Vale Tudo Japan (VTJ) (Japanese: ヴァーリ・トゥード・ジャパン, Hepburn: Vāri Tūdo Japan) is an annual mixed martial arts competition held in Japan. Originally it was arranged by promoter and former professional wrestler Satoru Sayama; he had previously created a hybrid martial art organization named Shooto in 1985. He arranged VTJ in 1994 with the objective of creating a more rules-free event similar to the early Ultimate Fighting Championship events in the United States and Vale Tudo competitions in Brazil. Until the Vale Tudo Japan tournament, Shooto did not feature striking in ground position. The fighters were composed of the best Japanese MMA fighters drawn from Shooto, the Shoot Wrestling circuit as well as foreign invitees, including illustrious names such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Rickson Gracie.^[1][2]

Some other notable fighters to fight at Vale Tudo Japan include Sanae Kikuta, Takanori Gomi, Enson Inoue, João Roque, Carlos Newton, Rumina Sato, Royler Gracie, Dan Severn, Vladimir Matyushenko, Frank Shamrock, Jean Jacques Machado, Randy Couture, Frank Trigg, André Pederneiras, Rafael Cordeiro, Alexandre Franca Nogueira, Hayato Sakurai, and Yuki Nakai. Vale Tudo Japan events ran from 1994 to 1999; a pair of editions held in 1994 and '95 were single-elimination tournaments, both of which were won by Rickson Gracie.^[3] Afterwards, from 1996 to 1999 the events were invitationals.^[2][4]

Vale Tudo Japan returned in 2009, organized by the Vale Tudo Japan Executive Committee, with semi-annual events and three reunion events in 2009, 2012 and 2016.^[2][5]

Early Vale Tudo Japan events were a huge success and led to a boom of popularity and development of MMA and Shooto in Japan. The tournament is considered a predecessor to PRIDE Fighting Championships. VTJ's format and rules would serve as a basis for PRIDE,^[2] while Rickson Gracie's impressive victories in VTJ would make him a celebrity in Japan, leading to him being paired with popular Shoot-style professional wrestler Nobuhiko Takada to headline Pride 1 in 1997.^[6]

Vale Tudo Japan 1994 was held on July 29, 1994, at the Tokyo Bay NK Hall in Urayasu, Japan.

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
	Rickson Gracie	def.	Bud Smith	Submission (punches)	1	0:39
	Naoki Sakurada	vs.	Yasushi Warita	Draw	5	5:00
	Rickson Gracie	def.	David Levicki	Submission (punches)	1	2:40
	Rickson Gracie	def.	Yoshinori Nishi	Submission (rear naked choke)	1	2:52
	David Levicki	def.	Kazuhiro Kusayanagi	KO (punches)	1	1:20
	Jan Lomulder	def.	Kenji Kawaguchi	KO (punch)	1	3:59
	Bud Smith	def.	Chris Bass	TKO (straight punch)	1	0:54

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	Bud Smith	TKO
	Chris Bass	1
					Bud Smith	WO*
					Jan Lomulder	0
	Jan Lomulder	KO
	Kenji Kawaguchi	1
									Bud Smith	1
									Rickson Gracie	SUB
	David Levicki	KO
	Kazuhiro Kusayanagi	1
					David Levicki	1
					Rickson Gracie	SUB
	Rickson Gracie	SUB
	Yoshinori Nishi	1

* = Lomulder was unable to continue.

Vale Tudo Japan 1995 was held on April 20, 1995, at the Nippon Budokan Hall in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan.

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
	Rickson Gracie	def.	Yuki Nakai	Submission (rear naked choke)	1	6:22
	Enson Inoue	def.	Rene Rooze	Submission (rear naked choke)	1	6:41
	Kenji Kawaguchi	def.	Tommy Walkingstick	Submission (armbar)	1	6:29
	Rickson Gracie	def.	Koichiro Kimura	Submission (rear naked choke)	1	2:07
	Koichiro Kimura	def.	Wayne Emons	Submission (guillotine choke)	1	6:05
	Yuki Nakai	def.	Craig Pittman	Submission (armbar)	2	7:32
	Rickson Gracie	def.	Yoshihisa Yamamoto	Technical Submission (rear naked choke)	3	3:49
	Todd Hays	def.	Koichiro Kimura	Submission (guillotine choke)	1	2:55
	Yuki Nakai	def.	Gerard Gordeau	Submission (heel hook)	4	2:41
	Craig Pittman	def.	Wayne Emons	Submission (arm triangle choke)	1	2:12

