Everyone knows about UFC, but for almost thirty years, Pancrase has been a fighting promotion where some of the toughest fighters in the world can show off their skills.
In 1993, two professional wrestlers came up with the idea to have a promotion where wrestlers show off their different fighting techniques to prove who truly is the best fighter. Whether they were throwing strikes or locking on submissions, Pancrase was a place where fighters could show off their abilities and the outcomes not be predetermined, like in the world of professional wrestling. Pioneers of mixed martial arts performed in the Pancrase ring and there are many things all fight fans should know about the legendary fighting promotion.
10 Predates The UFC
The UFC often gets the credit for creating the sport of mixed martial arts almost three decades ago when they had their first event in Nov. 1993. However, Pancrase held its first event in Sept. 1993 and predates the world's most famous MMA promotion.
While the UFC was the first of the two promotions to use the term mixed martial arts, Pancrase used the term “hybrid wrestlers.” While the UFC featured fighters from numerous backgrounds such as wrestling, boxing, jiu-jitsu, and other martial arts, Pancrase referred to everyone as wrestlers despite some athletes having stronger backgrounds in other martial arts.
9 Hybrid Wrestlers
Prior to Pancrase, wrestlers in Japan were known for doing one of two things. Either they competed in amateur wrestling, with the ultimate goal being to compete in the Olympics, or they were professional wrestlers who were putting on performances that were predetermined.
With the debut of Pancrase, wrestlers were given the opportunity to be “hybrid wrestlers.” This meant wrestlers could show off their fighting skills in a professional setting. In Pancrase, wrestlers could use some moves used in professional wrestling for real. While wrestlers could use grappling to control their opponents and go for submissions, they could also use strikes to hurt their opponents.
8 Original Rules
There were a lot more rules in Pancrase compared to the early days of the UFC. For example, some rules were based on professional wrestling. Wrestlers could only use closed fists when hitting the body and had to use an open palm when striking the face.
There were also unique rules when it came to fighting on the ground. Professional wrestling rules were also used when it came to submissions. Competitors could escape a submission by grabbing the ropes, however, they could only do this five times. Also, a point was deducted whenever a fighter used the ropes to escape a submission. Other unique rules included no elbows to the head. Similar to today’s MMA, fighters could not knee or kick an opponent in the head while on the ground.
7 Minoru Suzuki
One of the founders of Pancrase is Japanese wrestling legend Minoru Suzuki, who currently performs for New Japan Pro Wrestling.
In the late 80s, Suzuki made the transition from amateur to professional wrestling. He originally trained at the New Japan Dojo before leaving the promotion to perform elsewhere. In 1993, Suzuki formed Pancrase and focused on the promotion for the rest of the decade. In the 2000s, Suzuki put his focus back into professional wrestling and the rest is history. Today, Suzuki runs his own faction in New Japan and is one of the promotion's most popular wrestlers.
6 Masakatsu Funaki
Masakatsu Funaki is a Japanese professional wrestler who co-founded Pancrase alongside Minoru Suzuki. Funaki and Suzuki spent time together in the late 80s as a part of the New Japan Dojo.
Unlike Suzuki, Funaki made fighting his priority for almost two decades. Funaki competed for Pancrase until 2000. Later, he came out of retirement and competed in the kickboxing promotion K-1 and the MMA promotion Dream. In 2009, Funaki returned to the sport of professional wrestling. Today, Funaki still wrestles for various promotions in Japan.
5 Ken Shamrock
Pancrase’s first major success story was Ken Shamrock, who was the first fighter to be crowned “King of Pancrase.”
Before competing at the first UFC event, Shamrock fought three times in Pancrase. At the first Pancrase show, Shamrock submitted Pancrase co-founder Masakatsu Funaki. Shamrock won his next two fights by submission before the first UFC event where he was submitted by Royce Gracie. Shamrock fought for both Pancrase and UFC until 1996. Overall, Shamrock fought 20 fights in Pancrase and only lost three times. He lost once to Funaki and twice to Pancrase’s other founder Minoru Suzuki.
4 Traditional MMA
In the late 90s, Pancrase changed its rules and started following the rules of traditional MMA organizations. Starting in 1999, Pancrase started using rules similar to PRIDE Fighting Championship, another major MMA promotion in Japan. Starting in 2014, Pancrase adopted the unified rules of mixed martial arts, which are the rules the UFC uses.
With the rule changes, Pancrase became similar to other MMA promotions around the world. The promotion now features traditional weight classes with champions in each weight class. Pancrase now also features women’s MMA.
3 Famous Former Champions
As previously mentioned, Ken Shamrock was the first champion of Pancrase, but many other notable fighters have earned that distinction.
Both of Pancrase’s founders, Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki, are former champions. Other legendary fighters such as Bas Rutten, Frank Shamrock, and Josh Barnett were also former Kings of Pancrase. These fighters were the foundation of the early days of Pancrase and are known for having some of the biggest fights in the promotion. Other notable UFC alumni to be Pancrase champions include Ricardo Almeida and Nate Marquardt.
2 UFC Alumni
Many notable UFC alumni spent time competing in the Pancrase ring. Former UFC champions and title contenders fought in Pancrase before competing in the world-famous octagon.
Former UFC Middleweight Champion Evan Tanner fought numerous times in Pancrase before winning the UFC title in 2005. Former UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo made one appearance in Pancrase back in 2007. Former Interim UFC Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit fought numerous bouts in Pancrase before fighting in the WEC and UFC. Former UFC title challengers Chael Sonnen and Nate Diaz also fought in Pancrase.
1 UFC Fight Pass
In 2015, Pancrase signed an exclusive streaming deal with UFC Fight Pass. Live Pancrase events, as well as historic fights from the promotion, are available to watch on the UFC’s streaming service.
To this day, Pancrase still hosts MMA events on a regular basis. Most recently, Pancrase 326 took place in Japan. Their next event is scheduled for the end of April. While Pancrase does not have the prestige it had back in the 90s, the promotion is one of the top regional MMA companies in Japan and is a place for fighters to show their worth in hopes of fighting on bigger stages in the future.