Common
Pancrase
MMA promotion based in Japan
Pancrase
Pancrase (パンクラス, Pankurasu) is a Japanese mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Tokyo. It was founded in 1993 by professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. It is one of the oldest continuously operating MMA promotions in the world and played an important role in the development of modern mixed martial arts in Japan. The promotion grew out of the Japanese shoot wrestling scene, combining catch wrestling-derived grappling with striking and a competitive format inspired in part by professional wrestling. The name was based on pankration, a fighting sport in the Ancient Olympic Games. Suzuki and Funaki conceived Pancrase as a shoot wrestling promotion with genuine combat, instead of predetermined matches, while retaining elements of the professional wrestling tradition. Its early events featured distinctive rules that differed from those of most modern MMA: closed-fist punches were prohibited to the head but permitted to the body, while open-handed strikes to the...
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