ROUNDTABLE: Thoughts on the UFC Japan "Edgar vs. Henderson" card - Hansen, Hyden, Perez, Hobaugh, Amadi, and Pelkey

What are your thoughts on the card the UFC has put together for Japan? How interesting is it to you as a fan, and do you think the card will be able to sell in Japan?

RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST?

Look, if the UFC put on a 12 fight card with Rob Broughton fighting Travis Browne in each of the 12 fights, I'd still watch it.� If only for material, but still, I'm watching what they put out, period.� So as a fan, I don't know.� I haven't had to wear the fan-only hat in a long time now.� As an addict, I love the card.� Other than the Rampage fight (which gets a curiosity boost being in Japan), all the PPV fights are very intriguing fights.� Even Mark Hunt is suddenly relevant now.� Well, if not relevant, at least compelling.� But how is this card going to play out in Japan?� Not well, I'm afraid.� I'm not trying to shunt you off to a different website, but everything I know about Japan I learned from reading Zach Arnold at�FightOpinion.com.� If you want to know how this card is going to play in Japan, ask Zach.� Anything I could say here would only be a poor rehash of his expert opinions, anyhow.� But in one word:� Poorly.


FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR??

I'm interested in Frankie Edgar vs. Benson Henderson, and it'll be cool to see Quinton "Rampage" Jackson fight in Japan again, but I think the card's just ok. There are a lot of Japanese fighters on the undercard, but only one on the main card (Yoshihiro Akiyama, who fights Jake Shields). This event should do fairly well in Japan, if for no other reason than the UFC hasn't been in Japan for over 10 years. I think it's a pretty decent card, but nothing great.


ANWAR PEREZ, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

The announcement of UFC Japan early next year has certainly made things very interesting for the UFC and MMA as a whole. This is only their second time in Japan, but with all the rumored legal (and illegal) issues that plague Japanese MMA, this is a great thing for them. �The recent addition of Rampage Jackson especially helps this card, given his track record with Pride FC, and his love for the Japanese fans. I feel that this card will be a milestone for the entire sport of MMA.
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ERIC HOBAUGH, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

The two fights that are the most intriguing to me at UFC 144 are the Frankie Edgar vs. Ben Henderson and the �Anthony Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon fights. �I think the overall card has some good match ups, but I think this will not be the strongest pay per view. I am not that excited about this set of fights. The lack of Japanese fighters on the main PPV card will hurt the sale of this one to the Japanese market. �The Takanori Gomi vs. George Sotiropoulos and Leonard Garcia vs. Tiequan Zhang �fights on the under card are more interesting to me than some of the fights on the main card. �I will not be surprised at all if this one does not sell well in the Asian markets.???


JASON AMADI, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

This is a vanity project for the UFC but the card itself is awesome. The fact is, this probably won't spark interest in Japan the way some would imagine, but nothing in the combat sports realm is hot in Japan right now; not pro wrestling, not K-1, and not MMA.
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The event is going to be a pay-per-view flop, which is the part of this that the UFC could have salvaged, but chose not to. This is a hardcore fan's event. This crowd will be filled with hardcore MMA fans who already watch the UFC in Japan, and hardcore fans in the United States and Canada are the only ones who are going to watch on pay-per-view.
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But quite frankly, I don't care about any of this. This is an excellent card, I'll be watching, and anyone who doesn't will miss out on one of the best cards in some time.


MATT PELKEY, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

I actually like this card quite a bit, and it's better than what I thought they'd put on in their return to Japan. Unlike most Canadian or UK cards, while there are plenty of Japanese fighters on the card, they're mostly relegated to the preliminary portion, and the main card has two leading candidates for Fight of (the early part of) the Year. No way, no how are Frankie Edgar-Ben Henderson or Anthony Pettis-Joe Lauzon anything short of dynamite. Quinton Jackson didn't get the high profile match-up with Shogun he was looking for, but he's still in the co-main event, and he's still fighting in front of the Japanese fans again. What I really like about this card is how deep it is. There's not a stinker in the bunch, and it goes eight deep with legitimate fights (yes I'm counting the Cheick Kongo-Mark Hunt fight that sticks out like a sore thumb on the main card), with fights like Hatsu Hioki-Bart Palaszewski, Yushin Okami-Tim Boetsch, and Takanori Gomi-George Sotiropoulos littering the undercard.�??As for the interest in Japan, MMA just ain't what she used to be in the Land of the Rising Sun anymore. I doubt they'll have trouble filling the arena, but I just as much doubt this show will have much of a mainstream impact in Japan outside of the butts in the seats on fight night (er...day).�

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/roundtables/article_11493.shtml

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