Fighting Network Rings, trademarked as RINGS, is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion turned mixed martial arts organization from 1991 to 2002 with a revival in 2008. It was founded by Akira Maeda on May 11, 1991, following the dissolution of Newborn UWF.
At that time, Maeda and Mitsuya Nagai were the only two people to transfer from UWF International, which had been inaugurated just the day before. Wrestlers such as Kiyoshi Tamura, Hiromitsu Kanehara, and Kenichi Yamamoto later transferred from UWF International.
Tournaments[]
Mega Battle Tournament[]
- Mega Battle Tournament 1992 (Oct 29, 1992-Jan 23, 1993) - Chris Dolman
- Mega Battle Tournament 1993 (Oct 23, 1993-Jan 21, 1994) - Akira Maeda
- Mega Battle Tournament 1994 (Sep 21, 1994-Jan 25, 1995) - Volk Han
- Mega Battle Tournament 1995 (Oct 21, 1995-Jan 24, 1996) - Akira Maeda
- Mega Battle Tournament 1996 (Oct 25, 1996-Jan 22, 1997) - Volk Han
- Mega Battle Tournament 1997 (Oct 25, 1997-Jan 21, 1998) - Kiyoshi Tamura
- Mega Battle Tournament 1998 (Oct 23, 1998-Jan 23, 1999) - Netherlands
King of Kings[]
- King of Kings Tournament 1999 (Oct 28, 1999 - Feb 26, 2000) - Dan Henderson
- King of Kings Tournament 2000 (Oct 9, 2000-Feb 24, 2001) - Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera
Title Tournaments[]
- Light Heavyweight Title Tournament 1997 (Mar 28 - Aug 13, 1997) - Masayuki Naruse
- Middleweight Title Tournament 2001 (Apr 20 - Aug 11, 2001) - Ricardo Arona
- Open-weight Title Tournament 2001 (Apr 20 - Aug 11, 2001) - Fedor Emelianenko
Other Tournaments[]
- Rising Stars Heavyweight Tournament 2000 (Jul 15-Sep 30, 2000) - Bobby Hoffman
- Rising Stars Middleweight Tournament 2000 (Jul 15-Sep 30, 2000) - Jeremy Horn
- Absolute Class Tournament 2001 (Oct 20, 2001-Feb 15, 2002) - Fedor Emelianenko
Championships[]
Open-Weight Championship[]
| No. | Name | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kiyoshi Tamura (def. Mikhail Ilioukhine) |
January 21, 1998 (Mega Battle Tournament 1997) |
Tokyo, Japan | |
| 2 | Bitsadze Tariel (def. Kiyoshi Tamura) |
May 29, 1998 (Fighting Integration III) |
Sapporo, Japan | |
| 3 | Kiyoshi Tamura (def. Bitsadze Tariel) |
May 22, 1999 (Rise III) |
Tokyo, Japan | |
| 4 | Gilbert Yvel (def. Kiyoshi Tamura) |
April 20, 2000 (Millennium Combine) |
Tokyo, Japan | Title was vacated in May 2000 when Yvel signed to Pride FC. |
| 5 | Fedor Emelianenko (def. Bobby Hoffman) |
August 11, 2001 (Rings – 10th Anniversary) |
Tokyo, Japan | Promotion closed on February 15, 2002. |
Light-Heavyweight Championship (-95kg)[]
| No. | Name | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Masayuki Naruse (def. Christopher Haseman) |
August 13, 1997 (Fighting Extension VI) |
Kagoshima, Japan | Title Dissolved. |
Middleweight Championship[]
| No. | Name | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ricardo Arona (def. Gustavo Ximu) |
August 11, 2001 (Rings-10th Anniversary) |
Tokyo, Japan | Promotion closed on February 15, 2002. |
Japanese roster[]
- Akira Maeda
- Mitsuya Nagai
- Yoshihisa Yamamoto
- Masayuki Naruse
- Tsuyoshi Kosaka
- Wataru Sakata
- Kiyoshi Tamura
- Kid Yamamoto
- Hiromitsu Kanehara
- Ryuki Ueyama
- Hiroyuki Ito
Foreigners[]
Rings's system was very much like the NWA in which members of "foreign promotions" (actually stables composed of fighters from a given country) competed against the Japanese members.
Stables[]
- Netherlands (Dick Vrij, Hans Nijman, Gilbert Yvel, Joop Kasteel, Valentijn Overeem, Alistair Overeem, Chris Dolman)
- Australia (Chris Haseman, Elvis Sinosic, Tony Bonello)
- Bulgaria (Todor Todorov, Dimitar Petkov, Georgi Tonkov)
- Georgia (Zaza Grom, Tariel Bitsadze, Amiran Bitsadze).
- Russia (Volk Han, Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Kopylov, Nikolai Zuyev, Mikhail Illoukhine).
- Brazil (Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Ricardo Arona, Renato Sobral, Gustavo Machado, Renzo Gracie).
- United Kingdom (Lee Hasdell was the representative for Rings UK, which began in the late 90's, other British fighters included Chris Watts, Dexter Casey and Paul Cahoon).
- United States (Randy Couture, Dan Henderson, and Bobby Hoffman)
Decline[]
Maeda retired from active duty in 1998, leaving Tamura as the top star, but the collapse of UWF International and the subsequent rise of the Pride provided competition that proved to be too much for the promotion. On February 15, 2002 the promotion ceased activity.
Japanese Rings stars who made transitions into puroresu since then include Nagai, Masayuki Naruse, Wataru Sakata and Hiroyuki Ito.
Revival[]
Following the dissolution of Hero's and Maeda's involvement with FEG, Maeda revived the Rings brand for a new series of MMA events named The Outsider. The first Rings: The Outsider event occurred on March 30, 2008. Over a dozen Outsider events have been held since.