Pancrase is to introduce a raft of new rules and regulations according to Bout Review. There is a long list of changes to the current system which includes the introduction of mandatory drug testing for title fights.
Under the new system anyone involved in a title fight will be subject to drug testing by the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory, a WADA accredited laboratory based at the University of Utah.
The changes also affect the scoring system and weigh ins. Previously Pancrase followed the UFC criteria which states that a bout should be scored according to striking, grappling, aggression and cage control.
The new scoring system is more similar to the one employed by ONE Championship. It uses three tiers of importance consisting of effective striking / grappling, followed by effective aggression, followed by effective cage control.
The other significant chance concerns the weigh ins. Any fighter who fails to make weight at the first attempt will be given up to two hours to lose the additional weight, and a fighter who gains an advantage exceeding 2.2kgs by missing weight will be automatically disqualified.
Other minor changes concern the ruleset with fighters forbidden from using tape or bandage on any part of the body except their hands. In future only the referee will be allowed to apply Vaseline and only one cornerman will be allowed to enter the cage between rounds.
Pancrase 305 took place in Tokyo last Sunday. In the main event Isao Kobayashi scored a decision win against Nazareno Malegarie to become the undisputed featherweight King of Pancrase
Next up for the promotion is Pancrase 306. The event is set for Shinkiba Studio Coast on June 30th and will be headlined by a welterweight title fight between Kenta Takagi and Hiroyuki Tetsuka.
