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UFC 144 READER REAX: Live in-person fan report for "Edgar vs. Henderson" event in Saitama, Japan
Feb 26, 2012 - 11:55:53 PM UFC 144 READER REAX: Live in-person fan report for "Edgar vs. Henderson" event in Saitama, Japan

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MMATorch reader Nick (26), living in Japan, sent in the following live fan report of Saturday's UFC 144 event from the Saitama Super Arena...

I went to UFC 144 with three Japanese friends, all of whom were huge PRIDE fans. All of them still keep up with Japanese MMA, and although they knew the big-name Japanese fighters and ex-PRIDE guys, they didn't know many other UFC fighters apart from GSP, B.J. Penn and the now-retired Brock Lesnar. After watching some of the highlight videos that were shown during the event on the big screens, they all instantly became Jon Jones fans though! The crowd was about 90% Japanese, and from the people I met, the other 10% were generally made up of American, British, Australian, and German guys. As expected, the vast majority of the crowd were guys aged 18-45, but as with the old PRIDE shows, a lot of them brought their girlfriends/wives and kids too.

The Saitama Super Arena (which is in Saitama - not Tokyo, as Bruce Buffer kept saying) was packed, and although the queues were huge, we didn't wait long and it was all very well-coordinated by the staff. I've never been to a UFC show in the US so I'm not sure what the norm is, however there wasn't much official merchandise on sale in the arena - official t-shirts, etc were only sold in one section of the arena, and there were no walk out t-shirts or anything like that. Japanese fans love their merchandise and there was a lot of money to be made from them, so that's definitely something the UFC can look at improving next time they come.

We were sat in the S-class seats, which cost 9,800 yen per ticket (about $120) - we were about 20 rows back in the lower tier and the view of the cage was pretty good, although the cameraman who takes the straight shot of the referee when the fight starts was right in our way. I suppose Japanese MMA fans are used to having a clear view when a ring is used, so there was quite a lot of complaining about that from the people sat around me. Having said that, the arena was equipped with a lot of big screens, so it was easy enough to watch the action when the fight was taking place in areas where our view was obstructed.


Tiequan Zhang vs. Issei Tamura: Due to the start time changing from 10:00am to 9:30am local time, the arena was probably only around 50% full at this point. The majority of the crowd hadn't heard of either fighter, and there wasn't the usual sporting atmosphere you get with a Japan vs. China bout... but the crowd obviously popped huge for the KO. It looked absolutely brutal live, and Zhang didn't get up for a good 3-4 minutes afterwards.

Takeya Mizugaki vs. Chris Cariaso: Unfortunately there was quite a lengthy break between the end of Zhang vs. Tamura and the start of this fight, so the crowd had calmed down by the time this got started. This was a recurring theme during the event, however a lot of people didn't actually notice the fight/round starting due to there being no bell, and not be able to hear the referee start the fight. Anyway, as you would expect with the home fighter losing in a somewhat controversial decision (I thought Cariaso won personally), the crowd was pretty upset at this. Mizugaki was clearly angry about it, and crowd made their feelings heard. Just to clear something up - perhaps you can't hear them boo on TV, but Japanese fans definitely do boo.

Riki Fukuda vs. Steve Cantwell: Fukuda's entrance music was the same music used by Japanese pro wrestling legend Riki Choshu - and as Japanese MMA fans are pretty much all pro wrestling fans too, so the crowd popped huge for this (definitely one of the best reactions of the evening). The crowd were into this fight, and really got behind Fukuda as he tried to end the fight at the end of round two and in the final round. Overall, Fukuda got a great reaction and the crowd enjoyed this fight.

Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Vaughan Lee: The crowd popped for Fukuda's entrance, but it was nothing compared to Kid Yamamoto's entrance (I actually met Kid's parents and the rest of his family outside the arena while we were queuing up, and even they got a big reaction!). A lot of people hadn't followed Kid's career since joining the UFC and were surprised/outraged he was this far down the card. Still, they got to see why Kid's career is pretty much finished, but the crowd enjoyed the fight while it lasted. There was an eerie silence at the end when it dawned on everyone how far he's fallen during the last few years, but he still got a hero's reaction when he left the cage.

Takanori Gomi vs. Eiji Mitsuoka: Gomi got a nice reaction, but you could hear the tumbleweed passing by when Mitsuoka came to the cage. Another fight that the crowd enjoyed, and Gomi got a great reaction when he took the mic off Joe and addressed the crowd. You could see in how Gomi was talking in Japanese that he was a bit irritated by Joe's questions and just wanted to talk to the fans freely, so it was nice they let him do that. He got the classic “OOOOH" reaction from the Japanese crowd when he said he wants to take the title from the winner of the main event and bring the belt to Japan. Seeing how Japanese fans react big to stuff like this really does show you they like MMA to embrace pro wrestling elements, particularly these kinds of realistic promos where the fighters get to show their personality to the crowd.

Anthony Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon: Pettis made a name for himself in Japan with that left high kick KO. I was telling my friends to watch out for this fight and I'm glad he didn't let me down - everyone was impressed, and there were people around me on YouTube on their phones looking at his highlight reel after the fight finished! If the fight had gone to the ground and Joe had been able to showcase his ground game I'm sure the Japanese fans would have loved him too, but unfortunately for him the fight didn't go that far. Still, a memorable finish that the fans loved.

Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart Palaszewski: Hioki got a great reaction, particularly from the Japanese ladies attending. There were a lot of girls shouting for him during this fight! The crowd loved seeing him show his prowess on the ground, and there was a lot of applause for his transitions and sub attempts. A lot of people around me were saying they preferred this fight to the Fukuda-Cantwell slugfest. You could hear a lot of American fans screaming at Hioki to "hurry up and finish the goddamn fight," but the home fans seemed happy enough to enjoy the Hioki offense and Palaszewski defense throughout.

Yushin Okami vs. Tim Boetsch: Another example of Japanese fans showing that they do indeed boo. It started in the second round when Okami really wasn't particularly active on top - I thought Okami was putting in a solid performance, but there was a clear difference in how his efforts on the ground and Hioki's efforts on the ground were received by the fans. Unsurprisingly, Tim Boetsch got a big reaction from the home fans at the end, particularly from those brutal uppercuts against the cage.

Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Jake Shields: Let's get one thing straight - despite what he said in the pre-fight press conference, Akiyama is not loved in Japan. Fans here still remember the controversy with oiling his body in his fight with Sakuraba and from his Judo career - his "heel" image is still well and truly intact in Japan. There was a huge air of apathy for his entrance when he bowed on the floor, and Jake Shields definitely got the better reaction and more love from the home fans. A lot of guys around me remembered Jake from his Shooto days, and were reasonably impressed that his all-round game has evolved to incorporate (some) striking now. Akiyama got a lot of boos for grabbing the fence twice at the end, and his apology in Joe Rogan's interview was met with apathy too. I'm not sure how this came across on TV, but not a nice reaction for Mr Akiyama in this fight.

Mark Hunt vs. Cheick Kongo: The live crowd probably had the most fun with this fight all night. Mark Hunt showing his renowned striking skills really pumped up the live crowd, and everyone laughed a lot at his nonchalant reaction in the post-fight interview. The crowd erupted when he got the TKO win and seeing him scale the fence to celebrate, with fans around me standing and applauding was a great moment. Hunt said thank you to the crowd in Japanese, which the Japanese fans always give foreign fighters a big round of applause for.

I think it was at this point GSP was shown on the big screen - he got a very nice reaction from the crowd. GSP is definitely well-known to all of the fans here, even the causal MMA fans who do not follow the UFC. It would be cool if he fought in Japan sometime, and I'm sure GSP would be up for doing that too.

Rampage Jackson vs. Ryan Bader: Rampage is still loved in Japan, but fans in Japan are also aware that his motivation now is not what it was in his early PRIDE days. His entrance with the PRIDE music got the best reaction of all entrances (narrowly topping Kid Yamamoto's) during the night, and the crowd loved his brutal slam. The crowd were booing, not because of Bader taking the fight to the ground and not doing that much, but because Rampage was making little effort to improve his position or get up. Japanese fans boo you for that. Rampage was clearly injured though, and while it was cool to see him fight in Japan, the crowd were left pretty flat at the end of this fight. I know Rampage was desperate to fight on this card and props to him for making the effort to fight through injury, but it's sad that this is perhaps the last image a lot of Japanese fans will have of him (same with Kid Yamamoto). When he left the cage he stopped by to talk to a lot of fans though, and got a lot of love from them.

I got a flyer from someone outside advertising Rampage's after-party at a club in Tokyo too - ladies got in free, men had to pay 3,500 yen ($40). Perhaps Rampage is making up for the portion of his fight money that he had to forfeit with that!

Frankie Edgar vs. Benson Henderson: Pretty much everyone sat around me didn't know that this fight would be five rounds - had to explain that to them at the end of round 3! Most of the crowd seemed to know Frankie, but only the real hardcore fans knew Benson - he made a name for himself in Japan with this performance though. As you probably noticed on TV, the crowd were into this more than any other fight on the card, and loved every moment. The majority of people around me thought Benson took the decision due to the effectiveness of his striking, but nobody seemed that confident. Huge reaction for the decision at the end, and everyone around me in the arena and on the way home were talking about this fight. Thankfully they picked the crowd up after the Rampage fight, and sent the fans home very happy.

Overall it was a great event - Japanese fans are indeed different to other countries, but there were elements of what you would hear from audiences from the PRIDE days, and what you hear at UFC events in North America too. I think the typical 'Japanese fan reaction' was more prevalent on the whole though.

The UFC took their product as it was to Japan, and didn't really change anything to adapt it to the fans here - that approach is to be expected from the UFC, but I got the impression a lot of the Japanese crowd were a bit disappointed with the low-key fighter entrances. I know the UFC doesn't want to go over-the-top with that and distance themselves from pro wrestling to an extent, so that's something the fans here will just have to get used to. The UFC could also have done a lot better with the merchandise on sale, but I really can't fault them for much else.

I don't think this single event will revive MMA in Japan, but it will definitely help. There was a replay of the whole event on TV Tokyo (a major Japanese TV channel, available in all regions of the country on terrestrial TV), but it was from about 2AM Monday morning. If they'd shown that on Monday night, I'm sure that alone would make a huge difference, as disillusioned Japanese MMA fans would be hooked from the moment they put it on, and fighters like Kid Yamamoto, Gomi, Rampage and even Mark Hunt are still very well-known here. Still, congratulations to the UFC and the fighters for a great event, and I'm absolutely positive the fans here will be even more pumped for next time.