Think American MMA Is Brutal? Check Japan

Mixed martial arts has a perception problem in the United States. From the guy who runs CBS saying it was a mistake to sign a deal with EliteXC to athletic commission officials saying there's more drug use in MMA than in boxing to negative stories in the Washington Post and Associated Press, a lot of casual American sports fans are left with the impression that the sport is savage and dangerous.

But the reality is that MMA in the United States is far more advanced than MMA in other countries in terms of taking the health of fighters seriously. Take this from Dave Meltzer's piece about this weekend's Dream.3 show:

Japanese MMA is still a completely different animal than the UFC, because the former has no governmental regulation. There is no steroid testing. Many of the matches are made at the last minute, and in one case, a fighter, Melvin Manhoef, was in the ring just two weeks after taking a knockout in a kickboxing match, something that would never be allowed in a major U.S. commission state.

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Ultimately the bottom line is about freedom...do we have it or not?
The fighters make the CHOICE to engage in their profession....and we the fans have the CHOICE to view it or not.
The detractors can say what they will about the supposed barbarism of the sport or the potential for injury, but we the fans know better.
Japan should obviously have some kind of athletic commission govern or regulate their MMA matches...but like I said...freedom....CHOICE.
They choose to fight....we choose to watch.
They don't have to fight...we don't have to watch.

Where else could you see Royce vs Akebono???? Giant Silva vs. Minowa???I love Japan.

Excellent post Sir Karl.

And no one has been seriously injured in Japanese MMA either, despite the lack of regulation. Fighters are not pansies, they are tough guys, much tougher then the average person. Give them some credit. They can take punishment and they can fight shortly after KOs. It's their choice.

I miss the old Pride rules.

No more classic chute box tactics

Let me just take this idea a little further... Possession of underage pornography is not a crime in Japan thus it should be legal in USA as well??

Exact same dumbass logic is used when people say how "safe" MMA is because boxing is more dangerous. Yes, boxing makes MMA look safe by comparison but that in no way implies that MMA is a safe sport!

I don't see the point of this article to be honest with you.

What a piece of crap for an article. Basically attacking an entire nation, its people, and its culture.

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Posted by jahdoug

Where else could you see Royce vs Akebono???? Giant Silva vs. Minowa???I love Japan.

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I agree.I think in Japan it's more about the "warrior spirit" part of it all.It's a different culture and it's hard for a western mind to rap around the reasons why they do things the way they do.

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Posted by dust

What a piece of crap for an article. Basically attacking an entire nation, its people, and its culture.

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I don't think they are attacking Japan or its culture, but rather making a point that MMA in the US has come a long way. I look at it more of advocating US MMA by looking at it from a different perspective.


There are so many ways to look at the safety of MMA or lack thereof and I agree with Silverbullet, I don't see much point to the article because despite the intention, I don't see it making an impact on the people opposed to MMA. I guess there is no harm in trying.

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Posted by silverbullet

Let me just take this idea a little further... Possession of underage pornography is not a crime in Japan thus it should be legal in USA as well??

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I don't think I want to know how you know that.

rio heroes and other local organizations, brazil is the most brutal with japan being a close 2nd

In Japan they were kicking , stomping and kneeing opponents when they were down. Look at some of Wandy's videos where he performs Jumping monkey kicks on peoples faces. In my opinion American MMA is much more controlled