Watching The New MMA Universe

[don hughes1]

I'll be using the Dawn Of MMA mod to watch a history, and I'll give yearly reports on what happened in the MMA world (I know people have probably done this before, but this is mine lol)

[don hughes1]

1993 Report

1. UFC - The UFC held 3 events in 1993, and quickly became the #1 company in the world.  Hiroyuki Kanno became the first UFC Champion at UFC 1, winning in a one hour fight against Masato Suzuki, however in his first defense at UFC 2, lost the belt to Kenichi Tanaka by rear naked choke.  

2. Shooto - Shooto, holding strong in the company rankings, held 5 events during the second half of 1993.  Murilo Bustamante became their first Light Heavyweight champion at Shooto 24 after his first win in Shooto 23, defeating Kenji Kawaguchi by armbar.  Also at Shooto 23, Takenori Ito became the first Middleweight champion, taking out Naoki Sakurada in a half hour decision.  The Welterweight Title remains vacant.

3. Pancrase - Pancrase held zero events in 1993.

 

Since events were only held in the 2nd half of the year, no awards or rankings will be announced.  Starting in 1994, they will be awarded.  However, it should be revealed that Royce Gracie was upset at Shooto 22, losing to Masakatsu Funaki by decision (Upset Of The Year).  The man some people thought would be the first MMA Legend would rebound to beat Ron Van Clief at Shoot 24.  

[don hughes1]

1994 Report

1994 saw all 3 major companies (UFC, Shooto, Pancrase) hold the same amount, or more events in 1994.  

1. UFC - The Company of the year, the UFC held 6 events in 1994, however the UFC Championship was only defended once this year.  Champion Kenichi Tanaka defended at UFC 4 against Mamoru Okochi, tapping him with an armbar at the 13 minute mark.  The other events in the year were used primarily to introduce more new fighters to their audience.

2. Pancrase - Pancrase in 1994 was a much improved company, holding 5 events.  Noboru Asahi was crowned their first champion at Pancrase 1, defeating Rafael Cordiero by armbar just 2 and a half minutes into the fight.  Asahi, has lost only once at Shooto 11 in 1991.

3. Shooto - Shooto kept par with 1993, holding 5 events, but falling to #3 in the company rankings.  Murilo Bustamante held the Light Heavyweight championship all year, defending the title once.  In a half hour decision, he defeated Royce Gracie.  In the Middleweight division, Takenori Ito also held the belt all year, but failed to defend the title.  

 

Pound For Pound Top 10

1. Kazuhiro Sakamoto (11-6)

2. Kenichi Tanaka (8-3-2)

3. Mamoru Okochi (7-5)

4. Noboru Asahi (10-1-3)

5. Hiroyuki Kanno (8-6-1)

6. Masato Suzuki (3-5-1)

7. Takeshi Miyanaga (2-4-1)

8. Kenji Ogusu (5-4-1)

9. Naoki Sakurada (11-8-2)

10. Takenori Ito (7-3)

 

1995 should be a great year for MMA as ICON announced that they will begin operations at the beginning of the year.  Will we see more title defenses this year?

[don hughes1]

1995 Report

1. Pancrase - Pancrase had an amazing year in 1996, holding 6 events and becoming the #1 promotion in the world.  Unfortunately, one glaring black mark on the promotion was that Champion Noboru Asahi did not defend the title at all in 1995, instead fighting 3 times for the ICON promotion.  Renzo Gracie remains undefeated in Pancrase fights (10-0, 5-0 in Pancrase).

2. UFC - The UFC also held 6 events in 1995, but fell to the #2 spot.  We also saw the changing of the UFC Championship.  Kenichi Tanaka left the promotion and signed a contract with ICON.  At UFC 15, Takeshi Miyanaga upset the favorite Mamoru Okochi in a one hour decision to claim the title.  Miyanaga, only 3-4 in UFC fights, had lost his previous 4 fights before scoring the upset.

