February 20, 2012 – This Saturday, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will return to the land of the rising sun for the first time in 12 years and fifth time overall since the very first “Ultimate Japan” back in 1997. It will also be the UFC’s first trip back to Japan since their purchase of the Pride Fighting Championship back in 2007. It should be very interesting to see how the world’s current premier mixed martial arts organization (UFC) is received in a part of the world once ruled by their former rival.
A lot has changed since Nobuyuki Sakakibara announced that Pride FC was selling out to the Ultimate Fighting Championship with MMA now being as close to “mainstream” as ever and a new set of stars to replace our heroes of yesteryear. But despite the fact that we live in the post-TUF, Hollywood-endorsed, FOX broadcast era of our once underground sport, this writer can’t help but reminisce on the old days and wonder how UFC 144 will stack up.
From the days of Kazushi Sakuraba taking on the Gracie family one after the other, other memorable moments (e.g. Don Frye and Yoshihiro Takayama trying to bash each other’s head in hockey-fight style), and of course the open-weight tournaments like the original Pride Grand Prix in 2000 and middleweight tournament in 2005, Pride FC brought us some of the most epic events ever along with some of MMA’s biggest stars – many of whom still compete now.
Now I know it’s been said over and again that the UFC is not trying to re-create Pride FC or even tie comparisons from those past events to present day and UFC 144. It’s a different world now and Dana White and crew have done and said everything they can to make that clear ahead of this event. The UFC is an entirely different production run by a different mentality that was the spectacle of Pride. For better or worse, in no way are they trying to replicate that era. And no matter how much we wish it so, Lenne Hardt won’t be screeching introductions into the microphone, fighters won’t be trying to stomp their opponent’s heads into the canvas, there won’t be a group of guys whose sole purpose is to drag combatants towards center, and there may not even be 70,000 fans in the Saitama Super Arena like it was in the golden years. It’s not that kind of party anymore. Yet the UFC is making a sincere effort to bring some of that magic back albeit in different form.
One of the best things about UFC 144 is that we’ll see a solid mix of the old school along with the new on the card. Old Pride/JMMA stars like Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto, Mark Hunt, Takanori Gomi, and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson all grace the card in their old stomping grounds while an entirely different breed altogether arrive to compete in front of the Japanese fans for the first time in guys like Anthony Pettis and Ryan “Darth” Bader. And best of all, we have two of the best lightweight fighters in the world set to duke it out when Frankie Edgar defends his UFC 155 title against the formidable challenge that is Benson Henderson in what should be an epic main event.
UFC 144 has all the makings of a monumental event that may just usher in a new era of Japanese MMA both this weekend and for the foreseeable future.
Here’s to hoping that the memories yet to come are as good as the ones so fondly remembered.
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