Why has the UFC not been more interested in the Japanese market?

[aModerateThreat]

Japan is a country with many "fads" that come and go much more quickly then other countries. MMA was just one of them, doesn't help there's been no real upcoming Japanese fighters in UFC.

Entertainment wise MMA could be popular again in Japan but a very strict sport oriented MMA we have here doesn't translate well into their culture for some odd reason. Japanese people like Japanese people kicking ass (Sakuraba) and crazy freakshow matchups, 2 things the UFC doesn't have.

i miss pride. i would like to see mightymouse and dodson together vs cain. together they weigh as much as a heavy weight and i think its an easy fight for the flyweights with a serious camp.

pride was better because of the freakshows, not because of the stomps, soccer kicks or the ring.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

Japanese culture has always been inimical to martial arts.

 

[Jack Reacheround]

Combat sports as a whole--not just MMA--have been on the downturn in Japan. K-1, which was a bigger fight promotion than PRIDE, died and they don't have the Yakuza excuse that PRIDE had in regards to their demise.

Even Sumo, one of the traditional combat sports of Japan, is dying and/or is dead.

So why should the UFC focus on a country which isn't all that interested in combat sports, let alone MMA, anymore?

It's all about tentacle porn over there now.

 

[eiyuu]

Here's a good article on what the Japanese MMA scene actually was and on if it can come back . . .

The brutal truth: Can Japan become a major player again in the MMA scene?

The Japanese events were all about mass market appeal and shattering ceilings no one had ever imagined possible. Everyone looked at the concept of Bob Sapp vs. Akebono with disdain except for the Japanese television audiences. They drew ratings that were comparable to the Antonio Inoki vs. Muhammad Ali hybrid match officiated by Judo Gene LeBell in 1976 at Nippon Budokan. You had freak fights like Hollywood Tadao Yasuda, broke from his pa*****o gambling debts & losing his daughter’s support, versus Jerome Le Banner in an MMA fight. The UFC would never book a mass market product like this because they are a sport and have been fighting for their credibility since day one. In Japan, the fights were absurd but they were credibly absurd and that’s why they drew so well.

Will we see a period of Japanese fighting drawing big TV ratings on New Year’s Eve again? Right now, the safe answer is “no.” In addition to the crackdown on the yakuza gangs, you also have a situation where the pro-wrestling industry in the country is very different than the environment that created the Japanese MMA boom. You had Antonio Inoki, whose concept of fantasy fights was a key driver. You had UWF International, the “dojo pro-wrestling” group that was super popular. Today’s pro-wrestling environment? It’s an environment with one major promotion, New Japan, and that promotion used to be Antonio Inoki’s baby before it got sold twice. And the people in New Japan are anti-MMA to the extent that they would never send their stars to do MMA fights again. They’ll bring in a Kazushi Sakuraba or Katsuyori Shibata to do special matches but under the pro-wrestling tent. Without major pro-wrestling operations pushing the concept of the shooting style, you won’t have the backbone to create a new Japanese MMA boom in the country.

Which is why the scene right now is such a sad reminder of what things used to be and what things could have been if players like Ed Fishman & Sony had been able to get involved.

 

[odog]

It's all about tentacle porn over there now.

That have moved on to hamster butts.

 

[caesar]

Combat sports as a whole--not just MMA--have been on the downturn in Japan. K-1, which was a bigger fight promotion than PRIDE, died and they don't have the Yakuza excuse that PRIDE had in regards to their demise.

Even Sumo, one of the traditional combat sports of Japan, is dying and/or is dead.

So why should the UFC focus on a country which isn't all that interested in combat sports, let alone MMA, anymore?

Thats pretty much it, its certainly not what it once was. Fuck im so fortunate to have lived the glory days of K-1 and Pride here, and to see the demise of once brilliant promotions is heartbreaking.

I think the Japanese public is just fed up with the scandals, bribes, and whatever else controversy that surrounds sport.

So many problems in Sumo, with the media just attacking its every move, its no wonder the sport is suffering, badly.

There will always be martial arts in Japan, but at this time, as a mainstream form of sports entertainment, its lost a lot of steam.

Theres just a lot of issues and recent crises in Japan thats shifted the publics views, and a tightened budget to live doesnt help. The average person has a lot less 'surplus' income to spend these days.

Another issue is the aging of the big MMA stars, like Kazushi Sakuraba, Rumina Sato, Hayato 'Mach' Sakurai, Norifumi 'Kid' Yamamoto, Takanori Gomi, Masato, Megumi Fuji, ...these are legendary names in Japan, and even to many outside of Japan if youre a fan of MMA or K-1.

It is harder to build a fighters popularity these days because there are no more big promotions to build them as stars of the sport.

 

[JustBleedUFC**]

It's all about tentacle porn over there now.

Lol you know it.

 

[Jopo]

When the UFC bought pride they tried to get a tv deal in Japan and couldn't because either they didn't want to deal with Dana or the Yakuza had its hooks in too deep or both. Either way, the fad is over for them.

It's alright though.. because once America gets tentacle porn we'll forget all about MMA anyway. Those Japanese are always ahead culturally.

 

[kingcillo24]

Japan is top economy so even if the sport isn't really popular it should bring in more money than a country like New Zealand.