When Takanori Gomi entered the cage last Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C. he was a heavy underdog. Pros across the board had his opponent, two-time lightweight contender Kenny Florian, as a clear favourite. When asked his thoughts on the matchup, fellow fighter Ray Elbe commented to Sherdog that Florian would prove “once and for all that you can’t hit the piñata with chopsticks.” Despite the obvious insensitivity of Elbe’s remark, it carried an ounce of truth.
Ever since the doors of Japan’s Pride FC closed for the last time, the land of the rising sun began to care less and less for their once-beloved combat sport. After a growing interest in MMA during the late ‘90s, the surge has appeared to stop and as the sport crumbles in the east, its biggest stars seem to be going down with it. And ever since, most of Pride’s biggest draws in their most recent outings have the ferocity of an attack on a pinata with chopsticks
Gomi, the reigning champion at the time of its demise, has since amassed a lacklustre 4-3 record. Maybe the Japanese fans were the fuel that kept “The Fireball Kid” going. Whatever the reason, he seems to be suffering from what has come to be known as the “Pride curse”, where fighters joining the ranks of the UFC after Pride’s demise have generally been unable to post up impressive records. Victims of the curse include Kazuhiro Nakamura, who went 0-2 in the promotion, and fan favourite Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva, who, once known for a five-year undefeated run in Pride, has since gone 2-3 in the UFC.
Though shrugging off all of the doubters going into his March 31 bout with Kenny Florian, Gomi found himself at the wrong end of a boxing clinic, and eventually succumbed to a textbook rear naked choke in the third round. Gomi was the aggressor just once in the fight, though ultimately to his disadvantage. After finally landing a hard right hook on Florian’s chin in the third stanza, Florian decided to take no more risks and shot in, took Gomi’s back, and ended the fight.
So what do we do with the Pride FC orphange? I mean, not all the fighters have gone sour. Quinton Jackson and Mauricio Rua are still relevant, top five light heavyweights, and fighters like Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri have climbed to the top of the 155-pound ladder. And of course, one must not forget the final heavyweight champion, “The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko is still recognized as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters alive. Yet for the most part, Pride’s rosters have gone the way of the dodo bird, and if they don’t turn it around soon they’ll be cut from every half-decent promotion - just look a Nakamura, the only card he can headline now is a farewell match with his 40-year-old, Olympic gold-medalist (1992 Barcelona) judo coach, Hidehiko Yoshida.
From what I see, the main problem is the approach. Ever since the inception of Pride, the Japanese focus on MMA has been the theatrics. While the UFC does borrow WWE tactics to hype fighters and fights, Japan has a taste for the extravagant, and enjoy over-the-top entrances for fighters - sometimes including back-up dancers and afros, lots and lots of afros - and are more concerned with putting on a show than maintaing a competitive record. Fighters still following this path, even sticking to mainly catch-wrestling like their fans want, like Ikuhisa “The Punk” Minowa and Akihiro Gono have continued to rack up staggeringly terrible records of 45-30-8 and 32-15-7 respectively (Gono’s list of nicknames are too long to place in the middle of his name, but they certainly give an indicator to his interests in MMA: The Magic Man, DJ GOZMA and The Japanese Sensation).
These fighters must now recognize a simple truth in MMA: UFC is king. Along with this ominous but nonetheless true fact, fighters must adhere to their views on fighters records which is becoming more and more aligned with boxing; simply put, losses should be few and far between and not taken lightly. Though the future of fighters like Gomi and Minowa is shaky and unclear, they have at least clued in to follow MMA like the sun. It may have risen in the east, but it has settled in the west.
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