Photo courtesy of Nightmare of Battle

The translation for the visual above, which is a feature from Tokyo Sports on the possibility of World Victory Road (WVR) and Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG) working together for a New Year's Eve show, might as well read "hell may freeze over in 2010". After the unfortunate demise of the legendary Pride Fighting Championships, a league which enjoyed a stranglehold on the overseas market for most of it's existence, the Japanese MMA scene was split into two seperate factions:  the "Sengoku" shows under the WVR banner, and the DREAM and K-1/Dynamite! promotions under the wings of FEG.  The all too logical opinion that these separately distinguished Japanese MMA companies should join forces and become one powerhouse organization was previously deemed impossible due to an allegedly malicious rivalry between the two company figureheads. New Year's Eve is traditionally an enormous night for MMA in the land of the rising sun; the equivalent of Superbowl Sunday in the states, if you will.  Sengoku was promoting a year's end show that would unveil their promotion's new name, "Sengoku Raiden Championships", featuring the debut of Satoshi Ishii in his highly anticipated first venture into MMA versus Hidehiko Yoshida.  Reports have surfaced that the entire event will be completely cancelled, as Ishii/Yoshida was the only official bout and the press conference that was scheduled specifically for this show vanished into thin air. Hot on the heels of this disappointing news are the circulating rumors that WVR and FEG may secretly be negotiating behind the scenes to defy the odds and finally converge for a precedential New Year's Eve co-promotion extravaganza, as reported by Nightmare of Battle, Bloody Elbow, and Josh Gross.  Although the situation is still shrouded in mystery, and it's also being speculated that the deal would only pertain to one singular December 31st show--the repercussions of this partnership could have a serious impact on worldwide MMA.  For starters, should this alliance persevere into 2010, this would draw together the deep pool of Japanese talent that was inevitably scattered after Pride's dissolution.  For example, take the significant success and appeal of both Sengoku's and DREAM's featherweight tournament and their respective lightweight rosters, and imagine all of those talented fighters under the same roof.  At featherweight, we're talking about Kanehara, Omigawa, Hioki, Sandro, and Chan Sung Jung against the likes of Fernandes, Takaya, Tokoro, Imanari, Joe Warren, and Kid Yamamoto.  The lightweight possibilities provide equally salivating opportunities as Hirota, Kitaoka, Masvidal, Yokota, and Mitsuoka could face names such as Aoki, Kawajiri, Hansen, Cavalcante, Kikuno, and maybe even Alvarez, depending on his loan schedule from Bellator. Alas, I'm sure these are but silly delusions from an overzealous fan, and the realistic outcome is probably a one-time shot for WVR and FEG to put their differences aside and shake up the night before 2010 by providing the best conceivable platform for Japanese MMA fans.  However, the giddy fanboy in me can't quite extinguish the hopeful thought that these two parties could make quite an impact by coming together and ruling the A-level Japanese fighting scene.  Now, considering DREAM's new agreement with Strikeforce, it would also seem like an orgasmic "win/win" for FEG to put their premiere fighters on the offering table for Strikeforce shows, where the now established runner-up behind the UFC in the states could increase the availability of overseas talent (and showcase the FEG fighters in the U.S.) while getting exposure for their own fighters across the pond, ultimately deeply reinforcing each organizations fighter inventory and making them an even more formidable competitor to the UFC.  I mean--the guy with the biggest gun wins, right? My highly hypothetical thesis can be simply summarized as "strength in numbers":  when all of the MMA organizations in the world are fiercely competing against one enormous money maker with an entirely different level of marketing and an edge in both the quantity and quality of fighter population, why not coalesce into one unified and commanding presence?

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