PANCRASE signs deal with World Series Of Fighting

Mazakazu Sakai, Ray Sefo

On their show last night, World Series of Fighting announced they signed a deal with PANCRASE but they gave no details. PANCRASE held a press conference today and gave some details. This agreement begins in April 2014. WSOF will run at least one show in Japan as WSOF Japan. All of the PANCRASE champions will immediately be available for WSOF shows in the US. That will include all Kings of PANCRASE in all weight classes and Queen of PANCRASE Rin Nakai. That means we could see Rin fight in the US. I'm sure we will see several PANCRASE fighters on WSOF shows. As of April, PANCRASE will no longer stage fights in a ring. All shows will be in a cage. And PANCRASE will conform to unified MMA rules. One of the problems with Japanese MMA companies is the goofy rules that don't exist outside Japan. This is a big deal for any Japanese company because they love goofy rules. PANCRASE owner Masakazu Sakai says he wants make PANCRASE a global company. His main goal at this point is to run a PANCRASE show in Las Vegas. That figures. In a related move, yesterday PANCRASE signed a TV deal with The Fight Network in Canada. Mostly they will run Best Of PANCRASE shows but I understand the New Year's Eve Bayside FIGHT show will be broadcast live. The one thing fans should understand is unlike other Japanese MMA company owners, Sakai has money. He is the former owner of the Hustle wrestling company and the SMASH wrestling company. He still owns the pro wrestling company The Tenyru Project. He has the money to do what he wants. I think this is a good deal for both companies.