GLORY Combines DREAM 18 and Heavyweight Grand Slam Into New Year’s Eve Event
By Glory Sports International via Press Release
TOKYO, Japan (Nov 9, 2011) – Following Glory Sports International’s (GSI) recent announcement that it would be producing the annual DREAM MMA event at Saitama Super Arena on New Year’s Eve, the company has announced today that it will merge its GLORY 4 Tokyo Heavyweight Grand Slam championship kickboxing event with DREAM 18 to create one mega-night of world-class professional martial arts fighting on Dec 31, 2012.
The GLORY 4 Tokyo Heavyweight Grand Slam event was originally scheduled to take place on Dec 2 at Makuhari Messe. After a thorough exploration process, however, GSI concluded that it would be possible to combine the two shows, creating the largest possible impact for re-launching the Japanese martial arts fight scene with an event of unprecedented magnitude.
“As a company, we want to create the most spectacular martial arts show Japan has ever seen. After taking over DREAM 18, it just made natural sense to look at the opportunity to revive the traditional New Year’s Eve date and create a mega-show,” Pierre Andurand, Chairman of GSI, commented.
“We looked at the pros and cons and it was clear that a combined show is the way to go. We are extremely proud and excited to deliver this mega-show to the Japanese fans and to the world at large.”
Marcus Luer, Managing Director of GSI, remarked, “We are confident that the fans will see our intentions to create the best possible show ever and, once they see the details of the New Year’s Eve show, they will be blown away by the caliber of fighters and fights we have lined up that night.
“We apologize for any inconvenience caused to the fans who have bought tickets for Dec 2, but we are certain they will be happy with what we will create on Dec 31. We will provide fans who have bought tickets for GLORY 4 Tokyo with a full refund, which can be easily obtained at the outlets where they bought the tickets. At the same time, those same outlets will also sell the new tickets for the Dec 31 show.”
The event – ‘GSI presents DREAM 18 and GLORY 4 Tokyo – New Year’s Eve Special’ – will commence at 4 p.m. Tokyo time on Dec. 31 and roll through to a midnight grand finale. DREAM 18 will see an amazing line up of top Japanese and international MMA superstars. Further details of the cards will be released next week.
GLORY 4 Tokyo will feature the best heavyweight kickboxers in the world battling it out in a16-man, single-elimination tournament. The winner of the one-night tournament will be crowned the GLORY Heavyweight Grand Slam Champion and receive a grand prize of US $400,000 – the biggest prize in the sport.
Among the superstar fighters that have accepted a place in the invitation-only line-up are Semmy Schilt, Daniel Ghita, Remy Bonjasky, Gokhan Saki, Peter Aerts and Errol Zimmerman. Sixteen world class fighters will enter, but only one can emerge victorious in what is the toughest tournament the fighting world has ever seen.
Broadcast details of the event at Saitama Super Arena will be announced shortly.