With UFC President Dana White confirming that the promotion would be heading back to Japan in the near future, MMAWeekly.com has confirmed that UFC officials are targeting a date of Feb. 26, 2012.
White noted the other day that “The rumor is true, we’re going to come to Japan and probably very soon.”
The event is expected to take place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The venue is often used by the DREAM promotion for their events and has a max capacity of 37,000.
This marks the UFC’s first visit in over twelve years, with the promotion having made three trips to Japan in the past.
The last event took place on December 16, 2000 with UFC 129 which featured a UFC light heavyweight title defense by Tito Ortiz vs. Yuki Kondo. That event drew an approx. attendance of 1,414 people into the Differ Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
The other two dates for previous UFC events include UFC 23 which took place on November 19, 1999, and UFC Ultimate Japan which happened on December 21, 1997.
With the decline of Japanese mixed martial arts, and the failure of DREAM and K-1 to capture the interest of Japanese fans, the UFC looks poised to step into that void with this event.
The UFC has already been actively recruiting Asian fighters which includes the recent signing of the Worlds #2 featherweight Hatsu Hioki.