This Saturday, the UFC will travel to Japan for the first time under Zuffa ownership. Since the downfall of Pride, the popularity of MMA in Japan has declined significantly, a trend that UFC president Dana White hopes to end by bringing his product to the country.
“We’re going to slowly try to build that market back up, and we’ll see what happens,” White told MMA Junkie. “There are no pro wrestlers, and you’re not going to see some 400-pound dude fighting a 100-pound dude. None of that stuff’s going to happen. The UFC is going to go in there, and we have fans there already. Those fans are going to show up.”
To promote the upcoming event, which will be held at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, the UFC will hold a pre-fight press conference on Wednesday at 11 p.m. ET. Event headliners Frankie Edgar, Benson Henderson, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Ryan Bader and UFC president Dana White will all be on hand for the presser.
Video of the press conference will be streamed live on the below video player. After the presser, stay tuned to Bleacher Report MMA for all the latest on UFC 144 and the rest of your MMA needs.
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