Deep (previously Deep2001) is a

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

-based

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

promoting and sanctioning organization. It is promoted by Shigeru Saeki who is also the former Public Relations Director of

Pride Fighting Championships PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts even ...

. Their inaugural event took place in 2001 and featured

Paulo Filho Paulo Filho (; born May 24, 1978), is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist who last competed in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor from 2000 until 2014, Filho was the last WEC Middleweight Champion, and also comp ...

and

Royler Gracie Royler Gracie (born December 6, 1965) is a Brazilian-American retired mixed martial artist and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner. Gracie ran the Gracie Humaitá school in Rio de Janeiro for many years under his father Helio's d ...

. On May 17, 2008, Deep announced a partnership with ZST to share fighters, co-promote shows and eventually unify the promotions.

History

Deep was established in 2000 as "Deep 2001", and the first event was promoted on January 8, 2001. In 2003, Deep 2001 changed its name to Deep. Deep started playing the role of a subcontractor for

since

Dream Stage Entertainment Dream Stage Entertainment (DSE) was a Japanese company that promoted various wrestling and mixed martial arts events, most notably mixed martial arts Pride Fighting Championship and Hustle professional wrestling events. Company history Allegat ...

(DSE) started promoting the Pride Bushido series in September 2003, which focused training Japanese fighters at

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

and

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

. As a result, a number of Japanese fighters, such as

Ryo Chonan is a Japanese retired professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2001 to 2013, Chonan competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC, PRIDE Fighting Championships, PRIDE, Deep (mixed martial arts), DEEP, Dream (mixed ...

and

Ikuhisa Minowa is a Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler currently competing in IGF as . A professional MMA competitor since 1996, he was a longtime veteran of PRIDE and Pancrase and has also competed in other mixed martial arts promotion ...

, started their careers fighting in DEEP before moving on to larger and more famous MMA promotions. Deep is also known as one of the few major Japanese organizations to cultivate Korean talent, including

Dong Hyun Kim Kim Dong-hyun (; born November 17, 1981), anglicized as Dong Hyun Kim, is a South Korean retired mixed martial artist who most notably fought in the UFC's welterweight division. He was signed by the UFC after fighting in the Japanese promotion ...

Chan Sung Jung Jung Chan-sung (; born March 17, 1987), anglicized as Chan Sung Jung and better known by his ring name The Korean Zombie, is a South Korean former professional mixed martial artist. He competed in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Figh ...

, and Doo Ho Choi - all of which have moved on to successful careers in the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

. Deep began promoting bouts with female fighters at its 13th event on July 13, 2003. On February 22, 2008, Deep implemented the weight division system created by

Nevada State Athletic Commission The Nevada State Athletic Commission (also known as the Nevada Athletic Commission or NSAC) regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of Nevada, including licensure and supervision of promoters, boxers, kickboxer ...

(NSAC) for its male fighters. On December 19, 2009, Deep started to use a

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

-style

octagon In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a ...

for their ''Cage Impact'' events. At a press conference held in

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

on December 1, 2010, DEEP announced its first international event, which was to be held in Macau in 2011. However, low levels of interest and dismal tickets sales led DEEP to cancel the event. Deep has yet to host an event outside Japan. In February 2011, it was announced that Deep and the MMA division of Smash had formed an amateur promotion named the Japan MMA League (JML).

Deep Jewels

On the all-female MMA promotion

Jewels A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewellery, jewelry or other adornments. Certain Rock (geology), rocks (such ...

announced that it would cease operations as an independent company, with Yuichi Ozono, then head of Jewels, stepping down and Shigeru Saeki from Deep, formerly supervisor, taking the full direction, and transferring fighters and brand to the new Deep Jewels brand, which would be managed by Deep.

Events

As of April 16, 2013, Deep has held a total of 194 events comprising 2202 fights, all of which have taken place in

. As of , two events of the all-female fighters brand Deep Jewels have been held.

Current champions

Broadcasters

Deep Based out of

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

, Japan. Broadcast their fights locally on ''

SKY PerfecTV! is a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service that provides satellite television, audio programming and interactive television services to households in Japan, owned by parent company SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation. SKY PerfecTV! is also a dire ...

'' (

Fighting TV Samurai Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is resorted to either as a method of ...

channel) and streaming on

AbemaTV is a Japanese streaming service that launched on April 11, 2016, under the name It is majority-owned by CyberAgent, with a 55.2% stake, and TV Asahi, with a 36.8% stake, while the remaining ownership belongs to various other companies, mostly ...

References

External links

Official website

DEEP event results at sherdog
{{Authority control Mixed martial arts promotions Mixed martial arts in Japan 2001 establishments in Japan