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Fedor wins 2012 Nikkan Sports MMA MVP award

By Zach Arnold | December 21, 2012

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Jushin Liger & New Japan wrestlers celebrate Christmas at the Tokyo Dome Hotel
Photo credit: Katsuhiko Kanazawa at Ameblo

While the New Japan boys are throwing a party in celebration of their upcoming 1/4/2013 Tokyo Dome event and the rest of the Japanese public is ready for their traditional KFC bird & wine Christmas dinner combo meal (complete with an in-store visit to a whiskey bar), Nikkan Sports gave us an early Christmas gift. For years, trying to explain the cultural differences in taste & appeal for MMA in Japan versus America has been a challenge. Hey, what draws in America should appeal to the masses in Japan, right?

We now present to you results from the Nikkan Sports 2012 MMA MVP award voting process.

1. Fedor Emelianenko – 21%
2. Anderson Silva – 18%
3. Takanori Gomi – 17%
4. Junior dos Santos – 16%
5. Ben Henderson – 10%
6. Georges St. Pierre – 8%
7. Jon Jones – 7%

I guess Miro Mijatovic really did his job well in helping promote Fedor during the glory days of PRIDE. The nostalgia remains thick. That… or people really relished that beatdown of Satoshi Ishii last NYE.

Merry Christmas.

Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 5 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

5 Responses to “Fedor wins 2012 Nikkan Sports MMA MVP award”

  1. RST says:

    KFC is a holy grub.

    Thats a pretty good list.

    Pretty much a list you should see in the murika, except for the 2 requisite Japanese faves.

    And in context those make sense to me.

  2. The Judge says:

    Doesn’t MVP mean most valuable? That is, contributed the most to the company’s welfare? And/or the sport?
    By this logic, I don’t think any argument can be made for Fedor, unless of course, that he was the only reason to order the last NYE card, which was, in turn, the only major MMA card in Japan all year. Hmm…
    Of course, there is also the valuable Rizzo beatdown for some Russian MMA company.

  3. The Predictable Johnny Rodz says:

    Well then. That’s one to tuck away and remember next time someone tries to argue that Japanese fans are so much smarter than Americans.

  4. nottheface says:

    Only 2 names stick out as ridiculous to American/UFC fans – Fedor and Gomi – but I don’t think they are actually that ridiculous of fan choices. Fedor retired this year after fighting in Japan last year, so his vote count can be written off mostly to sentimentality. A final thank you from the JMMA fans. As for Gomi, if any Japanese fan is votin solely on nationalism than choosing a fighter who won two in the UFC on shows marketed specifically to the Japanese and Asian market sseems like the likely choice.

  5. […] Nikkan Sports MMA MVP award for 2012 (via Fight Opinion): […]

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