Vale Tudo Japan

Vale Tudo Japan (VTJ) (Japanese: ヴァーリ・トゥード・ジャパン, Hepburn: Vāri Tūdo Japan) was an annual mixed martial arts competition held in Japan. Originally it was arranged by promoter and former professional wrestler Satoru Sayama; he had previously created a hybrid martial art organization named Shooto in 1985. He arranged VTJ in 1994 with the objective of creating a more rules-free event similar to the early Ultimate Fighting Championship events in the United States and Vale Tudo competitions in Brazil. Until the Vale Tudo Japan tournament, Shooto did not feature striking in ground position. The fighters were composed of the best Japanese MMA fighters drawn from Shooto, the Shoot Wrestling circuit as well as foreign invitees, including illustrious names such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Rickson Gracie.