After years of being considered one of the best middleweights in the world, Yushin Okami will finally get his shot at UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. In the main event of UFC 134 in Silva’s home country of Brazil, Okami will have a chance to become the first Japanese champion in UFC history.
Aside from Okami, many Japanese fighters have had trouble transitioning into the UFC. Okami has been so successful with the organization that UFC president Dana White ventured to call Okami the greatest Japanese fighter of all time.
Okami did not shy away from that bold statement. In an interview with MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani earlier this week, Okami said that he intends to back up White’s words in his fight against Silva.
“Yes (in response to whether or not he agrees with White’s comments), and I’m going to prove it on Saturday,” Okami said.
Despite Okami’s confidence, he has an extremely tough test facing him in Anderson Silva, who is considered by many to be the greatest fighter in the history of MMA. For nearly five years, nobody has been able to solve Silva’s puzzle and dethrone him.
“I don’t think he has any big holes,” Okami said. “He’s a great fighter.”
Okami recognizes Silva’s ability and admits that the Brazilian does not have any glaring weaknesses to exploit. After training with Chael Sonnen for this fight, though, it should seem fairly clear to everyone how Okami intends to beat Silva.
Okami will likely use Sonnen’s blueprint of pushing the pace and putting Silva on his back. By doing just that, Sonnen came within two minutes of beating the Brazilian champion, but a desperation triangle choke forced the self-proclaimed people’s champion to tap.
Silva and Okami will meet in UFC 134’s main event. The event’s main card will be aired on pay-per-view at approximately 9:00 p.m. ET.
Sean Smith is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. Sean has also had his work featured on UFC.com. For the latest insight and updates on everything MMA, you can follow Sean on Twitter @SeanSmithMMA.