Japanese sports tabloids are very conservative when it comes to publishing news articles on MMA. A Japanese MMA writer once confessed in his own blog that since he's born and raised in Pro Wrestling journalism where keeping keyfabe is the name of the game, he's still trapped with that attitude when dealing with MMA news, so he cannot  publish articles without the promoter's approval. As a fan I am enjoying US MMA news sites because I can find information on potential fight cards for the upcoming DREAM and Sengoku events much earlier than domestic news outlets, although often inaccurate. 

So when I see "the UFC coming to Japan next spring" story in Japanese sports tabloid and consider the nature and mentality of those tabloids,  my take is that this should be pretty done deal. 

Actually the story sounds weird in many ways. Dana White praises Gomi and Kid. But he never praises someone who does not belong to UFC. He says he is willing to cut one-match contract with them. If this is possible, a lot of other things should have turned out quite differently for UFC.  

"Are Japanese fighters stronger than UFC fighters?" - are these really Dana's words? I do not think so. These are just what Japanese fans would like to hear (it should have gained much more attention if it's a year ago, though). Very carefully worded.

I think UFC may already get DREAM and Sengoku. I do not know what I mean by "get", but this explains everything nicely. 

For many Japanese MMA fans. it is the UFC who killed PRIDE. UFC is a big bad guy who destroys everything. In addition, there were no UFC on Japanese TV for the past 2 years so casual fans simply do not know what it is. UFC brand does not work as it is here. Many DREAM fans have never seen GSP, who I believe could be a huge star here too if promoted properly. 

For UFC to enter Japanese MMA market, spending millions of marketing and advertising is not a solution. Man on the street knows what PRIDE and K-1 is in this country(Problem is man on the street does not know DREAM). Akebono vs Bob Sapp was watched by 50 million people. Just leverage and stretch the already existing popularity. Say PRIDE style fights are back instead of saying UFC is coming.  

As long as I personally have been observing, UFC is not very good at executing this type of quiet, patient and very locally adapted market entry strategy. But maybe they are starting doing the right way. I assume someone deliberate may be helping UFC. I would not be surprised if the person who is helping UFC is Kazuyoshi Ishii, a K-1 founder and a huge fixer in the industry.

National network TV deal is a big missing element here. I would like to see the development. 

from Tokyo