Yesterday it was announced that Shooto 0329 would be taking place behind closed doors. The coronavirus, or Covid-19, situation in Tokyo appears to have deteriorated in the last 24 hours.
As a result Shooto took to Twitter today to inform fans that the event had been cancelled:
◎3.29 プロ修斗・後楽園ホール大会中止のお知らせ
昨日リリースにてお伝えした通り、本興行は無観客での開催を予定しておりました。
しかし首都圏外からの移動の制限、東京都下での新規感染者数の増加などコロナウイルス感染拡大をめぐる状況が深刻さを増すばかりです。#shooto0329 pic.twitter.com/D2q9CdkqIo— MMA-SHOOTO オフィシャル 修斗 (@xshooto) March 27, 2020
Shooto is the latest in a long line of events to be cancelled or postponed. However the decision was taken just 48 hours before the event meaning that many fighters would have traveled to Tokyo and begun cutting weight.
Duane van Helvoirt had originally been scheduled to face featherweight champion Yutaka Saito in the main event. The card also features a a bantamweight bout between Tatsuya Ando and Motonobu Tezuka and the semi finals of the atomweight tournament.
K’Festa 3 went ahead in Tokyo last Sunday. However the promoters reportedly ignored official government advice to go ahead with the card which attracted a large audience to the Saitama Super Arena.
Pancrase 313 and 314 have both been postponed indefinitely as has Deep Cage Impact Osaka. Any hopes that Japan would be the one country to continue putting on combat sport cards appear to be fading fast.