3. Shooto - Shooto only held 4 events in 1995, but stayed consistent in their performance in the MMA world.  Murilo Bustamante vacated the Light Heavyweight championship after also signing a contract with ICON.  Former Middleweight title holder Takenori Ito also left the promotion, signing with the UFC.  In the title match at Shooto 32, Eugenio Tadeu claimed the championship in a half hour decision against Kazuhiro Kusayanagi.  In Shooto fights, Tadeu is 4-0.

4. ICON - Owned by Rorian Gracie, ICON held 5 events in their debut year, one of them being a television event.  Murilo Bustamante won the Middleweight Championship against Yoshiaki Murai.  The Lightweight Championship was won by Seiichi Tsurusaki, beating Shinji Abe.  Tsurusaki then immediately lost it to Rumina Sato in 2 minutes, tapping to an armbar.  In the Featherweight division, Noboru Asahi beat Kenichi Tanaka via kimura in a 3 minute fight to claim another championship.

 

Pound For Pound Top 10

1. Noboru Asahi (13-1-3)

2. Kazuhiro Sakamoto (14-8)

3. Kenichi Tanaka (9-5-2)

4. Mamoru Okochi (8-7)

5. Murilo Bustamante (5-0)

6. Hiroyuki Kanno (11-8-1)

7. Masato Suzuki (4-6-1)

8. Royce Gracie (7-2)

9. Takeshi Miyanaga (4-6-1)

10. Kenji Ogusu (6-6-2)

 

The only American fighter in the top 25 is Robert Lucarelli in 22nd (4-3).  Will 1996 see the same thing, or will American fighters start to get more recognition?  Stay tuned.

[don hughes1]

1996 Report

1. Pancrase - Pancrase continued to be the #1 company in the world, again holding 6 event in 1996.  The issue, just like in 1995, was that Champion Noboru Asahi did not defend the Pancrase Openweight Championship again, instead taking 1 fight in ICON Sport.  Renzo Gracie continues to be the standard bearer for Pancrase though, upping his record in strictly Pancrase fights to 7-0.  

2. UFC - The UFC also held 6 events this year, and continued to be the top American promotion in MMA.  It wasn't without some big news.  They abolished their Openweight status, but not before Mamoru Okochi defeated Takeshi Miyanaga via decision to become the last Openweight Champion.  They announced the sanctioning of a Heavyweight Championship, but as of this writing, is still vacant.  

3. Shooto - Shooto continued their consistancy, holding 5 shows in 1996 and holding on to the #3 spot.  In June at Shooto 36, a new Light Heavyweight Champion was crowned, as Masakatsu Funaki took the championship after defeating Todd Bjornethun via kneebar 21 minutes into the fight.  Middleweight Champion Eugenio Tadeu did not defend the belt this year.

4. ICON - ICON promoted 6 events this year, but the Hawaiian promotion struggled to gain traction as the year went on.  Murilo Bustamante defended the Middleweight Championship 3 times this year to push his overall fight record to 8-0!  Rumina Sato took over as king of the Lightweights, defeating former champion Seiichi Tsurusaki earlier in the year, then beat him again in a rematch to solidify his reign.  Featherweight Champion Noboru Asahi defended the title once, defeating Jin Akimoto in July.

 

Pound For Pound Top 10

1. Noboru Asahi (14-1-3)

2. Murilo Bustamante (8-0)

3. Kazuhiro Sakamoto (17-8)

4. Mamoru Okochi (11-8)

5. Hiroyuki Kanno (13-9-1)

6. Royce Gracie (7-2)

7. Masakatsu Funaki (9-3)

8. Naoki Sakurada (16-11-2)

9. Takeshi Miyanaga (5-8-1)

10. Kenichi Tanaka (12-6-2)

 

Notables in the Top 25 include Renzo Gracie (13-0, #12), Paul Varelans (5-0, #23), and Maxim Tarasov (6-0, #25).  

 

Discussion over who the best fighter between Asahi and Bustamante is is brewing, which is interesting considering ICON being only 4th in the promotion rankings.  2 Gracie fighters are in the top 25.  Also, announced to open in 1997 are Russian promotion M-1 Global, and Brazilian promotion International Vale-Tudo Championship (IVC).  1997 is shaping up to be a busy year in MMA, and we will be here to report everything to you!

Edited March 24, 2023 by don hughes1