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	Craig Pittman	SUB
	Wayne Emons	1
					Craig Pittman	2
					Yuki Nakai	SUB
	Yuki Nakai	SUB
	Gerard Gordeau	4
									Yuki Nakai	1
									Rickson Gracie	SUB
	Todd Hays	SUB
	Koichiro Kimura	1
					Koichiro Kimura*	1
					Rickson Gracie	SUB
	Rickson Gracie	SUB
	Yoshihisa Yamamoto	1

* = Hays was unable to continue. Kimura defeated Emons to claim his place.

Vale Tudo Japan 1996 was held on July 7, 1996, at the Tokyo Bay NK Hall in Urayasu, Japan.

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
	Royler Gracie	def.	Noboru Asahi	Submission (rear naked choke)	1	5:07
	Igor Zinoviev	vs.	Enson Inoue	TKO (punches)	1	0:44
	John Lewis	vs.	Rumina Sato	Draw	3	8:00
	Dan Severn	def.	Doug Murphy	Submission (keylock)	1	3:23
	Todd Bjornethun	def.	Eric Lavigne	KO (punches)	1	6:53
	Ed de Kruijf	def.	Joe Estes	Submission (rear naked choke)	1	0:53
	Yumiko Hotta	def.	Margot Neyhoft	Submission (keylock)	2	4:14
	Mushtaq Abdullah	def.	Sanae Kikuta	Submission (forearm choke)	1	6:27
	Alex Cook	def.	Tomoaki Hayama	Technical Submission (arm triangle choke)	2	6:23

Vale Tudo Japan 1997 was held on November 29, 1997, at the Tokyo Bay NK Hall in Urayasu, Japan.

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
	Frank Shamrock	def.	Enson Inoue	DQ (Egan Inoue ran into the ring)	2	7:17
	Rumina Sato	def.	John Lewis	Submission (armbar)	2	1:23
	Tom Erikson	def.	Ed de Kruijf	TKO (punches)	1	0:37
	Carlos Newton	def.	Erik Paulson	Submission (armbar)	1	0:41
	João Roque	vs.	Uchu Tatsumi	Draw	3	8:00
	Kenji Kawaguchi	def.	Jan Lomulder	Submission (rear naked choke)	3	3:49
	Hayato Sakurai	vs.	Marcelo Aguiar	Draw	3	8:00
	Jutaro Nakao	def.	Steve Nelson	Submission (triangle choke)	2	5:31

Vale Tudo Japan 1998 was held on October 25, 1998, at the Tokyo Bay NK Hall in Urayasu, Japan.

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
	Enson Inoue	def.	Randy Couture	Submission (armbar)	1	1:39
	Andre Pederneiras	def.	Rumina Sato	KO (soccer kick and punches)	1	4:20
	Hayato Sakurai	def.	Sergei Bytchkov	Submission (armbar)	1	4:59
	Noboru Asahi	vs.	João Roque	Draw	3	8:00
	Frank Trigg	vs.	Jean Jacques Machado	TKO (corner stoppage)	3	0:20
	Branden Lee Hinkle	def.	Masanori Suda	TKO (upkicks)	1	5:26
	Vladimir Matyushenko	vs.	Kenji Kawaguchi	KO (punches)	1	3:10
	Caol Uno	def.	Ricardo Botelho	Submission (punches)	3	2:03

Vale Tudo Japan 1999 was held on December 11, 1999, at the Tokyo Bay NK Hall in Urayasu, Japan.

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
	Hayato Sakurai	def.	Haroldo Bunn	TKO (punches)	3	1:31
	Caol Uno	vs.	Andre Pederneiras	Draw	3	8:00
	Uchu Tatsumi	vs.	Alexandre Franca Nogueira	Draw	3	8:00
	Hisao Ikeda	vs.	João Roque	Draw	3	8:00
	Takanori Gomi	vs.	Johnny Eduardo	Submission (rear naked choke)	3	1:43
	Tetsuji Kato	def.	Angelo Sergio	Submission (punches)	1	7:45
	Rumina Sato	vs.	Rafael Cordeiro	Submission (kneebar)	1	0:58

Vale Tudo Japan 2009 was held on October 30, 2009, at the JCB Hall in Tokyo, Japan.

