Vale Tudo Japan


Vale Tudo Japan is an annual mixed martial arts competition held in Japan. Arranged by promoter Satoru Sayama, it ran from 1994 to 1999 with three reunion events in 2009, 2012 and 2016. A pair of tournaments were held in 1994 and '95, both of which were won by Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Rickson Gracie.

Events and Results

Vale Tudo Japan 1994

Vale Tudo Japan 1994 was held on July 29, 1994 at the Tokyo Bay NK Hall in Urayasu, Japan.
MatchWinnerLoserMethodRoundTime
1 Bud Smith Chris BassTKO 10:54
2 Jan Lomulder Kenji KawaguchiKO 13:59
3 David Levicki Kazuhiro KusayanagiKO 11:20
4 Rickson Gracie Yoshinori NishiSubmission 12:52
5 Rickson Gracie David LevickiSubmission 12:40
6 Naoki Sakurada Yasushi WaritaDraw35:00
7 Rickson Gracie Bud SmithSubmission 10:39

Vale Tudo Japan 1995

Vale Tudo Japan 1995 was held on April 20, 1995 at the Nippon Budokan Hall in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan.
MatchWinnerLoserMethodRoundTime
1 Craig Pittman Wayne EmonsSubmission 12:12
2 Yuki Nakai Gerard GordeauSubmission 42:41
3 Todd Hays Koichiro KimuraSubmission 12:55
4 Rickson Gracie Yoshihisa YamamotoTechnical Submission 33:49
5 Yuki Nakai Craig PittmanSubmission 27:32
6 Koichiro Kimura Wayne EmonsSubmission 16:05
7 Rickson Gracie Koichiro KimuraSubmission 12:07
8 Kenji Kawaguchi Tommy WalkingstickSubmission 16:29
9 Enson Inoue Rene RoozeSubmission 16:41
10 Rickson Gracie Yuki NakaiSubmission 16:22

Vale Tudo Japan 1996

Vale Tudo Japan 1996 was held on July 7, 1996 at the Tokyo Bay NK Hall in Urayasu, Japan.
MatchWinnerLoserMethodRoundTime
1 Alex Cook Tomoaki HayamaTechnical Submission 26:23
2 Mushtaq Abdullah Sanae KikutaSubmission 16:27
3 Yumiko Hotta Margot NeyhoftSubmission 24:14
4 Ed de Kruijf Joe EstesSubmission 10:53
5 Todd Bjornethun Eric LavigneKO 16:53
6 Dan Severn Doug MurphySubmission 13:23
7 John Lewis Rumina SatoDraw38:00
8 Igor Zinoviev Enson InoueTKO 10:44
9 Royler Gracie Noboru AsahiSubmission 15:07

Vale Tudo Japan 1997

Vale Tudo Japan 1997 was held on November 29, 1997 at the Tokyo Bay NK Hall in Urayasu, Japan.
MatchWinnerLoserMethodRoundTime
1 Jutaro Nakao Steve NelsonSubmission 25:31
2 Hayato Sakurai Marcelo AguiarDraw38:00
3 Kenji Kawaguchi Jan LomulderSubmission 33:49
4 João Roque Uchu TatsumiDraw38:00
5 Carlos Newton Erik PaulsonSubmission 10:41
6 Tom Erikson Ed de KruijfTKO 10:37
7 Rumina Sato John LewisSubmission 21:23
8 Frank Shamrock Enson InoueDQ 27:17

Vale Tudo Japan 1998

Vale Tudo Japan 1998 was held on October 25, 1998 at the Tokyo Bay NK Hall in Urayasu, Japan.
MatchWinnerLoserMethodRoundTime
1 Caol Uno Ricardo BotelhoSubmission 32:03
2 Vladimir Matyushenko Kenji KawaguchiKO 13:10
3 Branden Lee Hinkle Masanori SudaTKO 15:26
4 Frank Trigg Jean Jacques MachadoTKO 30:20
5 Noboru Asahi João RoqueDraw38:00
6 Hayato Sakurai Sergei BytchkovSubmission 14:59
7 Andre Pederneiras Rumina SatoKO 14:20
8 Enson Inoue Randy CoutureSubmission 11:39

Vale Tudo Japan 1999

Vale Tudo Japan 1999 was held on December 11, 1999 at the Tokyo Bay NK Hall in Urayasu, Japan.
MatchWinnerLoserMethodRoundTime
1 Rumina Sato Rafael CordeiroSubmission 10:58
2 Tetsuji Kato Angelo SergioSubmission 17:45
3 Takanori Gomi Johnny EduardoSubmission 31:43
4 Hisao Ikeda João RoqueDraw38:00
5 Uchu Tatsumi Alexandre Franca NogueiraDraw38:00
6 Caol Uno Andre PederneirasDraw38:00
7 Hayato Sakurai Haroldo BunnTKO 31:31

Vale Tudo Japan 2009

Vale Tudo Japan 2009 was held on October 30, 2009 at the JCB Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
MatchWinnerLoserMethodRoundTime
1 Masato Sannai Kosuke EdaDraw 25:00
2 Jung Min Kang Yoichiro SatoKO 12:48
3 Mamoru Yamaguchi Jesse TaitanoTKO 14:41
4 Willamy Freire Kenichiro TogashiTKO 12:05
5 Tito Jones Tenkei OdaDecision 35:00
6 Rumina Sato Corey GrantTKO 13:20
7 Takeshi Inoue Alexandre Franca NogueiraTKO 42:58
8 Takanori Gomi Tony HerveyDecision 55:00

Vale Tudo Japan 2012

Vale Tudo Japan 2012 was held on December 24, 2012 at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.
MatchWinnerLoserMethodRoundTime
Welterweight Daisuke Hoshino Kuntap WeerasakreckSubmission 12:19
Middleweight Keita Nakamura Nobutatsu SuzukiSubmission 12:09
Bantamweight Kenji Osawa Takeshi InoueDecision 35:00
Women's Strawweight Megumi Fujii Mei YamaguchiDecision 25:00
Bantamweight Kyoji Horiguchi Ian LovelandDecision 35:00
Flyweight Darrell Montague Mamoru YamaguchiDecision 35:00
Lightweight Kuniyoshi Hironaka Carlo PraterDecision 35:00
Bantamweight Hideo Tokoro Rumina SatoTKO 10:39

Vale Tudo Japan 2013

Vale Tudo Japan 2013 was held on December 6, 2013 at Ota City General Station, station #7, Ota, Tokyo, Japan. The Main Event featured longtime # 1 ranked Megumi Fujii in her retirement bout.
MatchWinnerLoserMethodRoundTime
Featherweight Taiyo Hayashi Yuji KuroganeTKO 22:18
Flyweight Seiichiro Ito Taku KajikawaSubmission 11:35
Strawweight Ryuto Sawada Hiroyuki TakahashiDecision 35:00
Welterweight Koshi Matsumoto Kengo UraDecision 35:00
Featherweight Akiyo Nishiura Shigeki OsawaDecision 35:00
Bantamweight Yuta Nezu Motonobu TezukaDecision 35:00
LightweightBrodee Hudson Daisuke HoshinoSubmission 33:57
Featherweight Yuta Sasaki Geun Do ParkSubmission 11:36
Featherweight Yusuke Yachi Takeshi InoueDecision 35:00
Flyweight Will Campuzano Hideo TokoroDecision 35:00
Featherweight Caol Uno Daniel RomeroSubmission 22:23
Women's Strawweight Jessica Aguilar Megumi FujiiTKO 25:00