The new MMA general news, events and thoughts thread

[Egg Shen]

KID Yamamoto/Chris Beal added to the McDonald/Wonderboy card. Solid scrap!

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

That is a good addition to the undercard! Thought KID had called it a day on his career, honestly.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, KID's been ravaged with injuries for years. He's been in the UFC FIVE YEARS now! And he's fought, what, three or four times in that spell?

 

KID's career is a real shame. Newer fans now probably see him as just a little Japanese prelim curtain jerker now. And sadly, that's what he is now. When he actually fights. But he was legitimately one of the best fighters in the world when he was at his best. He had an amazing record with wins over some good names. He was exciting to watch, he was powerful, he had a ridiculous physique, and unlike a lot of Japanese fighters, he was brimming with charisma. He had a swagger in his prime not too unlike Naseem Hamed. Then be took time out to train for the Olympics in 2008, got injured, started collecting more injuries and never got back on track. He was genuinely thought to be one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet before the injuries started piling up. Shame because prime KID Yamamoto is exactly what a division like bantamweight could do with right now.

[Egg Shen]

Well said Wand.

 

Yep, if there was ever a potential superstar that came to the UFC too late it was KID. Real shame how it panned out. Still, in Chris Beal he has a guy who will stand and box with him? Could be a real good fight.

 

On the flip side, the one Japanese guy who had crosover superstar potential came and left the UFC too early was Genki Sudo. 2 fights and he was gone. Japan saw the best of him but it sucks that the American audience didnt get to experience it first hand.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, Genki was the man. Not only did he leave the UFC too early, he retired too early full-stop. But that was him all over. Did his own thing and left us wanting more. Genki, KID and Gomi were the three fighters I never thought we'd see leave Japan. Obviously when the scene over there went tits up they (KID and Gomi) had little choice but to come over to the UFC. But by then, they were past their best. You have to remember as well, from about 2003 until 2007 there wasn't really a division for those guys in the UFC anyway. I remember the talk in the mid-late 2000s with KID was doing a big superfight with him and Faber. KID even came to a WEC event and sat with Dana around that time. Shame it never happened.

[Egg Shen]

Wonder why Genki was in the UFC when he was? He was a bit of a unique case, there wern't many Japanese fighters in the UFC in the early Zuffa days but Genki was one of them. It was at the height of Pride/K-1 too. Sudo was a big name in Japan at the time of his UFC stint too.

 

Edit* Genki actually had 3 UFC fights.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

Genki, KID and Gomi were the three fighters I never thought we'd see leave Japan. Obviously when the scene over there went tits up they (KID and Gomi) had little choice but to come over to the UFC. But by then, they were past their best.

 

Gomi's a funny one for me, because there's been occasions I've thought he looked excellent when many were saying he was past it. What was probably fortunate for me was missing him losing his UFC debut to Florian. First time I ever saw him fight, he starched Tyson Griffin in one minute. Seemed like a charismatic dude with a fuck ton of power for 155. He had a rough 2011, but Nate Diaz and Clay Guida were no slouches- Nate used that fight to start his campaign towards the lightweight title.

 

Gomi then bounced back with a KO win at UFC 144, and really impressed me with his next 3 fights- vs Danzig, Sanchez and Vallie-Flagg. Feel like he was robbed against Sanchez, and that fight was in Japan which made the decision even weirder. Lately lost to Lauzon and Myles Jury, who were/are top level.

 

Mind you, I never saw Gomi at all before his second UFC fight, so I don't know how good he was in Japan. I'm hoping he finds his 2012-mid 2014 form against Jim Miller. He's so damn likeable, and poor Jim- who I've seen much more of- has definitely lost some steps. Would be nice to see Gomi come from being big in Japan to making a run as an older fighter in the UFC.

 

I'm also a huge Mark Hunt fan, so there's a chance I'm comparing the two in my head somehow. Both knockout artists who dye their hair, pretty similar, right?

[Egg Shen]

Gomi was a beast back in the day, he went on a mental KO streak where he was just waxing everyone but it's hard to say if he was ever truly elite (though there was a stage during 2004-05 where you could make the case). Gomi just had a real fan friendly style, solid boxing, good takedown defence, iron chin and he was reckless. Everyone loved them some Gomi.

