dong Hyun Kim,

Chan Sung Jung Jung Chan-sung ( ko, 정찬성; born March 17, 1987), anglicized as Chan Sung Jung and better known by his ring name The Korean Zombie, is a South Korean professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He currently competes in the Featherweight ...

, and Doo Ho Choi - all of which have moved on to successful careers in the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

. Deep began promoting bouts with female fighters at its 13th event on July 13, 2003. On February 22, 2008, Deep implemented the weight division system created by Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) for its male fighters. On December 19, 2009, Deep started to use a UFC-style

octagon In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A ''regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, wh ...

for their ''Cage Impact'' events. At a press conference held in

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

on December 1, 2010, DEEP announced its first international event, which was to be held in Macau in 2011. However, low levels of interest and dismal tickets sales led DEEP to cancel the event. Deep has yet to host an event outside Japan. In February 2011, it was announced that Deep and the MMA division of

Smash Smash may refer to: People * Smash (wrestler) (born 1959), professional wrestler * Moondog Rex, another professional wrestler who briefly wrestled as the original Smash, before being replaced by the above. * DJ Smash, DJ and music producer A ...

had formed an amateur promotion named the Japan MMA League (JML).

Deep Jewels

On the all-female MMA promotion Jewels announced that it would cease operations as an independent company, with Yuichi Ozono, then head of Jewels, stepping down and Shigeru Saeki from Deep, formerly supervisor, taking the full direction, and transferring fighters and brand to the new Deep Jewels brand, which would be managed by Deep.

Events

As of April 16, 2013, Deep has held a total of 194 events comprising 2202 fights, all of which have taken place in Japan. As of , two events of the all-female fighters brand Deep Jewels have been held.

Current Champions

Broadcasters

Deep Based out of

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most p ...

, Japan. Broadcast their fights locally on ''

SKY PerfecTV! is a direct broadcast satellite Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via ...

'' ( Fighting TV Samurai channel) and streaming on AbemaTV.

References

External links

Official website

DEEP event results at sherdog
{{Authority control Mixed martial arts organizations Mixed martial arts in Japan 2001 establishments in Japan