World Victory Road, Inc.
by Robert Sargent
Earlier this week, an announcement was made that a new Japanese MMA promotion, World Victory Road, Inc., would be starting, and a new company, the Japanese MMA Association, would serve as the governing body for MMA in Japan. It should be noted that this would be the first MMA sanctioning body in existence, as the UFC and other companies use boxing commissions, not an MMA commission.
This means better training for judges for MMA specifically, as well as more relevant and effective control over the sport.
Tomiaki Fukuda, the president of the Japanese Wrestling Association and vice-president of the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA), will serve as the president of the new Japanese MMA Association.
Naoya Kinoshita, a prominent Japanese businessman in construction, will formally lead World Victory Road, Inc.
It is rumoured, but not yet confirmed, that the new ownership of M-1 might actually be WVR, not an American investor or company. Whether this is true or not remains to be seen.
Early talk for WVR, which may include M-1 (if WVR does, in fact, own M-1), calls for rules that are largely in line with those of the former PRIDE organisation, meaning that knees will be allowed to the heads of downed opponents. However, unlike PRIDE, elbows would also be legal to the heads of downed opponents.
Other differences from PRIDE rules would be that soccer kicks (and likely stomps) would no longer be allowed, nor would kneebars and possibly heel hooks (remember, this is just rumoured), due to the extreme permanent damage that both can potentially inflict.
Kinoshita expressed that, with the absence of PRIDE Fighting Championships in Japanese MMA now, with its recent demise, he and World Victory Road hope to hold their first MMA event as soon as possible.
On the surface, this sounds like the biggest step forward for MMA, as a whole, in a very long time. If WVR does, in fact, own M-1 now (or vice-versa), and the fighters rumoured to have signed with M-1 have indeed done so, the UFC is in for some serious competition, very soon.
