According to MMAFighting.com, no confirmation from UFC or word on when or who he will fight.

Too little, too late. Am I alone in thinking that the bloom has been off the rose in regard to Gomi for a long time now?

No you are not alone. You're in a room with Nick Diaz, Golyaev, and Kitaoka.

Well, it is confirmed now as Gomi is in Dana's latest videoblog, not understanding a damn word Dana is saying by the way.

Yes and no. It depends on how seriously he takes this opportunity. If he takes it seriously and trains harder than ever, he should be in some really exciting fights.

He's never trained hard and he's over 30. He was blessed with natural talent and athletic ability. He got old, that left him, and he started to suck because he's been a career slacker. He'll lose his first fight, win a second gimme, then lose a third fight against a guy they want to elevate.

He was truly great at one point, but those days are over.

hardly, id say youre the majority on this.

i have a soft spot for gomi's apathetic slacker persona so i will root for him against all the frankie edgars they throw at him, especially considering he popularized the style most of them have, but... i dunno its just been bad for most japanese converts who come over so its hard to see him making a big splash.

I think Gomi's already peaked and they missed the window of opportunity for Gomi a while ago. I can only assume UFC just sees him as a former big name that will give their up and coming fighters some "big name cred" and be a guy for other UFC guys to beat.

I kind of see Gomi's run in UFC being a lot like Denis Kang's. I'd love to be proven wrong though.

Nate Diaz will gogo him while being stoned at the same time.

Yes, they have to do Nate Diaz vs. Gomi for his first fight in.

My all time favorite fighter . . . Hope he can make something of this opportunity.

Wake me up when one of these Japanese guys accomplishes something in UFC.

Yes. Seriously.

Machida is half-Japanese. Does that count?

"These Japanese guys."

How many Japanese fighters of any reputation have fought in the UFC, like, ever?

Uno, Mach, Gono, Akiyama, and Nakamura off the top of my head.

and sakuraba for that one glorious night!

How many of them came in with hype as being one of the best fighters at their weight? Akiyama? And he won his fight. Uno and Gono weren't hyped as being world beaters and were old as hell. Mach fought once against Hughes and that's it.

Uno was 25 . . .

Yeah, years and years ago when he first came in. And when he fought BJ the 2nd time, he went to a draw and should've won.

I think the point is, these Japanese guys are held at a certain level in Japan then when they come to US they get a reality check.

For example, Chonan; who in Japan I consider a pretty hard fight for people. Dare I say a gatekeeper? Comes to the UFC, ready as ever, and doesn't show any of the promise he showed in Japan.

Same goes with Nakamura.

And if you are saying Uno won that fight with BJ Penn, I'm going to argue that Alan Belcher won that fight against Akiyama.

The Japanese just don't do so well when they fight outside their home country. Which is a damn shame.

If you look at every country that produces MMA fighters, when they fight outside their country there aren't this many examples of being out classed. UK, Russia, Canada, Holand, but when it comes to Japan it seems like a lot of there A/B level fighter just don't hold up against worldly competition (outside Japan).

Machida is part Japanese though.

He is born, raised, and trained in Brazil though...

All those Japanese fighters are born and raised and training in Japan...

He fought and beat Rich Franklin in Japan though and he also got the Inoki slap.

So because Machida is half Japanese and fought in Japan a few times, we can consider him a Japanese fighter like how we consider Gomi, Gono, and Uno a Japanese Fighter? Machida was born, raised, and trained in Brazil...He never even lived in Japan...

But Inoki slapped him!!!! *rolls eyes*

Machida is as Japanese as Rampage is African, its their blood and part of the family history, but Machida is Brazilian and Rampage is American.

Unless stoned fighters are his kryptonite, I'd put $$ on the fact that he never makes it to a title match, much less beats BJ. My guess, is he couldn't get past Sherk, maybe get past Guida. And he don't make it on the roster to see the last fight on his contract.

Yeah I see him going 1-3, then getting sent back to Japan...

Maybe UFC will do Gomi vs. Uno, you know how they like to have international fighters fight each other in America

Logic fail.

Machida's father is Japanese. 100%. Born in Japan. Rampage is from Tennessee, as are both of his parents.

Which he should have lost. Didn't look impressive at all.

The only Japanese fighter I'll get excited for is Misaki, strictly for entertainment value.

quit trying to cover your ass the point still stands, japanese fighters don't do so hot in the ufc. certainly not as well as they do in japan. akiyama isn't an exception either.




and uno vs. gomi would be awesome except for the fact one would have to lose! its amazing they haven't crossed paths yet, kinda like gono mach from the other day.

It's mostly a size thing that keeps them back (that and how shitty and small their gyms are). The one American sized fighter (Okami) has done very well.

well im not even trying to imply that its a genetic or something, it's just an obvious trend for whatever reason. most (all?) of the japanese who fought in wec haven't exactly lit the world on fire either.

i coudl see it being a size thing. maybe a talent pool and depth of competition over there too. smaller place, less fighters.

Yoshida won 2 fights, but got smashed against decent opponents. So he's another one I guess.

It's a multiple of things, like people have already stated.

-Weight cutting isn't as important in Japan as it's in the States.
-Not as good of training camps/gyms.
-Don't get hand picked opponents as well as they do in America.
-Japanese fighters tend to fight in a style that's better suited to the ring.
-Wrestling isn't as stressed of a training style as it's in America.

Ok, you got me, I concede that Okami has had a very respectable career in UFC. He's a little boring, but the guy does win.

He is also a Jushin Thunder Lyger fan, which makes him awesome.

Yoshiro Maeda did pretty well for himself, and gave Torres a *hell* of a fight, despite finally getting smashed. Yea I know, it was WEC, but still.

Joe Silva is the Liger fan who gave Okami the "Thunder" nickname, not Okami himself.

http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/A-Pho...rom-Japan-10464

He also makes references to El Samurai, Delfin, and Ultimo in this interview...