One of the big stories in the UFC’s decision to go to Japan in 2012 has been the sense of need for them to not treat it like “just another card” and instead put on stars and fights that appeal to the region’s fans. With the UFC having some of the biggest stars from the days of PRIDE on the roster, it seems like an easy enough thing to do. But we not know of at least one former PRIDE superstar who won’t be fighting on the card:
(editing done by me)
Rampage was one of the men who was very interested in returning to his old turf and performing in front of the Japanese fans. Unfortunately it looks like that isn’t going to happen.
A look at the UFC 144 card makes it appear that the plan is to load the card up with Japanese fighters, but no particularly big names from the PRIDE days outside of Mark Hunt.