is a Japanese businessman and

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 striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

(MMA) promoter. He is known for his executive role in

Dream Stage Entertainment Dream Stage Entertainment (DSE) was a Japanese company that promoted various wrestling and mixed martial arts events, most notably mixed martial arts Pride Fighting Championship and Hustle professional wrestling events. Company history Allegat ...

, including its promotions

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 even ...

and Fighting Opera Hustle, and works as the current president of

Rizin Fighting Federation Rizin Fighting Federation (Rizin FF or Rizin) is a Japanese mixed martial arts organization created in 2015 by the former Pride Fighting Championships and Dream Stage Entertainment president Nobuyuki Sakakibara. Rizin was founded to be the spir ...

Career

After graduating from

Aichi University is a private university in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Its campuses are located in Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Toyohashi and Higashi-ku, Nagoya. History The university's predecessor was founded by Konoe Atsumaro as an overseas Japanese institution of hi ...

in 1987, Sakakibara started working at

Tōkai Television Broadcasting Tokai Television Broadcasting Co., Ltd. (THK, 東海テレビ放送株式会社, often called Tokai TV (東海テレビ)) is a TV station affiliated with Fuji News Network (FNN) and Fuji Network System (FNS), serving in Aichi Prefecture, Gifu Pre ...

, where he organized

combat sports A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the oppo ...

events, among them K-1 and

Union of Wrestling Forces International Union of Professional Wrestling Force International, better known as UWF International, U-Inter, or simply UWFi, was a shoot style professional wrestling promotion in Japan from 1991 to 1996. The UWF international was the successor to the ''Newbo ...

. In October 1997, he joined Hiromichi Momose and Naoto Morishita to form Kakutogi Revolution Sports, which produced the first

Pride Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) wh ...

event. KRS dissolved shortly after and its member founded

as Pride's mother company. In 2003, after Morishita's death, Sakakibara was ascended to Pride presidency. The next year, he also founded and directed Dream Stage Pictures, and participated in the first event of DSE

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

promotion Fighting Opera Hustle. In March 2007, Sakakibara sold Pride to

Lorenzo Fertitta Lorenzo Joseph Fertitta (born January 3, 1969) is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is chairman of Fertitta Capital, director of Red Rock Resorts Inc, and former CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Early life and education L ...

. After his MMA career, Sakakibara served as a backer for soccer team FC Ryukyu. He also produced events for singer

Gackt , better known by his mononymous stage name Gackt (stylized as GACKT), is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Born in Okinawa, Japan, to a Ryukyuan family, Gackt learned the piano at a young age and was raise ...

and

kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to ...

actor

Ichikawa Ebizō is a stage name taken on by a series of Kabuki actors of the Ichikawa family. Most of these were blood relatives, though some were adopted into the family. It is a famous and important name, and receiving it is an honor. Ebizō, like other acto ...

. Although Sakakibara had originally discarded a comeback to MMA business, he returned in October 2015 by launching

.PRIDEの熱を再び作り出す「RIZIN」が始動ヒョードル参戦！桜庭vs.青木が決定
/ref>

Accomplishments

* ''

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four We ...

'' ** Promoter of the Year (2003, 2004)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sakakibara, Nobuyuki 1963 births Living people People from Handa, Aichi Mixed martial arts executives Aichi University alumni