Takanori Gomi and Yushin Okami plant flag for Japanese MMA

MMAjunkie.com

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Takanori Gomi and Yushi Okami say they won't single-handedly revive Japanese MMA, but they'll try to represent it well as long as they fight inside the octagon.

The UFC imports both won big this past Sunday at UFC on Versus 2 and were asked about the the sport's apparent struggles in their home country.

"I think we've shown that you can give us any stage – you can give us the UFC stage, whatever you want – and the Japanese fighting world will acquit itself well," Okami said.

With a third-round striking rally and solid takedown defense, 29-year-old Okami (25-5 MMA, 9-2 UFC) earned a split-decision over fellow middleweight Mark Munoz in the co-main event of the evening. It was his ninth UFC victory in 11 appearances; UFC president Dana White said going into the fight that a title shot may be in Okami's future.

Meanwhile, Gomi (32-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC) shocked many observers by handing Tyson Griffin the first stoppage loss of his six-year career. The win erased a disappointing March debut for the former PRIDE lightweight champion in which former top contender Kenny Florian outclassed and submitted him.

Together, the wins were a small push-back for Japanese MMA, which took another body blow this past week when a top agent who represents many of the country's top stars told "Fighters Only" that "JMMA is dead." (The agent did not disclose his identity.)

The agent called recent news of a partnership between Japan's biggest fight promotion, DREAM parent company FEG (Fighting and Entertainment Group), and investment bank PUJI Capital a "desperate move." In a press conference held this past month, FEG officials said PUJI will help them raise money for domestic and international expansion; PUJI said it could raise up to $230 million for the effort.

The 31-year-old Gomi, who five years ago was ranked as the top lightweight in the world, was at first hesitant to address the state of Japanese MMA. He told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) he didn't know how his win reflected on his country.

"You'll just have to watch me," he said. "I'll represent, and you let me know."

Later, though, he opened up and said the victories were significant – at least in the short term.

"In these particular bouts on this particular evening, Japan is on the map," he said. "I think we've shown that Japan is internationally competitive.

"Our style of fighters can go anywhere and take on any fighters anywhere and beat them, as we did tonight. Again, I stress that it was just two fights on just one night, but it was very positive."

Okami agreed with the statement and said good performances eventually will quell the bad press coming out of his country.

"If it's taking a little longer for that to gain popular currency, then so be it, but I think tonight speaks well for both of us," he said. "When you get to the UFC, you're at the top of the mixed-martial-arts world, and one thing that drives me to continue fighting is this desire to show that Japan – and myself personally as a fighter – belong here at this level."

An eight-year veteran of the sport, Okami got his start in the PRIDE, Pancrase and Greatest Common Multiple (GCM) promotions before he made his UFC debut in August 2006. He is the only active UFC fighter to hold a win over current middleweight champion Anderson Silva, though it was earned by disqualification after Silva illegally upkicked him during a 2006 Rumble on the Rock bout.

Gomi shot to stardom after a 12-1 run with veteran Japanese promotion Shooto that put him on the map as a top-shelf lightweight. He won the PRIDE belt in December 2005 with a knockout of Hayato Sakurai.

After the UFC bought PRIDE in March 2007, Gomi struck out on his own and was one of the early acquisitions of World Victory Road's Sengoku event series, which, along with the FEG-promoted DREAM, sprang up in the wake of the takeover. He went 2-2 with WVR before announcing his intention to sign with the UFC.

In an interview with MMAjunkie.com this past month, Mike Kogan, director of FEG USA, said that while MMA continues to do well on Japanese television, his promotion needs to get into the pay-per-view business, which could bring even more Japanese events to North American fans.

For more on UFC on Versus 2, including the night's official results, check out the UFC Events section of MMAjunkie.com.

nice read. I respect the hell out of japan cause this is where a lot of it started and its good to have these guys in the UFC as well as the fans.

They both looked very good last night and I look forward to see them fight again.

Hopefully it will lead to a renaissance of MMA in Japan. I think they got held up by tradition and the changing of the guard in the MMA power structure. I think two of their stars coming over here and having an impact will be good for the sport out of Nippon.

was a good night for Japanese MMA last night, also they were in the 2 most entertaining fights IMO

All we need now is for Aoki to come back and be successful in Strikeforce and for Sexyama to knockout Bisping.

The Gomi fight last night was so great. I was so fucking pumped when he dropped him, the rest of the card paled in comparison to that moment

ya well I fucking missed it so fuck off bobbit you piece of shit

yo bobby im sorry im just also asshurt I missed the CC fight also


Pride's best moments recently and I missed em all.

Ali_1748 wrote:

All we need now is for Aoki to come back and be successful in Strikeforce and for Sexyama to knockout Bisping.

Neither of which is going to happen.

Wolfgangsta wrote:

yo bobby im sorry im just also asshurt I missed the CC fight also


Pride's best moments recently and I missed em all.

No DVR? Maybe you're bringing them some luck by not watching live lol

I just forgot it was on and missed the first 20 minutes. I didn't order 115.

ya agree bobbitt after Gomis fast Ko everything was icing on the cake

i am with wolf except i had no idea it was on or the outcomes untill now

LudoCain wrote:

Ali_1748 wrote:

All we need now is for Aoki to come back and be successful in Strikeforce and for Sexyama to knockout Bisping.

Neither of which is going to happen.

Never underestimate Sexyama !!! if he would've kept active Leben would have gotten knocked out.

Gomi trained AKA exclusively for this fight. They helped him cut weight and work in a cage along with helping him scout Tyson. And they had mentioned on the broadcast that Okami knew his training was deficient in Japan so he trained in American Gyms lately. It's good for them being Japanese, but their wins can me seen as a American accomplishment more so than a Japanese reclamation of MMA prominence or whatever.

Okami has been in the US for a while I thought. I believe he's been working with Matt Hume right?