7. Japanese Fighters Had A Much Better Showing Than In 2013
When the UFC turned up in Japan in 2013 with a card headlined by Wanderlei Silva and Brian Stann, there weren't even that many Japanese fighters on the card. Maybe half a dozen, tops. And they weren't really top names outside of Takanori Gomi, the Fireball Kid. Well, that changed Saturday. The UFC brought back Gomi, but also managed to bring in Yoshihiro Akiyama, Rin Nakai, Kiichi Kunimoto, Masanori Kanehara, Katsunori Kikuno, and others, many of whom were successful. In total, there were ten Japanese fighters on the card. Now, we often criticize events in Brazil for loading up on unknown Brazilian fighters, but the situation in Japan is very different. The UFC doesn't visit Japan very often, and there are a lot of fighters there with solid name recognition. These guys aren't local show talents, they're legit UFC fighters, and that makes all the difference. Even Masanori Kanehara, making his debut, showed that he belonged.