Akira Maeda, the founder of RINGS, has his sights set on promoting amateur MMA events.
Maeda, 49, will launch the inaugural "The Outsider" event on March 30 at the Differ Ariake in Tokyo, Japan. The promotion, which will utilize HERO's rules, will provide a platform for fighters anywhere from 16 to 35 years old with no more than three MMA fights to get noticed.
Maeda was most recently a supervisor for HERO's, but FEG has phased out the event to focus on the new DREAM event.
Maeda's RINGS was one of the early MMA promotions in Japan. The organization introduced the world to Fedor Emelianenko, who fought on nine separate occasions for RINGS before debuting with PRIDE at PRIDE 21.
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