RisingOn

RisingOn (ライジングオン) is a mixed martial arts organization promoted by Versus.Co.,Ltd., a Japanese private company. Atsushi Tanabe serves as the manager of Versus. Events are generally held in the Kansai (West Japan) area.

History

Powergate

Versus.Co., Ltd. was established in 2005 to find talented fighters in the West Japan area (Kansai). They held their first event, "POWERGATE The Unknowns Strike Back", on June 19, 2005 at Flamingo the Arusha in Osaka.

Since September 2006, some events featured the use of a hexagonal cage, as well as prohibiting strikes to the head of a downed opponent. Additionally, kickboxing matches were also featured.

Kaiser championships

In 2008, Versus.Co.,Ltd. announced that they would hold tournaments to sanction the first champions at lightweight (70 kg) and middleweight (83 kg). The tournament was named the "Kaiser Grand Prix", and champions were called "Kaiser" in reference to the German word for emperor. On April 13 and June 22, Keisuke Sakai and Zenta Yamazaki won the middleweight and lightweight tournaments to become the inaugural champions in their respective divisions.