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Wednesday, 20 July 2005.
Written by Andrew Garvey
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Cage Rage promoters Andy Geer and Dave O' Donnell were invited by DSE to Bushido 8 and met with Nobuyuki Sakakibara. According to an e-mail sent to Kakutougi by Andy Geer, the outcome of the meeting was an agreement for Cage Rage to now be the official "road to Pride" in the UK and Europe. DSE have reached similar agreements with the Hawaii based Superbrawl from the US and with Japan's DEEP promotion to be a more official "feeder system" to evaluate fresh talent.As part of this agreement, Cage Rage, Superbrawl and DEEP are all allowed to promote tournaments where the winner is guaranteed a contract with Pride. Cage Rage will also have some input into the booking of Bushido events and how European fighters they have sent to Japan are used.
In addition to their existing pair of TV deals in the UK, Cage Rage have also been offered TV deals in both Japan and the U.S.
Geer and O' Donnell will be going back to Japan for the finals of the Grand Prix and more meetings with Sakakibara and to hammer out some more details on their international TV situation.
Geer also dropped some tantalising hints about an unnamed "MMA superstar" who had all but agreed to terms to fight in Cage Rage for their next show or two.
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