Japan is currently reeling from the devastation the recent 8.9 earthquake in the north eastern region of the country, and it’s effects have been far reaching. Several planned mixed martial arts events have been canceled and may be a foreshadowing of what is to come for the sport in Japan.
Today Sengoku Raiden Championship announced that their primary sponsor for events, Don Quijote, has officially ended their relationship with the promotion spelling very bad news. Without the type of funding that Don Quijote provided SRC, it’s possible that this is the last we’ll see from this company.
The company has also been releasing fighters from its stable over the past few months after letting go of middleweight champ Jorge Santiago, ex-featherweight champ Marlon Sandro, heavyweight Dave “Pee Wee” Herman, among several others.
No events have been planned for this year by SRC, or DREAM, who are experiencing their own financial issues at this time which includes failure, or partial payment to fighters from previous events.
One of the smaller promotions in Japan, Shooto has their own issues related to scandals and a push to reform the product of the company by using the unified rules and adopting a cage for events. Tony Loiseleur of Sherdog.com, put together a great article covering Shooto’s current issues and is worth the read in order to get a proper feel for the companies current state.
Three months into the year and still, not one major event has been planned for Japan yet. Not surprisingly, Japanese fighters and staff are growing restless.