Japanese martial arts promotion QUINTET has announced its official entry into the Middle East market, with its inaugural regional event, QUINTET 5, set to take place in Dubai on October 23, 2025.

The announcement came during a press conference held this week at Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, as part of Fight Week — a major sporting initiative featuring international MMA events hosted in the UAE capital. The event was led by Kazushi Sakuraba, QUINTET’s legendary founder and one of the most iconic figures in Japanese MMA history, alongside Tarek Suleiman, QUINTET’s regional partner and veteran martial artist. Mr. Yanagisawa, General Manager of QUINTET Japan, also attended the announcement.

The event drew wide regional and international media coverage and was attended by prominent figures from the MMA community, including Ali Al Qaisi, one of the Arab world’s most accomplished featherweights, and internationally renowned referee Marc Goddard.

Known for its distinctive five-on-five team grappling format, QUINTET eliminates points and judges entirely — matches end in submission or draw. The format blends tactical team strategy with traditional martial arts spirit and has already gained significant traction in Japan and the United States.

“For Japanese martial artists, Abu Dhabi is a name we’ve always held in high regard,” said Sakuraba, who was met with applause as he addressed the crowd. “We watched from afar how the UAE embraced Jiu-Jitsu and elevated it into something bigger than just a sport — a cultural and national movement. To launch QUINTET here is not only symbolic, but meaningful. The people understand the art. The government supports it. And the athletes here live it.”

Suleiman, a former QUINTET competitor himself, emphasized the vision behind this move. “This isn’t just a one-off. We’re here to build something lasting,” he said. “The UAE has become a global destination for combat sports, and now it will be the home for team-based grappling in the region. Through QUINTET, we aim to provide athletes with a new platform — one that prioritizes cooperation, strategy, and team pride.”

QUINTET 5 in Dubai marks the start of a broader roadmap to establish a sustainable grappling ecosystem in the Middle East. Teams from across the MENA region are expected to participate in the October event, as organizers work toward building a long-term league and talent pipeline that aligns with the region’s growing combat sports ambitions.

UFC Fight Night 26
Shogun vs. Sonnen
August 17, 2013
TD Garden
Boston, Massachusetts

Main Card:
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (21-7) vs. Chael Sonnen (27-13-1)
Alistair Overeem (36-12-1) vs. Travis Browne (14-1-1)
Urijah Faber (28-6) vs. Yuri Alcantara (28-4)
Matt Brown (17-11) vs. Mike Pyle (25-8-1)
Uriah Hall (7-3) vs. John Howard (20-8)
Joe Lauzon (22-8) vs. Michael Johnson (12-8)

Prelims:
Brad Pickett (23-7) vs. Michael McDonald (15-2)
Conor McGregor (13-2) vs. Max Holloway (7-2)
Mike Brown (26-8) vs. Steven Siler (22-10)
Diego Brandao (17-8) vs. Daniel Pineda (18-9)

Prelims on Facebook:
Manny Gamburyan (12-7) vs. Cole Miller (19-7)
Cody Donovan (8-2) vs. Ovince St. Preux (13-5)
Ramsey Nijem (8-3) vs. James Vick (4-0)

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and No. 1 contender Alexander Gustafsson were in Toronto, Ontario, Canada today, Tuesday, to kick off the ticket sales for UFC 165. Watch here as Jones and Gustafsson address questions about the fight and other topics.

The day is coming for Anderson Silva to put his belt on the line versus Chris Weidman. Confident, the champion says nothing his opponent can do will surprise him. Photo: Screenshot

On Tuesday afternoon, Anderson Silva, Chris Weidman and Dana White took part in a press conference via phone to promote UFC 162, scheduled for July 6 in Las Vegas.

The UFC’s middleweight champion could not dodge the journalists’ curiosity to know how he felt about the fact that Georges St-Pierre said in several interviews that he not only roots for Chris Weidman, but in fact believes the American is going to win easily.

As always, Silva kept his cool and addressed GSP’s words.

“Imagine if I were to listen to all that’s said about me,” he said. “Everyone can do and say as they please. [GSP] had his chance to step up and fight me, but chose not to. A talking parrot is better than a legless turtle.”

The “Spider” also said he does not see Weidman as the biggest challenge of his career, and referred to his own experience and long journey inside the Octagon to explain his viewpoint.

“Every bout is a new challenge,” he said. “Whoever is better prepared is going to win. I’ve been fighting since I was 8 years old, so to me there isn’t a lot of new stuff in there. Nothing he can do will surprise me. Defeat and victory walk side by side. My experience makes me not worry about what my opponent is going to do. I worry about being better than I am, not better than Chris Weidman.”

UFC 162

MGM Arena, Las Vegas, USA

July 6, 2013

Anderson Silva vs Chris Weidman

Frankie Edgar vs Charles Do Bronx

Tim Keneddy vs Roger Gracie

Mark Muñoz vs Tim Boetsch

Cub Swanson vs Dennis Siver

Undercard

Chris Leben vs Andrew Craig

Norman Parke vs Kazuki Tokudome

Gabriel Napão vs Dave Herman

Edson Barboza vs Rafaello Trator

Seth Baczynski vs Brian Melancon

Mike Pearce vs David Mitchel

Watch the UFC 158 pre-fight press conference with GSP and Nick Diaz on GracieMag.com at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

GRACIEMAG.com will stream the UFC 157 post-fight press conference live. Watch it here.

The UFC 157 pre-fight press conference streams live on GRACIEMAG.com at 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT. Watch the presser in the player above.

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