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Can UFC control their message in Japan?
By Zach Arnold | February 4, 2007
By Zach Arnold
To try to understand the Japanese politics of the fight game, you have to remember a lot of names and faces. As alluded to on the site last night, Ken Imai (who is Mirko Cro Cop’s PRIDE agent) showed up in Las Vegas for Mirko’s UFC debut against Eddie Sanchez. It is sources like Imai (and others politically connected) who often feed the Japanese newspapers information or try to float trial balloons in order to test the waters of public opinion. Gryphon explains further.
Sankei Sports has an article today that reads like political manuevering. The headline in Japanese claims that Mirko Cro Cop will challenge for the UFC Heavyweight title this Summer (facing the winner of Tim Sylvia vs. Randy Couture), and that his next fight in UFC will be on 4/21 in Manchester, United Kingdom. Ken Imai’s name is prominently featured in the SS article, indicating clearly where the political power lies. What will be said in Japanese versus what is said in English will likely be two different things. The big question is whether or not UFC will even care or pay attention to the messages being sent about them in Japan by someone who isn’t their employee.
Other articles (like this Sports Nippon article) all use the same boilerplate template of “Mirko came to the cage with the PRIDE theme song as a PRIDE representative in spirit” and “he will try to become a two-crown champion in both UFC & PRIDE.” It’s likely not a coincidence that all of the Japanese media are on the same page as far as what to say or report.
Topics: All Topics, Japan, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 14 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
So what do you think the significance was, if any, of Cro Cop coming out to the Pride theme?
Not to mention Imai being there when this site has previously informed us the man was desperate now that he has “nothing to do” with Cro Cop’s dealings?
If I was Zuffa….
1. I would work on establishing the UFC in England, and using that as a way to showcase a lot of European Fighters.
2. Work on Canada & Mexico, which could both potentially be increases to the already strong North American Market.
3. Stay as far away from Japan as possible. I just think it is a completely different ball of wax over there, and something that is not worth it.
This is an important lesson that UFC needs to learn very quickly. Who you associate with and who you let hang around your company ultimately effects your image — even in foreign countries.
Imai is a spin-doctor, no different than others who operate in the fight industry. The difference is that he’s very good at it and he often covers his tracks better than most.
UFC has to be careful here in regards to what the message being sent in Japan is versus reality. Fine, we all know PRIDE is big-time screwed. But what are the Japanese fans supposed to think when UFC allows Mirko to come out to the PRIDE theme song? Dana White can sit there and act nonchalant to Mirko and tell him, “use whatever song you want,” but the reality is that Japan is the most image-conscious country in the fight game.
White and UFC management needs to smarten up real quick in regards to how business is done in Japan, and not just trust people who approach them (who put on a front and claim that they’ll do all the work for UFC).
True…work on Mexico. Tons of money to be made there.
Sounds to me like Dana’s trying to drum up interest in Japan for the UFC by creating an invasion angle. Pride fans in Japan get to feel that Mirko is representing them, drawing them into this product that they might not otherwise follow. And American fans don’t know or care about the Pride theme, so it has no effect on them.
Sounds like all the talk this generated is exactly what Dana was after to me…
Personally, I don’t think Dana was nonchalant about it. I like Dana, but I think he’s not going to do something unless he sees dollar signs (Yen maybe?) written all over it.
Come on, it’s the fight game. He’s a promoter. He’s promoting something. What will become evident later on, but he’s definitely promoting.
Zach:
Is the general public or more specifically the general fight fans THAT gullible or trusting to just believe what they hear?? You’d think with the characters involved and the years of shadyness etc. that have gone on in the fight industry over there that they’d develop a bit of cynicism about news like this!!
Don’t they read other news?
“White and UFC management needs to smarten up real quick…”
Zach, its 2007 man. Can we PLEASE dispense with the UFC needs-to-get-their-heads-out-of-their-asses writing that was so prevalent with MMA sites before 2006. The United States is now the Mecca of MMA and Crocop is fighting for the UFC and STILL White and Zuffa get no respect. At this point, no journalist or writer should pretend to know what’s best for MMA better than Zuffa.
As for the Pride entrance music, most casual fans don’t know the Pride theme. This is clearly a “inside” message to the hardcore and Japanese fans. We also know that its not like Dana White to let things like this slip so its likely that Zuffa is it. Is Zuffa taking a shot at Pride saying “we got your boy!” or is Crocop trying to not lose his Pride fans? Or maybe its as simple as Zuffa thinking that “Wild Boys” would come off too gay! Who knows?
All signs point to UFC buying Pride, IMO. But it’s all speculation at the moment and who knows what can change in the blink of an eye. But if i were a betting man, I’d put money on Pride being owned by Zuffa by July.
I thought Meltzer reported that the UFC made an offer to buy Pride which Pride declined. Pride also made an offer to WWE which Vince declined.
The entire point of the post and the replies is not about UFC’s marketing in America or the UK or Canada. It’s about Japan. Japan is a unique, one-of-a-kind market where politics and imagery are more important than actual business sense (connect the dots as to why this exists the way it does).
Dana wants to run in Japan? Then he and Zuffa management better start picking up their smarts as far as who to associate with and who the hell to stay away from.
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