What's the State of Japanese MMA?

Good job, Ariel. I think this is one of your best videos. I hope you come to sweden and do the same. Don’t worry, we speak excellent swedish.

And the japanese girls are hot!

I don’t know how big MMA was in Japan at its peak or what level saturation or name recognition its leagues had at that time, but it’s interesting to see how quickly things can recede. UFC seems like a juggernaut that will only get bigger and bigger, but who knows. If they aren’t smart about the business or deals fall through or other unexpected problems crop up, I suppose they could fizzle out too and then we’d be saying, “Yeah I used to watch MMA but it just isn’t really around anymore.”

…say you’re American to the right girls overseas and u will be a rock star

no doubt

I have always loved Ariels videos but this was pretty cool. I’d like to see this everywhere.. Brazil, UK and even some of the smaller shows in the states. Really good coverage and promotion. Also the Rampage walk video would be cool with other fighters as well. Good work!!!

Awesome piece, and my god Japanese women are soooooooo sexy!

- Yakuza influence is too heavy. To run any kind of combat sports event in Japan, including professional wrestling, the Yakuza are involved on some level, be it with the venue, or behind the scenes with financial backing. Now with the various Yakuza families under heavier watch by the government and law enforcement, all combat sports events and promoters get checked out from top to bottom. So it’s hard to put on a combat sports event with no Yakuza involvement or being heavily scrutinized by the government.

- TV stations just don’t show it. In the US, there’s a lot of free shows to garner interest for bigger events. FX, Fox, Fuel TV all have free UFC shows. In Japan, MMA events are strictly PPV. They’ll have condensed replays on regular TV, like highlight shows, but entire events for DREAM, Sengoku, etc… are shown on PPV. If a similar business model were done in Japan where the smaller events were shown on normal TV like Samurai-TV, Tokyo-TV, etc… it would garner more interest in MMA.

- MMA in Japan rates below professional wrestling. In Japan, even though MMA is a legit athletic competition, it’s still treated as entertainment. Pro Wrestling in Japan is treated more as a serious thing. Including the WWE, which is based in the US gets a lot of respect in Japan.

- There are no Japanese fighters who are among the best in MMA. People identify more to a product when they see someone like them among the best. That’s why Basketball isn’t big in Japan, that’s why American Football isn’t big in Japan, and that’s why MMA isn’t big in Japan. There are no Japanese who are among the best in those sports. If a Japanese fighter were to become a legit contender for a title in the UFC, and were featured prominently, I guarantee you that Japanese fans would be more interested.

Ariel, great job, Man. You always find a way to make me laugh and appreciate a good interview at the same time. LOL Also, like the wrap words at the end. Nice touch. Keep up the great work.

I was laughing out loud a few times. Good job Ariel as usual. It was interesting though on the awareness of Pride compared to the UFC though.

For the last days, the videos doesn’t work well for me…

We need to find more of that hot asian school girl with the bangs.. That’s what is important here.

This sites video player sucks now.. WTF happened.

I have to say though it seemed like that guy at the end seemed pretty informed. It would’ve been interesting to get a couple follow-ups from him. I wonder how much the Yakuza had to do with the decline of MMA in Japan.

That question really cracked me up man:) But I really would like to see Ben next to Ariel in Japan…..