http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/12/3/3720978/asian-mma-pancrase-controvery-rin-nakai-rule-change Quick summary: Pancrase was having a Bantamweight Queen of Pancrase match between Japanese fighter and favorite Rin Nakai and British fighter Danielle West. Prior to the fight, Danielle had missed weight by 1kg; she was penalized by not being allowed to choke or throw knees. However, Nakai was allowed to do these things. West also said that it was announced before the fight that even if she'd knocked Nakai out, the match would have been declared a draw, because I guess that's how draws are decided these days?
The Japanese promotions are the worst for this type of crap. They live in fantasy land. Unreal. The whole thing stinks.
How come its such a big issue in Japan of all places? I remember reading some stuff about Yakuza involvement with certain fighters but I don't get why they seem to have so many problems?
I've often wondered the same thing myself. Then I remember how deeply involved in every stream of life the yakuza is in Japan. Since just about ever. Especially something like the fights.... there is money to be made. Gambling is huge in Asia. Japanese love to gamble... so it's a no brainer. National pride is a big issue as well. It's like the backdrop for a movie no doubt.
southpaw - read a book called "Freakanomics" or watch the movie. It talks about the statistical analysis of sumo match data and how it seems to indicate quite a bit of fixing. also if im not mistaken, kimura and other pro wrestlers of his time had lots of yakuza involvement.
Those rules changes are total BS. I would never agree to that. As for fixes and all that I have heard people suggest that a lot of Ali's fights were fixed. For some reason that does not sit right with me.
im sure if i got into the ring with ali today, even in his current state (the poor man), he would whoop me eight shades of purple
This story is likely more nationalism than yaks. It's all deeply intertwined, but the opportunity to put Japan #1 is without fail a winning strategy in Japan, of course gangs can strategize around that.
That was more my feeling as well. The article mentioned that this was a rematch, with the first match going to a draw, which was probably embarassing for an undefeated fighter vs. a journey(wo)man. I'm sure Hannibal can back me up, but Japanese pro wrestling booking often has fan favorites facing off against bigger foreigners; this booking seems to have carried over into the MMA careers of guys like Sakuraba and Minowa. I think that nationalism factored into this fight as well. I could be wrong, but it's hard for me to imagine the Yakuza carring all that much about a lower-tier women's MMA match. It really is a despicable rule change. Over 1kg? Is this unprecedented in MMA? I know in the West, fighters who come in overweight are usually penalized a portion of their purse, but this seems like an intelligence-castrating act of stupidity.
The "monster foreigner" is a big sell in Japan - how else do you think Bob Sapp stayed around for so long? The definitive monster heel was - and to me still is - Vader [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5IAUAJ2eME"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5IAUAJ2eME[/ame]
You're right. She could have made weight, sheshould have made weight, and I consider showing up overweight unprofessional. But what a bizarre and handicapping penalty! That's like being beaten in the shins with a rubber hose for jaywalking.
You can lose your entire purse over here in MMA if you go over by a certain amount I believe. Which is also probably rather inconvenient to someone trying to win to eat.
Well if you can't eat, it can only help your odds of making weight next fight But for one fighter to be penalized in such a way that it's harder to win? That's really my objection. If Nakai thought that being an entire kilo over offered that much of an advantage to her opponent, she could have refused the fight. It may just have been the language barrier, but for a fighter to discover she's suffering technical handicaps that her opponent isn't, mid-fight, is irresponsible on the part of the promotion, at the very least. Bottom line is I'm very displeased with how Pancrase is handling this. There's been some stirring over the past few years about Japanese fighters trying to get a national regulatory commission established. I would at least hope such a body would prevent stuff like this.
Sakuraba took it to Royce big time. And they really really did not want to lose. They agreed to whatever rules the Gracie's wanted. That was one tough match. It's sad to see that gangs are getting involved. Money has a tendency to take a big dump on things.
Not getting involved. They have always have been involved. They are a fixture in the fight world. The way the mob is a fixture in boxing and Vegas... the Yakuza are a fixture in Japan and the Japanese fight scene. Same as it ever was.