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
	Takanori Gomi	def.	Tony Hervey	Decision (unanimous)	5	5:00
	Takeshi Inoue	def.	Alexandre Franca Nogueira	TKO (punches)	4	2:58
	Rumina Sato	def.	Corey Grant	TKO (punches)	1	3:20
	Tito Jones	def.	Tenkei Oda	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
	Williamy Freire	vs.	Kenichiro Togashi	TKO (doctor stoppage)	1	2:05	[a]
	Mamoru Yamaguchi	def.	Jesse Taitano	TKO (punches)	1	4:41
	Jung Min Kang	vs.	Yoichiro Sato	KO (punches)	1	2:48
	Masato Sannai	vs.	Kosuke Eda	Draw (majority)	2	5:00

Vale Tudo Japan: VTJ 1st (also known as VTJ 1ST) was held on December 24, 2012, at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Bantamweight	Hideo Tokoro	def.	Rumina Sato	TKO (punches and elbows)	1	0:39
Lightweight	Kuniyoshi Hironaka	def.	Carlo Prater	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
Flyweight	Darrell Montague	def.	Mamoru Yamaguchi	Decision (split)	3	5:00
Bantamweight	Kyoji Horiguchi	def.	Ian Loveland	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
Women's Strawweight	Megumi Fujii	def.	Mei Yamaguchi	TKO (doctor stoppage)	1	2:05
Bantamweight	Kenji Osawa	def.	Takeshi Inoue	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
Middleweight	Keita Nakamura	vs.	Nobutatsu Suzuki	Submission (rear naked choke)	1	2:09
Welterweight	Daisuke Hoshino	vs.	Kuntap Weerasakreck	Submission (armbar)	1	2:19

Vale Tudo Japan: VTJ 2nd (also known as VTJ 2ND) was held on June 22, 2013, at the Tokyo Dome City Hall in Tokyo, Japan.

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Bantamweight	Kyoji Horiguchi	def.	Shintaro Ishiwatari	KO/TKO	5	0:41
Featherweight	Daniel Romero	def.	Hiroyuki Takaya	KO/TKO	1	3:21
Catchweight 59 kg	Hideo Tokoro	def.	Taylor McCorriston	Submission (heel hook)	2	2:34
Featherweight	Caol Uno	def.	Anthony Avila	Submission (rear naked choke)	3	1:53
Flyweight	Mikihito Yamagami	def.	Mamoru Yamaguchi	Decision (majority)	3	5:00
Bantamweight	Yuta Nezu	def.	Akiyo Nishiura	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
Featherweight	Teruto Ishihara	def.	Koji Mori	KO/TKO	1	2:12
Catchweight 97 kg	Gabriel Zobo Lebay	def.	Lucas Tani	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
Preliminary card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Bantamweight	Shooto Watanabe	def.	Shintaro Kubo	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
Lightweight	Yuki Kawana	def.	Kazumasa Sugawara	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
Strawweight	Ryuto Sawada	def.	Hiroaki Shishino	Submission (armbar)	3	2:36

Vale Tudo Japan: VTJ 3rd (also known as VTJ 3RD) was held on October 5, 2013, at Ota City General Gymnasium in Ota, Tokyo, Japan. The main event featured longtime # 1 ranked Megumi Fujii in her retirement bout.

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Women's Strawweight	Megumi Fujii	def.	Jessica Aguilar	TKO (doctor stoppage)	2	5:00
Featherweight	Caol Uno	def.	Daniel Romero	Submission (inverted triangle choke)	2	2:23
Flyweight	Will Campuzano	def.	Hideo Tokoro	Decision (split)	3	5:00
Featherweight	Yusuke Yachi	def.	Takeshi Inoue	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
Featherweight	Ulka Sasaki	def.	Geun Do Park	Submission (rear naked choke)	1	1:36
Lightweight	Naoyuki Kotani	def.	Daisuke Hoshino	Submission (armbar)	3	3:57
Bantamweight	Yuta Nezu	def.	Motonobu Tezuka	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
Featherweight	Akiyo Nishiura	def.	Shigeki Osawa	Decision (split)	3	5:00
Welterweight	Koshi Matsumoto	def.	Kengo Ura	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
Preliminary card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Strawweight	Ryuto Sawada	def.	Hiroyuki Takahashi	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
Flyweight	Seiichiro Ito	def.	Taku Kajikawa	Submission (armbar)	1	1:35
Featherweight	Taiyo Hayashi	def.	Yuji Kurogane	TKO (punches)	2	2:18

