Asia is widely considered to be the “birthplace” of martial arts. Millions of people have memories of watching old films from that part of the world which featured various forms of fighting. Unfortunately, that history has not translated to success in the world of mixed martial arts. UFC Fight Night 75 takes place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. However, there are no fighters with true star power from “The Land of the Rising Sun.” Despite the sport’s roots, the fact remains that mixed martial arts today is truly devoid of any Asian fighters capable of doing for their countries what Georges st. Pierre, Michael Bisping, and Conor McGregor have done for theirs, and achieve long term success as the face of the MMA in their homelands.
Kyoji Horiguchi and Takeya Mizugaki are perhaps the two biggest “home team” fighters competing on Saturday’s card, facing Chico Camus and George Roop respectively. Each man has put together his own string of success while competing in the Octagon. Mizugaki has competed in a number of title eliminators as a bantamweight, while Horiguichi recently challenged Demetrious Johnson for the flyweight title at UFC 186. Along with the South Korean Dong Hyun Kim, they are currently the biggest Asian names to enter a UFC that is widely dominated by North and South American athletes. If Saturday’s card features some of the best offerings that the UFC can provide from the Far East, what does that say for MMA in those areas?
We have seen the poor performances that athletes from Asia have put forth in the Octagon in the past. Many a highly-regarded fighter from Asia has come to the UFC, only to meet with mixed success or outright failure. Zhang Lipeng won the inaugural edition of The Ultimate Fighter: China back in 2014. What was result of him earning a contract with the largest MMA promotion in the world? One win, two losses, and an eventual release from the organization. Former Japanese fighting sensation Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto has gone winless in four UFC fights, and was recently scratched from this card due to injury, a common refrain in his current career.
Even Shinya Aoki, who may very well be the best Japanese fighter in the sport, was unable to find success on this side of the Pacific. Aoki is a famed grappler that was a mainstay in lightweight Top 10 rankings across the sport until he was smashed by Gilbert Melendez and Eddie Alvarez in 2010 and 2012 respectively. He decided to join the Singapore promotion ONE FC over the UFC when both organizations attempted to sign him.
Fast forward to this weekend’s event, and this card doesn’t feature any fighters of Aoki’s caliber. If this is the best talent that the UFC could muster from this part of the world, that speaks volumes about how “relevant” this area is within the sport today. The top Asian fighters are not having very much success when they face the stars being bred in North and South America. That affects the UFC roster as a whole. As UFC Fight Night 75 is about to feature a cast of unknown Asian fighters who aren’t necessarily UFC caliber talent, there are potential non-Asian stars in the making who are questioning their position in the sport due to lack of exposure. Undefeated prospect Aljamain Sterling recently began talking about putting the sport on hold to return to school because he isn’t fighting enough to earn a viable income.
“If they can’t guarantee me something sooner, barring that I don’t get injured, I’m gonna have to go back to school and just do what’s best for me,” Sterling told Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting. “If that includes taking a layoff, then I guess I’ve gotta take a layoff and actually do something positive with it.”
Sterling has the physical tools and the personality to become a big name in this sport, but lack of activity is opening up the door for second thoughts. Surely he’s not the only individual on the roster having these thoughts. The UFC should focus more on fighters of his caliber rather than showcasing fighters that would not regularly make the main roster, just to service the Asian MMA market.
UFC Fight Night 75 reveals a problem that the UFC is struggling to overcome. In trying to reach out to Japanese consumers, the organization put together a card that features locally-appealing but lower quality talent. In doing so, it risks alienating fighters that are more valuable at this time, which in turn will have an impact on how the fans view the product. Perhaps the UFC can continue to build its brand long term in this part of the world, but right now events like UFC Fight Night 75 may not be the best route for the organization to go.
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UFC Fight Night 75: Nelson vs. Barnett takes place on September 27, 2015 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Due to time zone differences, the event will air in the United States on September 26, 2015.
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