| Hero's | |
| Type: | Defunct |
| Location Country: | Japan |
| Industry: | Mixed martial arts promotion |
| Parent: | Fighting and Entertainment Group |
Hero's was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion operated by Fighting and Entertainment Group, the parent entity behind kickboxing organization K-1. Grown from and branched off of K-1's earlier experiments in MMA, including the K-1 Romanex event and various MMA fights on its regular K-1 kickboxing cards, it held its first show on March 26, 2005. The promotion was handled by former Rings head Akira Maeda. At a press conference on February 13, 2008, FEG announced that they discontinued Hero's and were creating a new mixed martial arts franchise, Dream, in collaboration with former Pride FC executives from Dream Stage Entertainment.
Although not as popular worldwide as the Ultimate Fighting Championship or the now defunct Pride Fighting Championships, Hero's was very recognizable in the Japanese mixed martial arts scene, thanks in large part to the visibility and resources of FEG and K-1. Hero's events were sometimes co-sponsored and broadcast on the TBS national television network in Japan.[1] In contrast to PRIDE and the UFC, Hero's promoted only three weight classes: middleweight (-70 kg/-154 lbs), light heavyweight (-85 kg/-187 lbs) and heavyweight (+85 kg/+187 lbs)
On March 27, 2007, FEG (the Fighting Entertainment Group) held a press conference at the Los Angeles Coliseum to announce their first US event which was to be held on June 2, 2007. The show, named K-1 Dynamite!! USA, was a joint operated venture with the newly formed Elite XC, British MMA organization Cage Rage, BoDog Fight and the Korean-based Spirit MC. The show was broken down into two parts, with the first part (made up of three fights) being aired for free Showtime and the second part on pay-per-view.
At a press conference on February 13, 2008, FEG announced that they discontinued Hero's and were creating a new mixed martial arts franchise, Dream, in collaboration with former Pride FC executives from Dream Stage Entertainment. In addition to established Hero's stars, (such as Calvancante, Akiyama, and Yamamoto) many other top fighters from around the world (such as Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović and Shinya Aoki) joined the new promotion.
Many notable mixed martial artists competed in Hero's, including:
Sam Greco
Antônio Silva Gesias Calvancante Hermes Franca Lyoto Machida Rani Yahya Royce Gracie Vítor Ribeiro
Carlos Newton Denis Kang
Ivan Menjivar
Caol Uno Genki Sudo Hideo Tokoro Hiroyuki Takaya Kazuo Misaki Kazushi Sakuraba Kiuma Kunioku Michihiro Omigawa Norifumi Yamamoto Shungo Oyama Yoshihiro Akiyama Yushin Okami
Jerome Le Banner
Ray Sefo
Joachim Hansen
Sergei Kharitonov
Jan Nortje
Gary Goodridge
Antonio McKee B.J. Penn Bob Sapp Don Frye Heath Herring Jake Shields Nam Phan Rich Clementi Brock Lesnar| Year | Weight class | Champion | Runner-up | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Middleweight (751NaN1) | Genki Sudo | ||
| 2006 | Light heavyweight (901NaN1) | Melvin Manhoef | ||
| 2006 | Middleweight (751NaN1) | Caol Uno | ||
| 2007 | Middleweight (751NaN1) |
* Total event number: 19
Japan (13)Tokyo – 5
Yokohama – 3
Osaka – 3
Nagoya – 1
Saitama – 1
Vilnius – 3
South Korea (2)Seoul – 2
United States (1)Los Angeles, California – 1