ONE FC and GLORY join forces ahead of New Year’s Eve event

Up and coming Asian promotion ONE FC has officially announced a partnership with Glory Sports International that will allow for the mutual exchange of contracted fighters as early as December 31st of this year.

The Asian fight game has been no stranger to roster sharing and non-exclusive contracts, and the new deal will see GLORY’s stable of fighters join the ONE FC network of partnered promotions, which already includes Japan’s premier organization DREAM, Filippino promotion URCC, Australia’s CFC, and a host of other major South East Asian MMA and kickboxing promotions.

Fight fans can expect to see the fruits of the new partnership at DREAM.18/GLORY 4, set to ring in the new year from Japan’s Saitama Super Arena. The annual New Year’s Eve show has long-been a staple of Japanese MMA culture, and, despite a full year passing without a single DREAM event coupled with long standing rumors (many of which largely validated) about the company’s financial instability, the show will go on as planned for another year.

The co-promoted event will host GLORY’s 16-man kickboxing tournament as well as a series of MMA fights featuring ONE FC network tallent. At present, Japanese MMA superstars Hayato “Mach” Sakurai, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Hiroyuki Takaya, and Shinya Aoki have all been confirmed for the event.

And now, with a over 18 promotions and affiliated fight teams worth of talent to build cards from, maybe Kazushi Sakuraba can finally spend a quiet New Year’s at home…