History of MMA in Japan part I: Inception of Judo & Kimura vs. Gracie

Longtime mixed martial arts fanatics have watched on in amazement over the years witnessing jaw-dropping and amazing feats by some of the greatest athletes the sport has seen, in 2012 the sport is run by the 800-pound gorilla named the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but it wasn’t always that way. There was a time where a majority of the best combatants in the world applied their craft in Japan, The Pride Fighting Championship was the catalyst to the success of Kazushi Sakuraba, Wanderlei Silva, Fedor Emelianenko, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua just to name a few. Now the UFC are looking to try their luck there again, with their UFC 144 event which will take place on February 24 headlined by Frankie Edgar defending his UFC lightweight title against Ben Henderson. In addition the Japanese audience will see a few familiar faces in Quinton Jackson, Mark Hunt, Hatsu Hioki and Takanori Gomi. Before the UFC became a worldwide phenomenon and even before PRIDE was socce...