Yasuhiro Urushitani has a chance to make history tomorrow on UFC on FX 2 “Alves vs. Kampmann,” as the very first flyweight champion and first Japanese “regular” UFC champion ever. (In 1999, compatriot Kenichi Yamamoto became UFC 23 Middleweight Tournament Champion, but he was not considered as a “regular” champion.)
These will be the reigning Shooto bantamweight titlist’s ultimate prizes, if he surmounts first the high hurdle imposed by his fellow title-aspirant Joseph Benavidez, then proceeds to beat the winner of Demetrious Johnson vs. Ian McCall in their four-man championship tournament in the debuting flyweight division in Sydney, Australia.
A number of his countrymen have attempted—the last being Yushin Okami challenging Anderson Silva—and all have fallen short in becoming champion of the Super Bowl of MMA.
Last UFC 144 in Saitama, Japan, less than half of the seven Japanese fighters who faced foreign opponents won in their home country. Only three sons of the Land of the Rising Sun emerged victorious in front of their compatriots, namely, Issei Tamura, Riki Fukuda and highly-regarded Hatsu Hioki.
Will Urushitani build on the pride and one-week-old wins of the three aforementioned samurais, along with the “ancient” legacy of Yamamoto, tomorrow night?
The following are the burning questions he will answer on the way to making MMA history.