CHULA VISTA, Calif. – It’s hard enough to get in a cage and fight another man for money on live TV when everything back home is nice and safe and boring.
But this weekend Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri will have to do it while their homeland is in a state of disarray and the future of MMA in Japan looks increasingly grim.
The two Japanese fighters on Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley fight card left a country still suffering from the effects of massive earthquake and tsunami damage, but their reactions to the situation back home – at least while in the public eye – have so far proved to be as wildly different as their personalities.