[wandshogun09]

Shane O - I don't know if you have Fight Pass or the DVDs but if you've got them handy definitely watch these fights;

 

Gomi vs Jens Pulver (Pride Shockwave 2004)

Gomi vs Luiz Azeredo (Pride Bushido 7)

Gomi vs Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pride Bushido 9)

Gomi vs Luiz Azeredo 2 (Pride Bushido 9)

Gomi vs Hayato Sakurai (Pride Shockwave 2005)

 

That'll give you a good look at Gomi at his best. And if you're on a Gomi fight marathon, you may as well stick his fight with Nick Diaz on from Pride 33. Although that fight kind of signalled the end of Gomi's run of best form looking back, it was a brilliant fight. One of my favourite Pride fights ever.

 

Gomi vs BJ Penn from Rumble On The Rock is worth a watch as well. Thank fuck ROTR existed or we'd have never seen those two fight. Two of the best lightweights ever meeting in or close to their absolute best form. It's a really good fight as well. If it had happened in the UFC or Pride I think it'd be remembered and held up as a great fight but because it was on a little ROTR show in Hawaii it's gone largely under the radar and a lot of people haven't seen it.

 

 

Great fight.

 

Edit - nice how I've started a post that was supposed to big Gomi up and ended it with a gif of him getting choked out covered in blood. But yeah, Gomi was a beast in his prime. Watch the other fights before you watch Penn choke the shit out of him.

[Egg Shen]

here's Ralph Gracie regretting shooting in on Takanori Gomi...

 

[wandshogun09]

Ralph Gracie always looked more like he should be Dan Henderson's brother than a Gracie to me. Looks fuck all like his real brothers Renzo and Ryan.

[jimufctna24]

Gomi is without a doubt one of the best Lightweights ever.

 

However, he's one of those fighters that past me by a bit. When I first got into MMA, both him and Matt Hughes came with a stigma - in that they were both billed as Champions -  but though to be not as good as BJ Penn. This notion was always backed up by Penn holding convincing victories over both of them. It's not really fair that I judged them on this, but it was the common feeling amongst the MMA community at the time, and as a new fan, I didn't really have the grounds to overlook it. 

 

Hughes eventually escaped that stigma by beating Penn in their rematch (although he was probably saved by the bell at one point). Even though GSP took over from him in the following fight, he had come out of Penn's shadow before the rematch (at least in my eyes). His 2 year reign as Welterweight Champion was credible enough. I no longer perceived him as a tainted Champion like I had previously. Go back and watch the fight he had after the Penn loss, or how GSP handled him in their first fight before the armbar - Hughes wasn't convincing around that period.

 

Sadly, I never escaped that feeling with Gomi, and by early 2007, his aura started to seriously wane. Some of that is due to lack of interest. I was always more into Pride's heavier weightclasses than the lower ones. I could happily skip the Bushido shows.  However, I always enjoyed his fights and entrance. The fight he had with Diaz was one of the last great Pride fights. Probably the best Pride fight on US soil as well. 

[Egg Shen]

I skipped the first couple of Bushido shows, i seem to remember them being quite difficult to get a hold of back in the day. Looking back on the cards though they were brilliant shows. Bushido 9 being the one most die hard fans point too as being one of the best cards in MMA history.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, Bushido 9 is brilliant. The lightweight tournament is ridiculously good, with each fight seemingly better than the last. That was the peak of the Bushido series though. The first 8 were good-great, 9 was fantastic then 10-13 were hit and miss, I thought. Some decent stuff on them but Bushido never was quite as good after 9. All them shows are worth a watch though. I might knock a thread up at some point, give the Bushido boxsets a watch and do a bit of a review of the lot of them in there. Been years since I watched those shows.

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

Ah excellent, thanks for the recommendations Wand. I actually have the first 10 Pride Bushidos on my hard drive but haven't watched them (well, possibly the first couple- I seem to remember a heavy Gracies vs Japan feud on one event, although that could be from the normal Pride events that I also downloaded the first 10 of, haha).

 

Bushido 9 might be a watch tonight after that Jones main event has me feeling sour.