I sometimes see non-Japanese fans at Japanese MMA events, and when I do, they're pretty conspicuous. Whenever a Dream or Sengoku show rolls around, I'll occasionally encounter a bewildered foreigner bravely navigating Tokyo's labyrinthine train system to get to the arena. Provided they're on the right train, I can usually spot them: they're the ones proudly sporting the Pride Fighting Championships t-shirts.
That being the case, imagine my surprise at seeing three distinctly American women in the crowd at Sunday's Pancrase Passion Tour 9.
“They look like the type that would be screaming at the camera at a UFC show, a beer in one hand and fist-pumping with the other,” I messaged to our Jordan Breen.
Intrigued by the incongruity of the image, Jordan needled me into finding out how these three just so happened to end up at this Pancrase show -- one with a ho-hum card, no less, outside of its cross-promotional main event pitting former Sengoku lightweight champ Satoru Kitaoka against current Cage Force lightweight champ Kuniyoshi Hironaka.
Likely not expecting anyone to speak to them, and certainly not in English, I took them by surprise when I made my initial inquiry. Apparently even more jarring was me asking if I could write about it for the Sherdog blog, since the attendance of fans specifically like them was so rare.
Admittedly, I'm awful with names and dates, and so I asked, “Do you mind if I record this interview?”
“Whoa. Kind of like a stalker,” one of them quipped.
“Wow, what an awkward moment,” I thought to myself then. “Thanks, Jordan.”
Though embarrassed, I was intent on finishing what I started. In an effort to acquit myself and prove my professionalism, I fetched some trusty Sherdog business cards -- pretty weak evidence in the grand scheme of things, but the best I could scratch up at the time.
Luckily, my accuser, Brittany, was a fan of the site, so I was forgiven fairly quickly. She, along with her friends Sheila and Megan, were spouses of serviceman stationed at the nearby Yokosuka Naval Base in Kanagawa. When I asked what brought them to see Pancrase -- a promotion which goes largely unnoticed by non-Japanese MMA fans due to its lack of advertising -- both Sheila and Megan pointed to Brittany. It had been her idea, since she’d been actively trying to get her friends to start training MMA with her.
Like many, Brittany became interested in the sport by way of Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show. She discovered Pancrase through her Twitter acquaintance, Nate Marquardt -- a three-time middleweight King of Pancrase -- and through friends who competed locally. One such friend, Jon Shores, showed up later in the evening, also dubious of my inquisitiveness until I gave him one of my business cards. Shores, a U.S. Navy serviceman with a 2-0 record in Pancrase Gate amateur bouts, is looking to earn his pro license this December.
It's a goal that Brittany hopes to achieve as well. She claimed that her husband initially objected to her fighting aspirations, but had nonetheless been supportive of her since she joined the local Rodeo Style gym, home to UFC and ZST veteran Naoyuki Kotani.
I asked her what she imagined her road map to be -- how long it will take before she's competing in her first amateur bouts, and where she hopes to eventually end up. Though she didn’t seem to have any idea, the enthusiasm to figure it out first-hand was apparent.
“I don't really know how easy I'll catch on. Jiu-jitsu's a little hard for me to understand, but by next year I want to be in amateur tournaments and stuff,” says Brittany. “I could do grappling tournaments, but I'd like to do MMA tournaments. Basically anything that I think I'll be great at.”
After the event, Sheila reiterated to me how surprised she was at the behavior of Japanese audiences, whom she observed were more interested in the fights themselves than their American counterparts, quietly watching for technique and applauding appropriately whenever a maneuver was deftly performed. I asked if the the behavior of the local crowd put any pressure on them to behave in a certain way. They said no, and like any good American abroad, they weren't at all self-conscious of that fact.
By admission, all three were were dyed-in-the-wool Western MMA fans, and proud of it. They cheered on the evening's fighters in the only way they knew how: very loudly. Though this particular Pancrase event was their first experience with grassroots Japanese MMA -- as well as their first live MMA show period -- the trio already knew how to comport themselves based on the MMA culture they came from.
It’ll be interesting to see how these newly-arrived MMA fans fare in Japan. While the sport is essentially the same, those who have followed Japanese MMA for any stretch of time already understand how unique the local fight culture is. If Brittany's promises hold true, I'll be seeing her frequently at future shows -- first, as one of the audience's more vocal fans, and in time, in the ring as a competitor.
As one who has chronicled the lives of foreigners fighting in Japan, I'm curious to see how Brittany will cope with the obstacles and trials ahead, particularly given how difficult it is to progress and find success in Japan's women's MMA scene. She and her friends would not be the first foreign women to try their hands at competing here, where the rewards can be small and the notoriety even less so.
If anything, I hope for Brittany's sake that the parting request of her Rodeo Style training partner, Shores, does not prove prophetic: “When I earn my pro license in Pancrase, can I send you a picture to put in the Fight Finder? I don't want to be a 'faceless' in there.”