Why Do Japanese MMA Fighters Falter in America?

Since the fall of Pride FC, the land of the rising sun has seen the gradual exportation of their favorite fighting sons and daughters to promotions in America, most notably to the UFC.

With no small amount of experience, desire, skill and hype, they all seem to arrive with a bang but end up leaving with a whimper.

These are true fighters, make no mistake about it. They take their trade very seriously, rising to the top while taking on all comers in their native country and defeating them.

Then, they come across the pond and their losing streak begins.

Many people in the world of combative sport have wondered about this. Could it be the difference in rules or the quality of opposition? Or is it simply that their era has passed them by?

The truth is probably far simpler than that.

Japanese fighters seem to fight their best, and hardest, when the eyes of their countrymen are upon them in the arena. The pressure is greatest for them when they fight at home, because they simply cannot bear the thought of disappointing their fans, mentors, family and friends.

One example of this is Kazushi Sakuraba. In his fight with Marius Zaromskis in December of 2010, he could charitably be described as a great fighter in the twilight of his career. His opponent was younger and well skilled.

A loss would not have hurt his legacy, but it would have broken his heart.

Sakuraba, suffering one of the worst ear injuries in combative sport history (meaning his ear was actually falling off), tried to continue to fight because to not do so would be a stain on his honor, and a stain on his country by proxy.

When these same brave fighters come to America they fight with skill and heart, but not with the same sense of desperation that is normally found in their fights when they are competing at home.

Of course, this is just speculation on the reason why. Fighters like Takanori Gomi, Shinya Aoki, Yoshihiro Akiyama and others have faltered when they bring their ambitions to the United States, leaving us to scratch our heads and wonder why.

For a country that has suffered so much as of late, it seems like these fighters would be ripping their competition to pieces, instead of simply being "the opponent.” It is a trend that would be easy to dismiss, and even perhaps vilify, if there were exceptions to what seems to be a widely accepted rule of thumb; Japanese fighters can’t fight in America.

Let’s hope that some of them realize that some rules were made to be broken.