VTJ - 12/24/2012: This Time, In The Cage

New Vale Tudo Japan logo revealed at the Shooto show held last weekend.Once again, Vale Tudo Japan (VTJ) will be back.

VTJ is an MMA event founded back in 1994 by Japan Pro Shooting, which was, back then, the main promoter of Shooto.

Basically this event was created to be competitive against the UFC which was founded year earlier, in 1993.

And also, this is the event is known in Japan as the place where Rickson Gracie first fought in front of the Japanese fans.

VTJ was sort of like an all-star tourney, obviously a bigger event than usual Shooto shows, therefore, it was once a year type of a deal, and it continued for six years.

But after six events, VTJ sort of disappeared in the shadow of a bigger MMA event named PRIDE founded in 1997.

Then PRIDE ended in 2007, and two years later, when things aren't looking too good in the Japanese MMA, VTJ suddenly came back and did one show at JCB Hall. (currently TDC Hall)

Because, for some Japanese fans, VTJ is a high-end brand name, and it means, big event with top MMA fighters gathered for some special occasion.

Well, at least, that is what, we can assume, Sustain, the promoter of VTJ, is hoping.

But at the same time, VTJ is an event created almost 20 years ago, and that maybe is the reason why 2009 event didn't really leave a big mark in the Japanese MMA.

It was a sell out show but the venue is little less than 3,000 seats so its not like VTJ enjoyed big income from the gates.

Sure Takanori Gomi fought in the headliner but its not like the fans got to see many top guns from all over the world. On top of this, there weren't even many top Japanese fighters in this show. Nothing close what VTJ was like in the beginning.

And, on that night, the fighter who pumped up the fans the most was, Rumina Sato. A fighter who is undoubtedly over the hill. A star from more than ten years ago.

VTJ event in 2009 didn't really present anything new. It looked almost same as ten years ago but with lesser calibre of fighters.

Maybe that is the reason why VTJ is making a change in the next event which was officially announced for December 24th at Yoyogi No. 2 Gymnasium.

Its a nice venue. It was built for Tokyo Olympic so its not close to brand new but the place has 4,000-plus seats capacity.

Besides the venue change, this time, VTJ is doing the cage event. Not ring like all these past VTJ and Shooto shows. This time, its going to be in the cage and according to Sustain, planning on promoting two to three VTJ events per year besides the regular Shooto shows.

So that is a positive change because Japanese MMA fighters obviously need more experience in the cage.

However, besides changing from ring to cage, and changing rules to unified rules, what Sustain needs to the most is create a real competitive envrionment, and that means bringing in top fighters are absolutely necessary.

Can Sustain pull this off?

Let's hope they do because the Japanese MMA needs positive news other than just change to cage shows and unified rules.

Report by Shu Hirata
Photo courtesy of GBR (gring.com)