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Originally Posted by bunzo
What do you mean?
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I'll explain...
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Originally Posted by bunzo
Great video. Very well produced. PRIDE needs to use the UFC angle because the American market is the UFC market. The UFC has proved that hype alone can sell tickets and PPV's. When a winner of a television show can headline an MMA event and sell hundreds of thousands of PPV units, it's obvious that the quality of the fighters or the show itself is not really important. PRIDE needs to tailor their N. American operations around what these people want to see. Ask the average UFC fan what fight they would rather see, the winner of reality television vs. Forrest Griffin or Fedor vs. Nog and see what their response is. The integrity of the sport is irrelevant. Hype and propoganda is what fuels MMA in this country, the UFC has certainly proved that by now.
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Agree with that.
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Originally Posted by bunzo
Following the same strategy that made PRIDE successful in Japan is not going to do the same in N. America. PRIDE in Japan is marketed on the strength of international fighters representing their respective martial arts and countries, tradition, dignity, warrior spirit, honor, etc. MMA is embedded knowledge in Japan and the fans understand the significance of Sakarabu vs. Gracie family jiu jitsu or Japanese judo vs. Greco-Roman wrestling. Olympic gold vs. Olympic gold makes for a great main event in Japan because people understand the background history associated with most matches. Just take a look at the Yoshida vs. Ogawa fight.
I really believe that PRIDE assumed American MMA fans would react to the promotion in the same manner their Japanese counterparts did. Obviously, they were wrong. Everything that made PRIDE a success in Japan should be left there. That type of stuff is above and beyond the current N. American MMA/UFC market. Save the sporting themed shows for Japan and bring the spectacle, circus like show to America. That's what these people want to see. Bash the UFC, use the ridiculous MMA math type marketing strategy and produce a reality television show. Sadly enough, those types of practices appeal to the current N. American/UFC market.PRIDE needs to adapt to the N. American/UFC market and realise that MMA in N. America is more hype than it is sport.
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You're kind of right with some points, but I disagree with most of this.
1) I still think this video is directed at their Japanese fans considering it's on the Japanese version of the website and has Japanese text on the page and is produced in a similar fashion as other "for the Japanese audience" PRIDE videos I have seen are, english subtitles included. But if it were for the American fans, I'd have to say it has some problems. I like the attacking the UFC and its champions angle. That's a necessary step to gaining fans in the US market. Realistically, PRIDE has to know they're not going to create MMA fans out of nowhere. The vast majority of fans that begin folliowing their product are already going to be fans of the UFC, or at the very least fully aware of the UFC and its top fighters. However, the strategy of matching up Americans against heavily favored fighters from Japan/Brazil/Europe isn't something that Americans want to see. That's how PRIDE markets to the Japanese market. They enjoy seeing their home fighters put up against all the odds and trying to overcome them. And even if they lose, if they displayed the heart/toughness of a warrior, it's a moral victory that the Japanese fans will get behind. I don't believe Americans react the same way. There was a good editorial on MMAWeekly about this shortly before PRIDE Real Deal that I felt made some good points. Also, the way they portray Dan Henderson, it's just so over-the-top "this is our stereotypical view of Americans" with him riding horses, with the borderline country/bluegrass (whatever the fuck it was) music, him working heavy machinery, come on, like I said, for the Japanese audience, fine.
2) Your comment that they should "Save the sporting themed shows for Japan and bring the spectacle, circus like show to America" is quite amusing. Especially when you consider all of PRIDE's ties to pro-wrestling and how many pro-wrestlers they continue to bring in their show, how many fighters clearly not worthy of fighting in the org racking up 7-8 fights in the org despite losing 80% to 90% of them (only UFC fighter I can think of like that is Elvis Sinosic), how many freak-show matchups there are as opposed to the UFC. You have guys like Giant Silva, Butterbean, Ken Kaneko, Zulu, etc. Shinya Aoki, when contemplating where he would go with his career, said he didn't think he'd go to PRIDE because it didn't contain enough of a sporting feel and was more entertainment-based. The way the UFC generally forces their champions to defend their belts against one of the top contenders and more commonly lets fighters who lose consecutive fights walk. I guess it didn't hurt the Yoshida/Ogawa main event that Ogawa had a pro-wrestling following huh? UFC main events usually contain at least one top-ranked fighter, I don't see how that makes it less sporting. This is MMA after all, not judo. Sure, there are points like this to be made on both sides, but to call the UFC and North American way of doing MMA a "circus-like show" while calling PRIDE's "sporting-themed" is absurd. There is an argument to be made that it's closer to the opposite. If you want to talk about Shooto being more like a sport and the UFC being more spectacle and circus-like, that's fine. You'd be right there. But not in comparison to PRIDE. That's a faulty argument if I've ever heard one.
And as someone else said, you're romanticizing the Japanese fan a little too much.
