VALE TUDO JAPAN ’98-’99

A shining milestone in the martial arts world, Balijapa, be eternal!! 1998 was a breakthrough year for Shuto. With his explosive rise in popularity, he began to attract attention from various media, and the era when Asahi, Ensen, Lumina, and Mach were called the Four Stars of Shooto was overshadowed by the continuous emergence of talented newcomers. Parisjapa 98, where Kaoru Uno appeared in the first match, felt like a world apart. Machado, the legendary brother of the Pragilian Jiu-Jitsu world alongside Gracie, made his debut. Asahi, Mach, and Lumina distinguished themselves in three different ways. Then came the clash between Couture, the reigning UFC heavyweight champion in the United States, and Ensen, the Shooto heavyweight champion. It was a grand tournament where top fighters from around the world competed for supremacy. The following year, 1999. Only three players participated consecutively from the previous year: Lumina, Uno, and Mach, strongly emphasizing the generational shift. The matchmaking they arranged was a full-scale showdown with Prajil, the birthplace of Vale Tudo. There were concerns that it might be a repeat of 1996. It has been 15 years since Shooto was established in Japan as a pioneer of mixed martial arts. Vale Tude Japan played a major role in establishing MMA in Japan and completed its mission. All 16 matches recorded