Wazzup Pilipinas!
In a surprise announcement this afternoon at Hotel Sun Route Plaza Shinjuku, DEEP Fighting Championships President, Shigeru Saeki, announced during his press conference an exclusive partnership with World Series of Fighting – Global Championship (WSOF-GC). This deal also carries over to the other DEEP brands, to include Cage Impact and JEWELS. DEEP will be the one and only exclusive partner for WSOF Global inside Japan, as WSOF Global will be the one and only exclusive partner for DEEP outside of Japan, with the exception of the existing partnership already in place with Invicta Fighting Championships.
One of the interesting items about this new relationship points towards WSOF-GC qualifiers, as well as a potential tournaments to be dubbed “The Road to WSOF-GC”. This gives young, up-and-coming fighters an opportunity to know that they will be able to compete on international events outside of Japan and test their skills against some of the best fighters around the globe. Additionally, it was announced that DEEP’s end of year event would contain three WSOF Global title fights. The Road to WSOF-GC championship gold is now paved. Fans from Japan can look forward to a very fun, exciting end of year event between these two promotions.
Speaking shortly before the big announcement to the press, Saeki said, “I am very happy and thrilled about DEEP FC forming a partnership with WSOF-GC. I would like to thank both President Shawn Wright and Vice-President Jason Lilly for considering working with us. Moving forward, a 15-year old MMA promotion DEEP FC would like to provide all the support necessary to help them achieve success in Asia. Let's work together to achieve our goals!”
“DEEP is the premier fight league in Japan. Their consistent level of quality events and premium fighters attests to that,” states WSOF-GC Vice President of Operations, Jason Lilly. “Many great fighters have come through DEEP to go on to the UFC, such as Shinya Aoki and Ryo Chonan. Invicta’s reigning Atomweight Champion, Ayaka Hamasaki, also came up through the DEEP ranks, as did our own 125-pound star, Yusaku Nakamura. Even the legendary Akihiro Gono has competed for them. Whereas we now have this partnership in place, this is not to exclude DEEP fighters from having other opportunities outside of both of our organizations. It’s our mutual goal to promote these fighters and help prepare them for the next level, wherever that may be.”
“I am truly honored and humbled to be welcomed in Japan by Mr. Saeki,” elated WSOF-GC President, Shawn Wright. “We promoted our first Global event in Japan earlier this year and now know that we have a strong, strategic partner to assist us to continue to grow our brand here. DEEP is not only the premier organization in Japan, but also one of the very best in the world. I foresee this being a mutually beneficial relationship for both parties and I could not be more excited about this announcement.”
DEEP will be hosting DEEP76 Impact on Sunday, June 26 from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, featuring a 155lb title fight between the legendary Satoru Kitaoka against Kota Shimoishi. DEEP has hosted over 300 events since their inception in 2001. These fights will slowly be making their way into the WSOF Global Fight Library at wsofgc.com, as will future fights be made available to fans who can follow the growth of these two organizations together. MMA fans can watch all of their fights, as well as those from all other affiliates for only $4.99 per month at WSOFGC.com.
World Series of Fighting Global’s ultimate mission is to bring together the best athletes from countries and organizations across the world to compete for a true, globally-recognized world champion. Media inquiries should be sent to Jason Lilly, Vice President of Operations of World Series of Fighting Global, at jlilly@wsof.asia. Follow them on Twitter @WSOFGlobal
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
Post a Comment