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Saturday, January 31, 2009
Gomi, Kid Yamamoto And Others At UFC 94
 There are always a number of stars that come out for any UFC event, but tonight in Las Vegas the royalty of Japanese mixed martial arts has come out to see Georges St. Pierre battle B.J. Penn.
Former Pride lightweight champion Takanori Gomi, prized bantamweight and featherweight fighter, Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto, Olympic Gold medalist Satoshi Ishii, and Caol Uno are all in attendance at UFC 94 to see the action at tonight's show.
UFC President Dana White has made it no secret that he wouldn't mind landing any or all of the above competitors. White has also mentioned top rated middleweight competitor, Yoshohiro Akiyama, as a fighter the promotion would like to add as well.
"Kid" Yamamoto was seen several times this week in Dana's blog, and the top ranked Japanese fighter stopped for a photo opportunity in the Octagon with the president.Labels: Caol Uno, Dana White, Kid Yamamoto, Satoshi Ishii, Takanori Gomi, UFC 94
posted by MMAInsiderBLOG @ 10:11 PM
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Japanese Gold Medalist Ishii All But Signed to UFC?
 In Saitama, Japan, on Sunday, 2008 Olympic gold medalist judoka Satoshi Ishii took to the Sengoku ring with microphone in hand. It is well known that Ishii is ready to forgo his judo career and head into professional MMA competition. And on Sunday, clad in a UFC t-shirt, it wasn't too surprising that Ishii indicated that he is more than likely going to debut in the Octagon.
In his address to the crowd, Ishii apparently told Japanese fans that he is now a mixed marital artist. Besides donning the UFC shirt, he also told the crowd that he plans to fight in the United States, hoping to bring back a "big souvenir" to the Japanese fans, according to a report on Sherdog.com.
That Ishii is likely headed to the UFC just goes to show the power of the MMA juggernaught. In years past, it would have been very difficult to for the promotion to land a Japanese athlete the caliber of Ishii. There is a tremendous amount of support for combat sports in Japan that makes competing for its national athletes a hard sell.
The UFC has become such a force in the sport though, that it appears they are able to sway some of the most prominent athletes from across globe.
Ishii was a special guest of the UFC at UFC 92 on Dec. 27 in Las Vegas. Following the event, Zuffa issued a statement that Ishii had entered into exclusive negotiations to fight under the UFC banner.Labels: Satoshi Ishii
posted by MMAInsiderBLOG @ 3:11 PM
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