Official poster for UFC Japan (UFC publicity photo)
The 11 fights on the the March 3 card for UFC on Fuel TV 8 in Japan are in place..
The first five match-ups will be broadcast on the promotion’s Facebook page. The main event at the Saitama Super Arena will pit Wanderlei Silva against Brian Stann, and the co-main event has the squat Mark Hunt facing the rangy Stefan Struve. Another attention-grabbing fight is the middleweight tilt between Hector Lombard and Yushin Okami.
There will also be a clash of savvy grapplers in Jiu-Jitsu black belt Marcelo “Magrão” Guimarães (8w, 1d) against Hyun Gyu Lim. Then there’ll be fourth-degree black belt Cristiano Marcello, onetime coach to Wand at Chute Boxe, taking on UFC first-timer Kazuki Tokudome.
Cristiano, who has fought in Japan in the past, starred in season 15 of The Ultimate Fighter reality who, where he lost to San Sicilia by knockout in the second round.
Cristiano Marcello is also famous for a memorable behind-the-scenes video taken backstage at Pride FC. Following an argument between Wanderlei Silva and Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennet in the dressing room, Cristiano, who was translating what Wand was saying, became the target of the aggressor, who didn’t come out too well against the Brazilian’s Jiu-Jitsu.
Check out the bizarre moment in the following video, just one that marked the saga of MMA in Japan.
UFC Japan
Saitama Super Arena, Saitama – Japan
March 3, 2013
Wanderlei Silva vs Brian Stann
Mark Hunt vs Stefan Struve
Takanori Gomi vs Diego Sanchez
Hector Lombard vs Yushin Okami
Mizuto Hirota vs Rani Yahya
Siyar Bahadurzada vs Dong Hyun Kim
Facebook broadcast
Riki Fukuda vs Brad Tavares
Bryan Caraway vs Takeya Mizugaki
Cristiano Marcello vs Kazuki Tokudome
Alex Caceres vs Kyung Ho Kang
Marcelo Guimaraes vs Hyun Gyu Lim
