I have always wondered why Japanese MMA suffered after the loss of PRIDE. When I think MMA, I think of 3 countries. USA, Brazil, and Japan. (You can also throw in Russia now for the current flood of Russian talent.) Japan being one of the pioneer countries of MMA and simply being involved in martial arts since ancient times, it baffles me why they are not dominating the MMA scene. A lot of people on this forum say its because they have weak wrestling, which is actually not true at all. Japan has very strong wrestling and do very well in the Olympics, for the men's lower weight classes, and even better for the women. They are taking medals home with every Olympics that come. They are also the top dogs in Judo, so you would think there would at least be better female Judo practitioners than Ronda Rousey coming in and throwing women around but not a single one attempted it. Their Jiu-Jitsu cant be questioned either since they pretty much invented the damn thing. As for kickboxing, that's pretty much what they are known for. They have everything you would ever need to become a successful fighter.
So what gives? I went and asked my friend who is Japanese and a fan of MMA. He put it this way...
Him: Have you been to Japan?
Me: No.
Him: Well if you did, you would know that Japan makes America look like a third world country. No child in Japan ever dreams of "living that American life". lol
So basically, the Japanese fighters want to live and have fame in JAPAN. They don't care about having fame in other countries. They want to be super stars of their own nation. And that the Japanese public don't care for the UFC, and the UFC don't care for the Japanese public. The UFC does not know how to market to Japan. That guys like Yushin Okami are still nobodies in Japan and that being a UFC fighter did nothing for him. To be really successful in the UFC you will have to move to America. That the constant flight from Japan to America is one of the hardest. For them to leave everything they love behind, they would have to be offered a shit ton of money which the UFC will not do because they are not marketable to the western audience. So why do this when they can just join Rizin and get paid more, still get to live in Japan, and be marketed better then the UFC ever could?
Really interesting points and it makes sense. So what do you guys think?
I personally hope we AT LEAST get to see this kid in the UFC at some point. But he just doesn't seem to have any interest in UFC.
Pretty sad really. The UFC definitely need to step up their game internationally. It was headed that way under Lorenzo. But with WME? Not a chance...
