So short story is that I have recently got to know a Japanese man who is temporarily working at the company where I'm employed. We got talking and it turns out he is/was a huge MMA fan. He was very suprised to hear how the west viewed the things that went on in Japanese MMA and gave me his perspective as someone who actually lives in that country.
He strongly refutes the idea that Dream failed because MMA was simply a fad and that Japanese people have a very fadish culture. While this is true with some things he denies this was the case with MMA as a warrior culture still exists in Japan's blood. They love real fighting.
To sum up the points he made
- Diluted rule set
Dreams failure to stick fully to Pride rules really put many people off. It took out alot of excitement from the sport and it felt very diluted. Just knowing that an opponent can have their head stomped or be soccer kicked (even if it dosen't actually happen) makes a fight feel so much more exciting. Having that danger there makes it much more adreneline rushing. Dream was viewed as inferior right from the start.
-The change from a 10 minute round to a 5 minute round,
He says this was huge thing that really put people off. MMA is a mixture of many disciplines and 5 minutes is simply not enough time against skilled opponents to effective use grappling. Fighters also use 5 minute rounds to stall till the end of the round and not fight whereas in a 10 minute round this is much harder to do so they are forced to fight.
Also he says people felt like it was dumbing MMA down because they feel the only reason there is 5 minute rounds in America is because Americans have ridiculously short attention spans. Japanese people like to savour the fight and 5 minutes is simply too short for many. It simple stops the fight when it finally warms up and becomes interesting.
- The loss of the Pride stars
He compared this to playing a video game where you suddenly have to start from the beginning of the game after you are stripped of all your weapons, armour and other powers. However you can never get quite get back to where you were because of the new diluted rule set so you will always be in the shadow of your former self.
People were simply weary about having to start again but with a inferior rule set and shorter rounds. The Dream experience was simply not as enjoyible as Pride and people were not prepared to endure it until maybe one day they got their Pride rules back. The product felt diluted and it felt catered partially for a western audience. That did not sit well with alot of former Pride fans.
In his opinion had Dream had the exact same ruleset as Pride he strongly believes that it would have been a success even without the Pride stars. People are attracted to fighting because of the excitement. When you take away some of the most exciting elements the natural results will be significantly less interest in the product. He also feels had the UFC somehow been able to incorporate Pride rules after after the Zuffa takeover that MMA in America would be absolutely huge by now instead of the niche sport that it currently is. He says ONE championship is definetly an improvement but he does not like the 5 minute rounds or the lack of head stomps. He hopes it can one day imitate Pride fully. Unified rules were blatently created to favour wrestlers in his view and the sport of MMA really suffers as a result.
Just thought I'd share this with you guys and hope that you found it interesting!
He strongly refutes the idea that Dream failed because MMA was simply a fad and that Japanese people have a very fadish culture. While this is true with some things he denies this was the case with MMA as a warrior culture still exists in Japan's blood. They love real fighting.
To sum up the points he made
- Diluted rule set
Dreams failure to stick fully to Pride rules really put many people off. It took out alot of excitement from the sport and it felt very diluted. Just knowing that an opponent can have their head stomped or be soccer kicked (even if it dosen't actually happen) makes a fight feel so much more exciting. Having that danger there makes it much more adreneline rushing. Dream was viewed as inferior right from the start.
-The change from a 10 minute round to a 5 minute round,
He says this was huge thing that really put people off. MMA is a mixture of many disciplines and 5 minutes is simply not enough time against skilled opponents to effective use grappling. Fighters also use 5 minute rounds to stall till the end of the round and not fight whereas in a 10 minute round this is much harder to do so they are forced to fight.
Also he says people felt like it was dumbing MMA down because they feel the only reason there is 5 minute rounds in America is because Americans have ridiculously short attention spans. Japanese people like to savour the fight and 5 minutes is simply too short for many. It simple stops the fight when it finally warms up and becomes interesting.
- The loss of the Pride stars
He compared this to playing a video game where you suddenly have to start from the beginning of the game after you are stripped of all your weapons, armour and other powers. However you can never get quite get back to where you were because of the new diluted rule set so you will always be in the shadow of your former self.
People were simply weary about having to start again but with a inferior rule set and shorter rounds. The Dream experience was simply not as enjoyible as Pride and people were not prepared to endure it until maybe one day they got their Pride rules back. The product felt diluted and it felt catered partially for a western audience. That did not sit well with alot of former Pride fans.
In his opinion had Dream had the exact same ruleset as Pride he strongly believes that it would have been a success even without the Pride stars. People are attracted to fighting because of the excitement. When you take away some of the most exciting elements the natural results will be significantly less interest in the product. He also feels had the UFC somehow been able to incorporate Pride rules after after the Zuffa takeover that MMA in America would be absolutely huge by now instead of the niche sport that it currently is. He says ONE championship is definetly an improvement but he does not like the 5 minute rounds or the lack of head stomps. He hopes it can one day imitate Pride fully. Unified rules were blatently created to favour wrestlers in his view and the sport of MMA really suffers as a result.
Just thought I'd share this with you guys and hope that you found it interesting!
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