25 years ago, one of the first mixed martial arts events took place. That would be Pancrase: Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers 1, the inaugural event for the promotion. One of the founders was pro wrestler turned shoot fighter Minoru Suzuki, who is currently a star in New Japan Pro Wrestling. There were other famous names on the card including MMA legends Bas Rutten and Ken Shamrock.
Suzuki was successful in his MMA debut, as he submitted Katsuomi Inagaki with a rear-naked choke. Other fights included Bas Rutten knocking out Ryushi Yanagisawa, Takaku Fuke submitting Vernon White, Kazuo Takahasji delivering a head kick KO to George Weingeroff, and Ken Shamrock locking up an arm triangle choke against Masakatsu Funaki.
Suzuki reflected upon the anniversary on his Twitter account:
1993年9月21日 東京ベイNKホールで数人の若手プロレスラーがなんの後ろ盾もなく新格闘団体パンクラスを旗揚げ。この日に生まれた言葉が「秒殺」。一斉を風靡し近代MMAの礎を築いた。同じ年に生まれたのがK-1であり、UFC。未だその三つは存在している。。。今から25年前の出来事だ。。。 pic.twitter.com/UoDBkxRjEA
— 鈴木みのる (@suzuki_D_minoru) September 21, 2018
Roughly translated, the post says the following:
On September 21, 1993, a few young professional wrestlers in Tokyo Bay NK Hall founded a new MMA group without any backing. The words born on this day are killing seconds. They dominated the mass and built the cornerstone of modern MMA. It was born in the same year K-1, and UFC. There are still three of them… What happened 25 years ago…
It’s incredible that Suzuki is still going strong in his combat sports career so many years later!
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