World Victory Road (WVR) was a Japanese mixed martial arts (MMA) organization which promoted the Sengoku Raiden Championship (SRC) in Japan. The organization was formed in 2007 following the purchase of PRIDE FC by Zuffa. It operated in conjunction with the Japan Mixed Martial Arts Federation (JMM). The Sengoku championship was broadcast on Fuji TV and pay-per-view in Japan, and on HDNet in United States.
Beginning with the December 31 show, Sengoku was known as Sengoku Raiden Championship. "Raiden" means "thunder and lightning" and refers to legendary 18th century rikishi, Raiden Tameemon. WVR exec Kokuho said they hoped the initials "SRC" will be more palatable to international audiences.[1]
On March 12, 2011, it was reported that Don Quijote, a Japanese discount store chain serving as the primary sponsor of the promotion, had ceased all funding to WVR. That same day, WVR officials issued a press release stating that, barring the sudden emergence of a new primary sponsor, the promotion was effectively finished.
Broadcast
The promotion received a boost in visibility in their endeavor to compete with DREAM when it reached a broadcast agreement for Fuji TV to televise matches in Japan. It was significant given the fact that this is the first MMA promotion to be televised on the network since it dropped PRIDE FC from its lineup in mid-2006. The events will be shown live on Fuji TV 739 and then a two-hour version later in the night on Fuji TV.[2]
On February 6, 2009, HDNet announced they had reached and agreement with WVR to broadcast its Sengoku-events in America starting March 20, 2009.[3]
Rules
WVR's rules differ somewhat from the Mixed martial arts rules#Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. Among the differences are the allowance of knees and stomps to the head of downed opponent while elbows to the head and soccer kicks are prohibited.[4] Similar to the Unified Rules, fights have three rounds each lasting five minutes.
Keita Nakamura
Yoshihiro Nakao – Former PRIDE fighter
