K-1_Hero's

Hero's

Hero's

Japanese mixed martial arts promotion


Hero's was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion operated by Fighting and Entertainment Group, the parent entity behind kickboxing organization K-1. Grown from and branched off of K-1's earlier experiments in MMA, including the K-1 Romanex event and various MMA fights on its regular K-1 kickboxing cards, it held its first show on March 26, 2005. The promotion was handled by former Rings head Akira Maeda. At a press conference on February 13, 2008, FEG announced that they discontinued Hero's and were creating a new mixed martial arts franchise, Dream, in collaboration with former Pride FC executives from Dream Stage Entertainment.

Quick Facts Company type, Industry ...

History

Although not as popular worldwide as the Ultimate Fighting Championship or the now defunct Pride Fighting Championships, Hero's was very recognizable in the Japanese mixed martial arts scene, thanks in large part to the visibility and resources of FEG and K-1. Hero's events were sometimes co-sponsored and broadcast on the TBS national television network in Japan.[1] In contrast to PRIDE and the UFC, Hero's promoted only three weight classes: middleweight (-70 kg/-154 lbs), light heavyweight (-85 kg/-187 lbs) and heavyweight (+85 kg/+187 lbs)

United States

On March 27, 2007, FEG (the Fighting Entertainment Group) held a press conference at the Los Angeles Coliseum to announce their first US event which was to be held on June 2, 2007. The show, named K-1 Dynamite!! USA, was a joint operated venture with the newly formed Elite XC, British MMA organization Cage Rage, BoDog Fight and the Korean-based Spirit MC. The show was broken down into two parts, with the first part (made up of three fights) being aired for free Showtime and the second part on pay-per-view.

Reformation into Dream

At a press conference on February 13, 2008, FEG announced that they discontinued Hero's and were creating a new mixed martial arts franchise, Dream, in collaboration with former Pride FC executives from Dream Stage Entertainment. In addition to established Hero's stars, (such as Calvancante, Akiyama, and Yamamoto) many other top fighters from around the world (such as Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović and Shinya Aoki) joined the new promotion.

Notable fighters

Many notable mixed martial artists competed in Hero's, including:

Hero's Grand Prix Champions

More information Year, Weight class ...

Events

More information Event, Date ...

Event locations

* Total event number: 19

Tokyo – 5
Yokohama – 3
Osaka – 3
Nagoya – 1
Saitama – 1
Vilnius – 3
Seoul – 2
Los Angeles, California – 1

References

  1. "TBS mata fushōji". J-Cast News. 13 March 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  2. Takagi, Hiromi (1 March 2005). "3-26 Saitama 'Hero's' kaisai kettei". SportsNavi. Yahoo. Archived from the original on 14 May 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2012.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article K-1_Hero's, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.