Vale Tudo Japan: VTJ 4th (also known as VTJ 4TH) was held on February 23, 2014, at Ota City General Gymnasium in Ota, Tokyo, Japan.

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Featherweight	Hiroyuki Takaya	def.	Yojiro Uchimura	TKO (punches)	1	1:23
Featherweight	Caol Uno	def.	Jesse Brock	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
Lightweight	Naoyuki Kotani	def.	Yoshihiro Koyama	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
Flyweight	Ryuichi Miki	def.	Yoshiro Maeda	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00	[a]
Flyweight	Czar Sklavos	def.	Mamoru Yamaguchi	Submission (rear naked choke)	1	1:28	[b]
Flyweight	Hiromasa Ougikubo	def.	Takeshi Kasugai	Decision (majority)	3	5:00	[c]
Flyweight	Kana Hyatt	def.	Freddy Arteaga	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00	[d]
Featherweight	Jae Woong Kim	def.	Wataru Miki	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
Welterweight	Kengo Ura	def.	Daisuke Hoshino	Decision (split)	3	5:00
Bantamweight	Ulka Sasaki	def.	Teruto Ishihara	Submission (rear naked choke)	2	1:46
Preliminary card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Flyweight	Katsuya Murofushi	def.	Hidenobu Izena	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
Lightweight	Joji Mikami	def.	Kazushi Okutsu	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
Featherweight	Makoto Maeda	vs.	Yuki Suzuki	Draw (majority)	3	3:00

Vale Tudo Japan: VTJ 5th in Osaka (also known as VTJ 5TH IN OSAKA) was held on June 28, 2014, at Bodymaker Colosseum in Osaka, Japan.

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Bantamweight	Teruto Ishihara	def.	Jung Hwan Jo	TKO (punches)	2	2:24
Flyweight	Czar Sklavos	def.	Ryuichi Miki	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00	[a]
Flyweight	Hiromasa Ougikubo	def.	Kana Hyatt	Submission (rear naked choke)	1	1:27	[b]
Featherweight	Takumi Nakayama	def.	Wataru Miki	Submission (rear naked choke)	2	2:28
Bantamweight	Yusaku Nakamura	def.	Kenji Yamamoto	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
Preliminary card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Flyweight	Junya Kodo	def.	Hidenobu Izena	Submission (guillotine choke)	3	1:25
Featherweight	Tsuneo Kimura	def.	Kazumasa Majima	Decision (split)	3	3:00
Featherweight	Akira Takano	vs.	Takaaki Murata	TKO (doctor stoppage)	1	3:00

Vale Tudo Japan: VTJ 6th (also known as VTJ 6TH) was held on October 4, 2014, at Ota City General Gymnasium in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan.

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Bantamweight	Hiromasa Ougikubo	def.	Czar Sklavos	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00	[a]
Featherweight	Isao Kobayashi	def.	Takeshi Inoue	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
Featherweight	Hiroyuki Takaya	def.	Ryogo Takahashi	KO (punch)	2	0:38
Featherweight	Caol Uno	def.	Raja Shippen	Submission (rear naked choke)	2	4:33
Lightweight	Kuniyoshi Hironaka	def.	Dong Hyun Ma	Submission (arm triangle choke)	2	2:33
Flyweight	Mamoru Yamaguchi	def.	Yosuke Saruta	TKO (referee stoppage)	2	0:25
Bantamweight	Shoko Sato	def.	Kota Onojima	TKO (knees and punches)	1	0:35
Bantamweight	Hayato Suzuki	def.	Ryuya Fukuda	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
Featherweight	Joji Mikami	def.	Shigeki Osawa	KO (punch)	1	2:01
Featherweight	Juri Ohara	def.	Kazuyuki Numajiri	TKO (doctor stoppage)	2	2:07
Preliminary card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Featherweight	Taison Naito	def.	Taiyo Hayashi	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
Featherweight	Tomoya Hirakawa	def.	Daiki Kaneko	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
Women's Atomweight	Kanna Asakura	vs.	Naomi Okaki	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00

Vale Tudo Japan: VTJ in Osaka (also known as VTJ in Osaka) was held on June 21, 2015, at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Osaka, Japan.

