Hatsu Hioki debuts at 137 against George Roop

Hioki by rape choke.

hope he wins, the sport needs an Asian champion imo

killerofchicken wrote:

hope he wins, the sport needs an Asian champion imo

It would do wonders for MMA in Asia.

killerofchicken wrote:

hope he wins, the sport needs an Asian champion imo

What about Okami after August 27th?

They never come over and do well. I expect Roop to win.

Farmer1906 wrote:

They never come over and do well. I expect Roop to win.

Wouldn't surprise me at all.

Picking Roop here. Asian fighters in MMA need Hioki and Okami to win their next fights, and if they don't, the book is closed likely for a long time.

Wolfgangsta wrote:

Picking Roop here. Asian fighters in MMA need Hioki and Okami to win their next fights, and if they don't, the book is closed likely for a long time.

I wouldn't say a long time. All it takes is another guy to make a run in Dream & Sengoku.

Sengoku is gone(how you think all their best fighters are in the UFC?) and Dream isn't attracting new talent. Anyway, there is no one on the horizon and even if the current Dream produces another winner, no one is ever going to believe they'd be able to challenge for a UFC title. Japanese MMA's future is tied to the next few fights in a big way.

Wolfgangsta wrote:

Sengoku is gone(how you think all their best fighters are in the UFC?) and Dream isn't attracting new talent. Anyway, there is no one on the horizon and even if the current Dream produces another winner, no one is ever going to believe they'd be able to challenge for a UFC title. Japanese MMA's future is tied to the next few fights in a big way.

Sorry whoever puts on a run in Shooto, Pancrase, and JEWELS will be next.

Farmer1906 wrote:

Wolfgangsta wrote:

Sengoku is gone(how you think all their best fighters are in the UFC?) and Dream isn't attracting new talent. Anyway, there is no one on the horizon and even if the current Dream produces another winner, no one is ever going to believe they'd be able to challenge for a UFC title. Japanese MMA's future is tied to the next few fights in a big way.

Sorry whoever puts on a run in Shooto, Pancrase, and JEWELS will be next.

The climate is changing. No one is going to be ranked in the top 2 in the world in any weight class out of Japan unless they do it inside the UFC(outside of WMMA). If someone makes a run in some promotion in Asia, they'll get signed like any other prospect does coming out a regional promotion. This is probably true win or lose. JMMA has been demoted from major circuit to regional.

Roop is going to sleep

Roop will dance circles around him and kick his head off probably, though Hioki has had success in North America. That is where he beat Hominick. I'd like to see him win in the UFC, though I won't believe it until I see it.

Hioki takes this

Farmer1906 wrote:

They never come over and do well. I expect Roop to win.

Whatever happens in August...Okami has been pretty good for a long time over here.

Yushin Okami is the only recent success story out of Japan to win big fights in the UFC, a country that produces a lot of fighters.

Yes...but that contradicts never

Strictly speaking it does. But only if you're kinda butthurt about the fact Japanese fighters never fucking ever do good here like almost ever( I mean like seriously almost never ever, not since the shit was illegal type never ever) and can't handle the type of exaggeration that truly hammers how truly unsuccessful Japanese fighters are, as they never ever do well coming over from Japan. Never.

Also, the UFC have not recently got good representation from Japan in overrated omigawa(who should be a sub 500. fighter if Sandro and Hioki werent robbed) and a washed up Kid who was brought in on reputation that had long flown.

Aoki and Kawijiri both fought Gil, who might be the best LW in the world. Kawijiri and Aoki could beat plenty of LW in the states.

*It should be noted that part of their failure is the fact Asian fighters are almost guaranteed to lose coin flip decisions in the UFC against American wrestlers. Your typical 1-3 UFC Japanese fighter run has at least one fucked up decision in it.

KingsOwn19 wrote:

Also, the UFC have not recently got good representation from Japan in overrated omigawa(who should be a sub 500. fighter if Sandro and Hioki werent robbed) and a washed up Kid who was brought in on reputation that had long flown.

Aoki and Kawijiri both fought Gil, who might be the best LW in the world. Kawijiri and Aoki could beat plenty of LW in the states.

Kid was on a two fight losing streak in two fights he was straight up robbed in. Do we really need to list all the guys who come from Japan, lose, and buzz off after a few fights?

I'm not butthurt that success in the japanese orgs does not translate to success in the states...but i think that goes both ways. A lot of these japanese fighters who failed to have success in the states have wins on their records over guys who do have success in the states but didnt have success in japan. The style, rules, ring, etc. There is a huge difference. Remember..Randy Couture was a failure in Japan. So was Vitor Belfort.

I do have a preference to Japan style MMA..but no bias for Japanese fighters. It's not just Japanese fighters that look completely different while fighting in Japan in that style.

Randy was a failure in Japan because he was fighting there back when wrestlers barely trained in BJJ when the sport was fundamentally different. I do think Japanese fighters and fighters brought up in Japan do better against the same guys who beat them in the UFC if they fight in Japan, but that aint happening anymore. Japan is not a major MMA hub any longer. It is a regional circuit in effect these days. RIP.