WSOF-GC PARTNERS WITH JAPAN’S DEEP FC

By LITO DELOS REYES

ON ITS ultimate mission of bringing together the best athletes from countries and organizations across the world, the World Series of Fighting – Global Championship (WSOF-GC) has now signed an exclusive partnership with Japan’s premier fight league – DEEP Fighting Championship.

This was formally announced to the press last June 28 at the Hotel Sun Route Plaza Shinjuku in Tokyo, Japan both by WSOF-GC president Shawn Wright and DEEP Fighting Championships president Shigeru Saeki.

“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,” added Wright.

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.

“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,” said Saeki.

He added: “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!”

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.

DEEP’s end of year event would also 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.

“DEEP is the premier fight league in Japan. Their consistent level of quality events and premium fighters attests to that,” said 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 including WSOF-GC’s 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,” said Lilly.

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.

WSOF-GC’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.

DEEP Fighting Championships was founded in 2001 by the promoter Shigeru Saeki, DEEP Fighting Championships (DEEP FC) is a championship Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) series dedicated to not just showcasing the top MMA athletes in Asia but also promote the sport with many interesting and experimental approaches – promote both ring and cage events, resurrect the careers of big-name stars, provide athletes from other sports such as kick boxers, sumo wrestlers, pro-wrestlers, and ex-pro baseball players, the opportunity to test their skills in MMA. Also, DEEP implement various rules from North American unified rules, PRIDE rules to Kick Boxing and Shoot Boxing rules.

The operation is based in Tokyo and Nagoya, Japan, DEEP FC is one of the longest running premier MMA promotions in the world.

In addition to MMA series, DEEP FC also promotes grappling series named DEEP X, kick boxing series named DEEP KICK, and senior fighters’ series named DEEP HERO and “Oyaji” DEEP.

DEEP FC is currently broadcasted by Sky Perfect TV / Fighting Network Samurai in Japan, Fight Network in Canada and UK, and recently, inked the deal with Abema TV, an internet TV station created by TV Asahi and Cyber Agent. Abema TV will broadcast all of DEEP FC’s “Number Series” events and “Cage Impact Series” event starting from DEEP 76 on June 26th, 2016.