For the fish, see Heros genus; for the TV Show, see Heroes (TV series). For other uses, see Hero (disambiguation).

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.

History

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, as well as the demise of PRIDE FC, and the current lack of a UFC coverage contract for Japanese audiences.

HERO's in the USA

On 27 March 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 2 June 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.

Reformation into DREAM

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 Calvancanti, Akiyama, and Yamamoto) many other top fighters from around the world (such as Mirko Cro Cop and Shinya Aoki) joined the new promotion.

Notable Fighters

Many notable mixed martial artists competed in HERO's, including:

• Yoshihiro Akiyama
• Gesias Calvancanti
• Royce Gracie
• Joachim Hansen
• Denis Kang
• Sergei Kharitonov
• Brock Lesnar
• Lyoto Machida
• Melvin Manhoef
• Yushin Okami
• Alistair Overeem
• BJ Penn
• Vitor Ribeiro
• Kazushi Sakuraba
• Bob Sapp
• Jake Shields
• Antonio Silva
• Genki Sudo
• Norifumi Yamamoto

List of HERO's GP Champions

Year	Weight class	Champion	Runner-up
2005	Middleweight	Norifumi Yamamoto	Genki Sudo
2006	Light Heavyweight	Yoshihiro Akiyama	Melvin Manhoef
2006	Middleweight	Gesias Calvancanti	Caol Uno
2007	Middleweight	Gesias Calvancanti	Andre Dida

List of K-1 HERO's events

References

External links

• HERO'S official website