Myth: Japanese Judges Favor Japanese Fighters

It might just be me, but for as long as I have been following MMA in Japan, Japanese judges have had a reputation for favoring Japanese fighters over their foreign opponents when the fight goes to a decision.

This is a myth that I deceided to put to the test. I am not going into single decisions here, controversial decisions go both ways. I am going to see if decisions tend to go to one part.

I have gone back to January 1, 2003 and until today. Here are the conditions for me to include the fight:

-Fight was between a Japanese and a Foreign fighter
-It went to the judges (decision or technical decision)

I have looked at 5 organizations that I consider to have had the most fights with foreign fighters. The organizations I chose were Shooto, DEEP, DREAM, Sengoku and Pride. I found 201 fights that went to decision.

I actually expected to find some evidence for this myth, but to what degree I was not certain. What I found actually surprised me.

Again, I am not looking at controversial decisions. Judges make "mistakes", I am looking to see if there is a bias towards foreign fighters and it should be clear when you are looking at all the fights from the last 6 years.

Of course the number of fights in DREAM and Sengoku is very low, and these results might not be representative yet.

Here is what I found:
Total fights: 201
Decision going to Japanese fighter: 86
Decision going to foreign fighter: 88
Decisions ending in draw: 28

It breaks down as follows:
Shooto
Total fights: 63
Fights going to Japanese fighter: 19
Fights going to foreign fighter: 34
Fighs ending in Draw: 10

DEEP
Total fights: 62
Fights going to Japanese fighter: 21
Fights going to foreign fighter: 24
Fights ending in draw: 17

Pride
Total fights: 59
Fights going to Japanese fighter: 33
Fights going to foreign fighter: 25
Fights ending in draw: 1

DREAM
Total fights: 9
Fights going to Japanese fighter: 7
Fights going to foreign fighter: 2
Fights ending in draw: 0

Sengoku
Total fights: 9
Fights going to Japanese fighter: 6
Fights going to foreign fighter: 3
Fights ending in draw: 0

I can not see that there is any bias towards foreign fighters. As far as I can tell, the judges in Japan are just as fair as anywhere else and the main goal is to keep it out of their hands. Controversial decisions will happen, but I think they go both ways and in the long run it all evens out.

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12/31 M-1 - Saitama Superarena - The confusion is complete

Well, the rumors that were earlier dismissed by the M-1 management were confirmed yesterday. M-1 had on their web-site an official announcement that Fedor was going to fight in Saitama Superarena on NYE. This announcement is no longer on their web-site.

The rumors will continue, and the fans will wait. Japanese press has confirmed these rumors and it seems there will be an MMA event, but it seems there is no final decision yet.

The former Pride staff seems determined to make this happen, and also Aoki seems ready to fight.

http://d.hatena.ne.jp/gryphonjapan/20071114
http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/other/headlines/etc/20071116-00000028-spnavi-fight.html

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DSE/Pride FC Tokyo offices closes

Gryphon has already posted this, but Pride FC/DSE`s Tokyo (which is their HQ) was closed October 4. In addition, all the staff empolyed there was let go. This is a huge blow to us that were hoping for a return, all we have to do now is wait and see if UFC is going to make a move into Japan. (http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/fight/pride/headlines/20071004-00000024-spnavi-fight.html)

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UFC Japan? Pride returns???

It is reported that Pride/UFC has hired Saitama Super Areana for Dec. 31. This has of course traditionally been the main event of the year for Pride. Now it is rumored to return (http://blog.bodymaker.jp/user/takasu/002/8139.html).

This might still be only a rumor, and I remember something similar in May/June, when Pride/UFC was rumored to have rented the same areana for an event in August. Yoshida Hidehiko will hold center stage, the post does not actually say who is holding the event.

However, Sherdog reports today that UFC is close to getting a TV deal in Japan with the WOW network (http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles.asp?n_id=9252). This seems like too much of a coincidence... With a deal like that, they will likely start holding events in Japan and the best way to kick that off would be with a big New Year Eve event. But, as I have said, this is not the first time I have heard similar rumors. Lets hope there is something to it!

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Pride Fighters Moving to UFC

Sherdog has an interesting article today (http://www.sherdog.com/news/pictures.asp?n_id=9225) on the exodus of Pride fighters moving to UFC. For me it is not the fighters moving to the UFC that is eyecatching. I am surprised at a couple of things:

1. None of the really top Japanese MMA fighters have accepted any contract.
2. The UFC does not seem to want to keep their side of the contract they have taken over after Pride(Joachim Hansen was offered half his contracted salary to fight in the UFC).

December 31 is when we really know what will happen with stars such as Gomi, Shinya Aoki, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Kasuo Misaki and other international stars such as Joachim Hansen. This is reportedly when their contracts run out.

My guess is that if these fighters were going to the UFC, they would have signed already. And lets face it, Japan is one of the biggest MMA markets in the world and where these fighters are likely to make the most money. Most of these fighters will most likely find their way to HEROs.

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