Things the UFC Can Learn from Japanese MMA

The UFC has skyrocketed in popularity with the rise of compelling fighters like Brock Lesnar and Georges St. Pierre among others, but it still seems to lack a certain charm at times.

Many hardcore MMA fans have missed the PRIDE Fighting Championships from Japan, a league which spawned top UFC fighters like Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Anderson Silva, among others.

After watching the Dream 11 event from Japan, a league which is very similar to PRIDE, some ideas popped into my head as to what the UFC could learn from the league.

Here’s what the UFC and its fighters could consider adopting from Dream:

1. 10-Minute First Round:

In Dream and in PRIDE, longer rounds are/were the norm than the UFC, which just has three five-minute rounds.

In Dream, the average match has a first round of ten minutes and a second round of five minutes. This leads to more interesting exchanges and more fighters actually trying to win the fight instead of scoring points and/or playing it safe and stalling, and it also is much closer to simulating a real fight environment.

How many times have we seen fighters get takedowns late in a round in the UFC only to run out of time? Ground fighters are at a huge disadvantage in the UFC which might be by design but the ref always has the power to stand up a fight. This is the most important thing the UFC should take.

2. More Fun:

Too many fighters in the UFC try to act tough all the time and don’t show a lighter side. But in Japan even the biggest, baddest fighters don’t take themselves too seriously and always try to entertain the crowd.

3. Tournaments:

Yeah, they’re tough on the fighters, but old-school tournaments where fighters fight twice in one day like the ones they had in the early days of the UFC would be a good change of pace, at least for the up-and-coming fighters, and they would allow the UFC to make more money off of lesser names.

4. Super Heavyweight Fights:

There might not be enough talent to put together an entire class, but the UFC should make exceptions for goliaths like 7-foot-2, 320-pound Hong Man Choi and other similar fighters on lesser cards like Fight Nights every now and then.

Remember, the UFC is in the entertainment business as well as being a sports league, and the giants deserve their chance to fight in the big show.

5. Scoring Changes from Judges:

In Dream, judges score more for submission attempts and doing damage than simply getting takedowns or landing more punches.

That is consistent with what’s truly important in any real fight.

Also, the judges take into account the whole fight to determine who won instead of scoring by round, which also is much more practical than the UFC style.