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It’s not exactly a secret that there’s a particular kissing cousins-type relationship between mixed martial arts and pro-wrestling. On both accords, it’s impossible to tell the story of one without the other. For so many fans who found MMA during its Western infancy, myself included, the early allure to the sport was having grown up a wrestling fan. On the other side of the Pacific, the Japanese MMA industry, which was the nexus of the sport for a decade, is deeply rooted in the evolution of puroresu.