In the wake of the collapse of OLYMPUS-FS, the Japanese MMA scene has seemingly dried up. However, a new promotion has announced their intentions to run their first show! The promotion is CONDOR FC, and is aiming to be a different kind of MMA promotion focused on smaller, quicker fighters.
The promotion is the brainchild of MMA fighter Kazu Kobayashi, who fought in OLYMPUS-FS prior to suffering a massive neck injury from Yuichi Miwa that's kept him from fighting since. Kobayashi, who was undersized for his division, has set about to give fighters like him a new venue to exhibit their skills. The promotion is backed by a variety of small sponsors, as very few major companies are currently willing to invest in this new concept...
The event was announced in a small press conference in Tokyo earlier today hosted by Kobayashi. Kobayashi explained his concept in detail, saying that OLYMPUS-FS had focused on their Middleweight and Heavyweight divisions, but Kobayashi wanted to give a new platform for fighters who couldn't fight in those divisions. As of yet, no one in this new promotion weighs over 70 kg's, and the maximum wouldn't be much more then that. Kobayashi then explained the rules of CONDOR FC...
- The promotion will follow the general rules of OLYMPUS-FS, as Kobayashi called it the "true combat path", and fights will be held in a ring. Stand ups will be discouraged, as he wants fighters to prove their skills instead of waiting for stand ups.
- Fights will be 3x3, which means a maximum fight time of nine minutes. Kobayashi explained that he wanted to avoid long drawn out fights, as the reduced round times will force fighters to fight quicker to score the victory since judging is not round by round, but the overall fight. So simply taking the opponent down and holding them won't give you the win alone...
- Kobayashi stated that unlike OLYMPUS-FS which had wanted to be a stage for "world wide fighting", CONDOR would focus instead on young Japanese talent, with the occasional foriegner being allowed into the promotion. Kobayashi defended this statement by saying that while fighting the United States and other countries was still hot, Japanese fighting had to be rebuilt from the ground up using native talent...
Kobayashi then brought out the two fighters who will headline the first event at Korakuen Hall, the highly touted Michiyoshi Takase, and the couragious Akashi "Tiger" Nakamura. Kobayashi put his arms around both men, and told the press that these two men defined what the concept of CONDOR is, as both are in their twenties, and previously had no place to display their skills. Now in CONDOR FC, they would have a stage built just for them!
Kobayashi then invited any Japanese, or even foriegner fighters to send resumes to fight in CONDOR, saying that they would be selective, but wanted the best people that fit the ideals of the promotion under their banner!
CONDOR FC 1 ~ TAKE THE FLIGHT
4/29/08
Tokyo Korakuen Hall (2,100)
1. Akira Kitaoka vs. Yoshiro Ito
2. Masanori Ito vs. Takeshi Yamada
3. Yuki Uematsu vs. Naoyuki Fuchida
4. James Scott vs. Hernando Perra
5. Michiyoshi Takase vs. Akashi "Tiger" Nakamura
The promotion is the brainchild of MMA fighter Kazu Kobayashi, who fought in OLYMPUS-FS prior to suffering a massive neck injury from Yuichi Miwa that's kept him from fighting since. Kobayashi, who was undersized for his division, has set about to give fighters like him a new venue to exhibit their skills. The promotion is backed by a variety of small sponsors, as very few major companies are currently willing to invest in this new concept...
The event was announced in a small press conference in Tokyo earlier today hosted by Kobayashi. Kobayashi explained his concept in detail, saying that OLYMPUS-FS had focused on their Middleweight and Heavyweight divisions, but Kobayashi wanted to give a new platform for fighters who couldn't fight in those divisions. As of yet, no one in this new promotion weighs over 70 kg's, and the maximum wouldn't be much more then that. Kobayashi then explained the rules of CONDOR FC...
- The promotion will follow the general rules of OLYMPUS-FS, as Kobayashi called it the "true combat path", and fights will be held in a ring. Stand ups will be discouraged, as he wants fighters to prove their skills instead of waiting for stand ups.
- Fights will be 3x3, which means a maximum fight time of nine minutes. Kobayashi explained that he wanted to avoid long drawn out fights, as the reduced round times will force fighters to fight quicker to score the victory since judging is not round by round, but the overall fight. So simply taking the opponent down and holding them won't give you the win alone...
- Kobayashi stated that unlike OLYMPUS-FS which had wanted to be a stage for "world wide fighting", CONDOR would focus instead on young Japanese talent, with the occasional foriegner being allowed into the promotion. Kobayashi defended this statement by saying that while fighting the United States and other countries was still hot, Japanese fighting had to be rebuilt from the ground up using native talent...
Kobayashi then brought out the two fighters who will headline the first event at Korakuen Hall, the highly touted Michiyoshi Takase, and the couragious Akashi "Tiger" Nakamura. Kobayashi put his arms around both men, and told the press that these two men defined what the concept of CONDOR is, as both are in their twenties, and previously had no place to display their skills. Now in CONDOR FC, they would have a stage built just for them!
Kobayashi then invited any Japanese, or even foriegner fighters to send resumes to fight in CONDOR, saying that they would be selective, but wanted the best people that fit the ideals of the promotion under their banner!
CONDOR FC 1 ~ TAKE THE FLIGHT
4/29/08
Tokyo Korakuen Hall (2,100)
1. Akira Kitaoka vs. Yoshiro Ito
2. Masanori Ito vs. Takeshi Yamada
3. Yuki Uematsu vs. Naoyuki Fuchida
4. James Scott vs. Hernando Perra
5. Michiyoshi Takase vs. Akashi "Tiger" Nakamura
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