Officials With GlobalOne Fight Sports Believe the Timing and Format Are Right for the Re-emergence of Team MMA

There's a new kid in town … and he's looking for a fight.

"His" name is GlobalOne Fightsports (G1 Fights), and Ken Yasuda, the former head coach of the Tokyo Sabres in the International Fight League, is the VP of international operations. Yasuda, whom some of you know as "Mr. Japan," already has an impressive resume, which now has a little more luster, as he's also a G1 Team Captain.

In the following story, he reveals the details about the new MMA league. — Editor

The idea of G1 Fights started in 2008, which is right about when the IFL was on its way down. One of my associates, Steve Oubre (now G1's CEO), and I were talking about starting this for a while. We just never took action until a few years ago. Finally, it all came together.

We really like the concept of team MMA. As the head coach of the IFL’s Tokyo Sabres, I personally was very involved in running the whole team. During this time, I noticed there were many loyal fans who did not necessarily know the fighters, but they had their favorite teams.

While G1 Fights is not exactly the same format as the IFL, having fans that can cheer for their favorite teams is. Plus, many people like to feel that they belong to an organization, circle or group because they can share their feelings, goals and successes. This is why other sports are so popular. So, why not here?

FIRST BOUTS, VENUES
G1 Fights’ first event was on Jan. 28. We held the event at a nice casino, one that holds 5,000 people. Big name artists like Willie Nelson have performed there, so the lighting and sound systems are impressive.
Currently, we are based only in the U.S. Our goal is to gain popularity here, and hopefully we will expand our market to other countries soon, including Japan, which would be an easy transition because of my involvement with that country.

THE TEAMS, THE COUNTRIES
We are starting out with two teams, Team Japan and Team USA. The fighters can train together or separately. That’s up to them.

Japan is known as the top MMA country in the world. It is the origin of MMA and the traditional martial arts, and that country has held many events with top-ranked fighters in the world for decades. And now, the center of MMA is here, in the U.S. So, it makes sense to have these two teams face each other. In the future, we are planning to have more teams, like Team Brazil.

Two of our goals are to help the sport and athletes further their careers, which is why G1 is an open-door league. If the UFC wants to sign any of our fighters, they can. We are trying to open up more doors for good fighters, and our organization will provide an opportunity for fighters to showcase their abilities at the highest of levels.

NOTE: The full story on the league is in the April issue of Ultimate MMA.

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