Japan’s version of the UFC’s Grand Garden Arena, the Super Saitama Arena has hosted some of the most legendary fight cards in mixed martial arts history.
And this Saturday, the UFC will be returning to it for a fourth time.
With the main arena capacity holding between nineteen and twenty two-thousand people, Saitama provides fighters with an opportunity to showcase their skills in front of a larger crowd than they’d generally have the opportunity to compete in front of.
During the UFC’s past three visits there, the arena has housed an average of 16,025 attendants, the highest attendance being 21,000 for the Henderson/Edgar title fight in February of 2012.
Each time the UFC has made its way to the “Land of the Rising Sun”, the promotion has made sure to showcase former Pride FC alumni to bolster ticket sales. Mark Hunt, for example, has appeared on each of the three cards at Saitama, winning in each of the contests. Other Pride legends like Wanderlei Silva and “Rampage” Jackson have bolstered ticket sales with their names.
Unlike the UFC however, Pride FC managed to fill the arena to maximum capacity on more than a few occasions. Pride Shockwave 2004, for example, took place in front of a crowd just shy of 49,000 – well over its listed capacity of 37,000.
With the UFC clearly being the world’s leading mixed martial arts promotion, one has to scratch their head as to why the UFC has yet to even come close to what Pride FC, and even Dream FC, have accomplished at Saitama.
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