http://www.mmafighting.com/ufc/2012/2/24/2821436/whats-the-state-of-japanese-mma
awesome!
ariel is killing it in japan.
nice thanks
ttt
Good stuff 
I like these pieces he does. 
good piece. I wonder if those select people he chose represented the bigger picture. If so, I'm a little surprised at how few had actually heard of the UFC, even if they didn't follow it at all.
I'm not his biggest fan but Ariel is bringing tons of real from Japan. His best work IMO.
Ariel is doin work in Japan.
slamming - I like these pieces he does. <img src="/images/phone/apple.png" alt="Phone Post" border="0" style="vertical-align:middle;"/>
Yeah he should do one for every event
He's the Bruno of MMA!
So the over arching themes were:
Some people not wanting to see the violence on TV (not really uncommon in any market - some folks don't dig on fighting which is ok)
and
Nothing being shown on TV. No solid broadcasts/productions.
Zuffa need to get some free broadcasts happening if not already. They started letting a free to air channel in AU screen the Fight Night events plus they whoe older events here and there. Wonder if they are doing it in JP.
There was one guy who made a really interesting point I reckon. He was saying they used to make stories between fighters and maybe there aren't any anymore.
I think this is the biggest challenge for the UFC. They are presenting a very traditional American broadcast style with no elaborate entrances or any of that. I think the Japanese market demands that kind of production.
The old Pride posters and advertisements were wild. The shows were just crazy with big screens, pyro and all that jazz. If the UFC want to build that market, they'll need at least a hint of that. Maybe even a specific branding for JP shows.
Was really interesting hearing some of those points of view over there. They've got a nulclear plant burning over there, maybe they just don't care so much at the moment.
Can't wait to see if the crowd is as quiet as the Pride crowds used to be this weekend.
http://www.mmafighting.com/ufc/2012/2/24/2821436/whats-the-state-of-japanese-mma
lmao @ 1:40 "I rike the Brock Resnar"
UFC has their own product and way of doing things. They aren't going to make themselves Pride-lite just for the Japanese market when they are really a global brand. And they shouldn't. People going on and on about Pride need to let it go already and stop living in the past. They aren't on a big network for this show, but they aren't just relying on Japanese audience to tune into this show anyway for it to be a success.
Interesting, but not surprising. The UFC have been pretty open about MMAs lack of popularity in Japan these days though. Usually, they'll try to pretend MMA/UFC is much bigger than it really is in foreign markets like Germany and UK or even Brazil.
ttt