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Flyweight	Yoshiro Maeda	def.	Kentaro Watanabe	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
Flyweight	Yusaku Nakamura	def.	Kana Hyatt	KO (knee to the body)	2	2:22
Flyweight	Takeshi Kasugai	def.	Kiyotaka Shimizu	Decision (split)	3	5:00
Bantamweight	Daisuke Endo	def.	Motonobu Tezuka	Decision (split)	3	5:00
Bantamweight	Daichi Takenaka	def.	Jun Doi	TKO (doctor stoppage)	2	4:09
Bantamweight	Kazuma Sone	def.	Yuto Hokamura	TKO (head kick and punches)	1	3:52
Featherweight	Daiki Tsubota	def.	Takaaki Murata	Submission (rear-naked choke)	1	2:34
Women's Catchweight (110 lb)	Yukari Yamaguchi	def.	Mikiko Hiyama	Submission (rear-naked choke)	1	1:22
Women's Atomweight	Kanna Asakura	def.	Miyuki Furusawa	Submission (rear-naked choke)	1	2:17
Flyweight	Yuto Sekiguchi	def.	Yuya Wakamatsu	Submission (armbar)	1	2:43
Featherweight	So Murata	vs.	Biraru Dodo	KO (punches)	1	0:13

Vale Tudo Japan: VTJ 7TH (also known as VTJ 7TH) was held on September 13, 2015, at Maihama Amphitheater in Urayasu, Japan.

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Flyweight	Masaaki Sugawara	def.	Kiyotaka Shimizu	Decision (split)	3	5:00
Flyweight	Yoshiro Maeda	def.	Takaki Soya	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
Bantamweight	Shoko Sato	def.	Tatsuya Ando	Decision (split)	3	5:00
Lightweight	Yuki Kawana	def.	Daisuke Nakamura	TKO (punches)	3	2:26
Flyweight	Yusaku Nakamura	def.	Ssang Soo Kwon	KO (punch)	2	0:36
Bantamweight	Daichi Takenaka	def.	Choong Il Jeon	Submission (rear-naked choke)	1	2:16
Featherweight	Taison Naito	def.	Min Uk Yoon	TKO (punches)	2	0:54
Lightweight	Yoichi Fukumoto	def.	Daisuke Hoshino	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
Lightweight	Joji Mikami	def.	Komei Kimura	Submission (rear-naked choke)	1	4:46
Preliminary card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Flyweight	Ryo Mizuno	def.	Atsushi Tamura	Draw (split)	3	3:00
Women's Atomweight	Kanna Asakura	def.	Yasuko Tamada	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00

Vale Tudo Japan: VTJ IN OKINAWA (also known as VTJ IN OKINAWA) was held on September 13, 2015, at Okinawa Prefectural Budokan in Naha, Okinawa, Japan.

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Flyweight	Ryota Matsune	def.	Kana Hyatt	Submission (armbar)	1	3:31
Catchweight 209 lb	Justin Morton	def.	Ikuhisa Minowa	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
Flyweight	Shinichi Kojima	def.	Tatsuya So	Decision (split)	3	5:00
Bantamweight	Shinya Irei	def.	Kazuma Sone	Decision (split)	3	5:00
Flyweight	Ryohei Kurosawa	def.	Tomohiro Adaniya	Decision (majority)	3	5:00
Featherweight	Wataru Miki	def.	Keiichiro	TKO (doctor stoppage)	1	2:56
Catchweight 147 lb	Takaaki Murata	def.	Kaoru Toyama	TKO (punches)	1	1:13
Lightweight	Hisho Takeda	def.	Christopher Ike	Draw (majority)	2	5:00
Catchweight 128 lb	Yuichi Miyagi	def.	Good Sun	Submission (rear-naked choke)	2	1:19

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