UFC in Japan: Just business as usual?

Nate Diaz, right, punches Donald Cerrone during the first round of their UFC lightweight mixed martial arts match Friday, Dec. 30, 2011, at The MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Eric Jamison)

It was with considerable fanfare in September that the UFC announced its first trip back to Japan since the year 2000.

Given that country’s important role in the evolution of “modern” MMA, it’s pretty tempting to cast Saturday’s UFC 144 as something more than just another step in the company’s ongoing international expansion. Japan was once the capital of a burgeoning MMA world; the fact that the UFC will now put boots on the ground there for the first time since its buyout of the Pride organization in 2007 has to mean, well, something.

But what, exactly?

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