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Josh Stein’s PRIDE history series: The Power Vacuum in the East (Part 4)

By Zach Arnold | April 6, 2009

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A note from the author: On the second anniversary of the PRIDE buyout by Zuffa (UFC’s parent company), I decided to post a series I’d been working on for a while in order to talk about some of the fallout from what was the most important piece of the history of the sport so far.

By Josh Stein

There is something to be said for the metaphor of the Japanese Sengoku Period, in the fifteenth century, a way of expressing the vacuum created by the removal of the Japanese titan. It seems appropriate, as a result, that one of the organizations coming up in the wake of PRIDE should name its brand of shows after the period of conflict. The reality, though, is that the fall of PRIDE did the same thing to Japanese MMA that the weakening of the Imperial powers did to Japanese politics so long ago.

Conflict, though, isn’t always bloody, and while there will inevitably be casualties to the creation of a Japanese power vacuum, it isn’t a bad thing, especially for consumers of the product. Economics professors never stop reminding their students that competition is the device of innovation.

The removal of the greatest power in Japanese MMA gave an opportunity to smaller organizations, like DEEP, but much of this impact has been overshadowed by the arrival of two larger organizations, DREAM and World Victory Road (who run the Sengoku product). K-1 has tried its hand a little, as well, furthering their attempts to reach out to Eastern MMA fans and, from time to time, bringing out MMA fights between their major kickboxers and their big draws.

While the magnitude of these organizations is not really felt by many western MMA fans, who don’t pay attention to the products being marketed overseas, though the Japanese have been brilliant innovators and adept capitalists. The competition that DREAM and WVR are looking to bring up may undo the greatest opportunity that might have been presented to the UFC: the opportunity to establish control in south-east Asia.

There is no need to sell MMA to Asian fans, or to worry about legalization, though the UFC would certainly have to consider how they might sell their particular eight-sided packaging to an audience used to rings. Still, with the abundance of fighters that the Japanese are already emotionally invested in, it seems that the UFC has let the pitch go by, with respect to taking control of the Asian market; perhaps the second largest, with regard to number of consumers, and arguable the most potent in its buying power and veracity.

The establishment of three major competitive organizations seeking control of an Asian market was not much of a surprise. The Japanese fans need their fix, and there were plenty of promoters, from the Japanese pro-wrestling scene and smaller MMA shows, looking to capitalize on it. Long story short, K-1, WVR and DREAM seem to have taken the place of the late monolith, now collapsed.

In order to really establish a bridge for these organizations, though, a few very clever individuals, including former five-time UFC champion Pat Miletich, have established an overarching body with its own belts, rankings and website: WAMMA. It’s quite an acronym (World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts), with an ambitious, and perhaps presumptuous, undertone, but the leaders of the Alliance have worked hard to establish a ranking system that seems more or less bulletproof from criticisms about bias and establish its own belt system.

WAMMA has worked hard to bridge the competition, to make sure that MMA fans don’t have to argue constantly about rankings and the outcome of superfights that will never happen. The rankings that the Alliance has worked to establish are relatively sound, and include UFC fighters acknowledged at the tops of their divisions, especially when those positions are as well deserved as that of someone like, say, Anderson Silva or Georges St. Pierre.

The leaders of WAMMA have seen fit to start establishing belts, and have decided that, in order to earn a belt, a fighter must defeat a legitimate, top ten (if not top five) opponent. Fedor Emelianenko was not awarded his title until after his thirty-six second destruction of Tim Sylvia, though there was very little dispute about his ranking before, and Shinya Aoki was not granted his title until defeating Eddie Alvarez.

Of course, there is still some question about whether or not WAMMA will really become an all inclusive “World Alliance” with respect to the UFC and WEC (both under the rule of the occasionally uncooperative Dana White), where there are still legitimate top fighters in many a weight class. It is in the best interest of Zuffa to maintain their assertion that the UFC has all of the top fighters and that a UFC title is tantamount to a world title, whether the statement is true in all cases or not, as it certainly helps to build hype.

The leadership at WAMMA has expressed a desire to work openly with the UFC, and it would certainly open up a lot of interesting opportunities if the UFC acknowledged the legitimacy of the organization. Still, those who think it’s a good pitch shouldn’t get their hopes up, as these things take a lot of maneuvering, if for no other reason than there is so much potential for frustration and failure in negotiations like this.

It is the creation of a new power structure, however competitive and volatile it may seem, in Asia, that creates a great deal of opportunity for MMA fans, and the opportunity for an organization like WAMMA, creating a mediator for negotiations between promoters, that seems to be the greatest benefit of the fall of PRIDE. Benefits as substantial as the opportunity to see fights between former UFC heavyweight champions and the #1 ranked Emelianenko should not be overlooked.

Topics: All Topics, Japan, Media, MMA, PRIDE, Zach Arnold | 4 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

4 Responses to “Josh Stein’s PRIDE history series: The Power Vacuum in the East (Part 4)”

  1. Al says:

    OK, at first I thought the gushing about WAMMA was sarcasm, but by the end of it…

    Wow.

    I feel dirty just reading that. Ridiculous, sycophantic and embarrassing in equal measure (much like WAMMA). Well done Josh.

  2. i’m still going back and forth on WAMMA myself and i am still largely confused about it…

    i think what josh was saying was the goal of wamma, which on the outside seems like a good one. but no one seems to like that they are taking sponsorship money…although, that’s what nascar does. anyways, i don’t know.

  3. robthom says:

    Interesting article. I wish it had contained more “pride history” 🙂 , but an entertaining and informative read anyway.

    I have to disagree with you assertion that UFC could compete in Japan though.
    It will never happen, and if it did it would be a failure.

    Mostly due to the “Honor” deal over there. They cant and wont accept the UFC after the whole UFC/Pride drama and the way that it ended.
    Plus it seems to me that the most popular things from america in japan are the uniquely american things that they cant get over there (rockabilly, rap music, lowriders, etc.).
    They’ve already got plenty of MMA action available.
    It would be like trying to sell them an xbox.

    There’s just culturally no angle for UFC to fit in there, no matter how good the cards are.
    IMO.

  4. Matt C. says:

    A great article ruined by WAMMA nonsense.

    I really love the big “Super Fight” WAMMA got Aoki the WAMMA Lightweight Champion after he won their WAMMA belt. Real nice. By the way I really like the way the WAMMA belt looks on Aoki.

    Come on now WAMMA doesn’t even have the power to decide who their Champions fight next.

    I’ll just leave one question for everyone to think about. What is it exactly WAMMA does as a “Sanctioning Body”?

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