Sengoku Opens Asian Bantamweight GP, Adopts Unified Weights
Tony Loiseleur May 10, 2010
TOKYO -- Sengoku Raiden Championship will start its search for an
Asian bantamweight star this summer.
SRC parent company World Victory Road announced Monday that the promotion would stage its Bantamweight Asia Tournament 2010, beginning July 4 at the Differ Ariake Arena in Tokyo. Subsequent tournament rounds are planned for SRC 14 and 15.
Tournament competitors will be chosen from all over Asia through
applications offered on SRC’s official Web site in hopes of finding
quality continental bantamweight prospects. Participation criteria
include being under 35 years of age, having at least five
professional mixed martial arts fights with a better than .500
overall record, being a legal resident of an Asian state for more
than 10 years and the recommendation of the gym or promotion to
which the applicant belongs.
The exact number of tournament participants has not been determined but may feature a qualification bracket in order to progress to a seeded 16-fighter tournament. Fighters will earn 100,000 yen, or approximately $1,070 per bout, while the winner of the main tournament will receive an additional three million yen, or a little more than $32,000, and likely participation at future SRC shows.
The event will be held the same day and at the same venue as an installment of Pancrase’s “2010 Passion Tour,” which features a pair of King of Pancrase title fights; bantamweight champion Manabu Inoue will defend against Seiya Kawahara, and flyweight titlist Kiyotaka Shimizu will defend against Isao Hirose. The start times are currently being negotiated by the two promotions, but the two events will act as a doubleheader at Differ Ariake.
WVR also announced that SRC will follow the exact weight classes set forth by the Unified Rules of MMA in North America, starting immediately with the promotion’s June 20 show at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.
Since its inception two years ago, SRC’s weight classes have been near the weights of the Unified Rules but used metric standards, meaning that each weight class deviated slightly from its North American counterpart. Instead of weight classes at 132, 143, 154, 168 and 183 pounds, the promotion will now use 135, 145, 155, 170 and 185 pounds as standards, in addition to the 205-pound and heavyweight divisions.
With the recalibration of its weight classes, SRC now joins regional promotions such as Deep, Pancrase and Greatest Common Multiple, which have all adopted the Unified Rules divisions over the last three years.
Fighters interested in competing can also contact SRC through this address: [email protected]
SRC parent company World Victory Road announced Monday that the promotion would stage its Bantamweight Asia Tournament 2010, beginning July 4 at the Differ Ariake Arena in Tokyo. Subsequent tournament rounds are planned for SRC 14 and 15.
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The exact number of tournament participants has not been determined but may feature a qualification bracket in order to progress to a seeded 16-fighter tournament. Fighters will earn 100,000 yen, or approximately $1,070 per bout, while the winner of the main tournament will receive an additional three million yen, or a little more than $32,000, and likely participation at future SRC shows.
The event will be held the same day and at the same venue as an installment of Pancrase’s “2010 Passion Tour,” which features a pair of King of Pancrase title fights; bantamweight champion Manabu Inoue will defend against Seiya Kawahara, and flyweight titlist Kiyotaka Shimizu will defend against Isao Hirose. The start times are currently being negotiated by the two promotions, but the two events will act as a doubleheader at Differ Ariake.
WVR also announced that SRC will follow the exact weight classes set forth by the Unified Rules of MMA in North America, starting immediately with the promotion’s June 20 show at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.
Since its inception two years ago, SRC’s weight classes have been near the weights of the Unified Rules but used metric standards, meaning that each weight class deviated slightly from its North American counterpart. Instead of weight classes at 132, 143, 154, 168 and 183 pounds, the promotion will now use 135, 145, 155, 170 and 185 pounds as standards, in addition to the 205-pound and heavyweight divisions.
With the recalibration of its weight classes, SRC now joins regional promotions such as Deep, Pancrase and Greatest Common Multiple, which have all adopted the Unified Rules divisions over the last three years.
Fighters interested in competing can also contact SRC through this address: [email protected]
