Mixed martial arts in Japan

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Mixed martial arts in Japan
A Pride Fighting Championships bout in 2006
Audience records
Single match	91,107^[1]

Mixed martial arts in Japan has been legal since at least the 1980s, Pancrase began to be held.^[2]

History

Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki took place in Japan between American boxer Muhammad Ali and Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki in 1976.^[3] The classic match-up between professional boxer and professional wrestler turned sour as each fighter refused to engage in the other's style of fighting style, and after 15 round stalemate it was declared a draw.^[4] This was the earliest example of mixed martial arts in Japan. ^[5]

Pride FC for much of early 21st century in the 2000s was one of the preeminent Mixed martial arts organizations until it was discovered it was being run by the Yakuza.^[6]^[7]^[8]

Since the 2010s, MMA in Japan has seen a sharp decline in popularity in television viewership and popularity.^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]

Domestic organizations

The major MMA organizations in Japan are Rizin Fighting Federation, Pancrase, Shooto and ZST.

References

^ Sherdog.com. "Sherdog's Top 10: Largest Crowds in MMA History - No. 1". Sherdog. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
^ "MMA Origins: Birth of Japanese MMA". Bloody Elbow. 20 February 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
^ "The forgotten story of ... Muhammad Ali v Antonio Inoki | Andy Bull". the Guardian. November 11, 2009.
^ McKirdy, Andrew (June 7, 2016). "Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki: How a bizarre 'bout of the century' between led to friendship". The Japan Times.
^ EDT, Josh Gross On 06/25/16 at 12:10 PM (June 25, 2016). "Why Muhammad Ali's forgotten fight was also one of his most influential". Newsweek.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ "On PRIDE FC, 7 years after its close". Bloody Elbow. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
^ Snowden, Jonathan. "Sex, Drugs, Gangsters and MMA: Remembering Pride, UFC's Wild Predecessor". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
^ "PRIDE Brought Wrestling's Pageantry to MMA". Vice. 16 October 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
^ "A DREAM Deferred: The Decline of Japanese Mixed Martial Arts". 13 July 2010.
^ "MMA in Japan: What Went Wrong, and the Newcomer Who Could Turn Things Around". 7 September 2017.
^ "Japanese MMA falls on hard times".
^ "Mixed martial arts: ONE vows to succeed where UFC failed -- Japan". Reuters. 11 April 2018.

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