The Ultimate Fighting Championship, as promised, is flexing their muscle as they bring their brand awareness to Japan; according to Jordan Breen of Sherdog, Zuffa, Inc. (parent company to the UFC) has signed a deal with Japanese satellite channel WOWOW.  The promotion hasn’t had a presence in Japan since May 2007 when WOWOW and the UFC couldn’t come to a contractual agreement.

WOWOW will show a multi-week program, “UFC is Back!”, which will show fights from UFC 71 to the present, in order to get Japanese fans up tospeed; the series is expected to begin on August 4 with the airing of the rematch between Chuck Liddell and Quinton Jackson, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Heath Herring and Rich Franklin vs. Yushin Okami.  The series will run until September 29, leading up to the network’s telecast of the UFC card on October 18, which is being headlined by Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben.