When Yushin Okami enters the Octagon against Anderson Silva at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday at UFC 134, he will be competing for much more than just the UFC Middleweight Championship belt, which “The Spider” has successfully defended eight times in a row.
Okami will be fighting for the pride and reputation of his native Japan in the world of mixed martial arts.
Which, unfortunately for the east Asian superpower, isn’t likely to be a good thing, assuming Silva has his way with Okami as most expect he will.
UFC president Dana White had nothing but praise for the 30-year-old Okami during a pre-flight teleconference:
““In my opinion, Yushin Okami is the best fighter to ever come out of Japan. This guy didn’t come up fighting cans and get this built-up mythological record. This guy’s been fighting the absolute best for years. I’m sure he feels, and a lot of people feel this guy hasn’t gotten the credit he deserves.”
White is anything but hyperbolic with his words for “Thunder”, who has won 10 of his 12 career UFC bouts and was the last person to claim victory over Silva in an MMA fight.
Of course, that one came by way of a controversial finish, during which Okami opted to take the win on a disqualification rather than fight on, at Rumble on the Rock 8 in Honolulu, Hawaii back in January of 2006.
Since then, Silva has established himself as the finest fighter in the world by winning all 13 of his fights since joining the UFC in the summer of 2006, with only two of those fights coming down to a decision.
White was quick to acknowledge the challenge ahead of Okami as well as the significance that an unlikely victory over Silva would carry:
“Now, he’s going in against the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, probably the best fighter ever in mixed martial arts. If he wins this fight, not only will he get the credit he deserves, but he will have [beaten] the best [fighter] in the world.”
Unfortunately for Okami, that isn’t likely to happen, leaving Japan with only an embarrassment in the Octagon to show for the country’s hard work and competitive spirit in the world’s fastest-growing sport.