Tag: MMA

Yushin Okami Vows to Take Away Anderson Silva’s Aura at UFC 134

What does it take to beat a guy like Anderson Silva? The favored answer would be a strong, aggressive wrestler with great submission defense. Despite being overlooked, these are the exact same qualities possessed by UFC middleweight contender Yushin Ok…

What does it take to beat a guy like Anderson Silva?

The favored answer would be a strong, aggressive wrestler with great submission defense. Despite being overlooked, these are the exact same qualities possessed by UFC middleweight contender Yushin Okami.

On August 27, Okami will finally get his long-awaited title bout in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at UFC 134 against arguably the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world today, Anderson Silva.

“I will guarantee that [Anderson] will not be bored when fighting me,” Okami told MMAFighting.com in an email interview.

Silva’s dominant middleweight reign is legendary. Since defeating Rich Franklin for the UFC title in October 2006, he has successfully defended his throne a record eight times inside the octagon.

Most consider Silva to be one of the greatest fighters of all time. His ability to make some of the best fighters in the world look mediocre is nothing short of astonishing. At times, he even seems bored inside the octagon, which has led to questionable tactics in the past––such as hiding behind the ref, helping up a downed opponent during a fight, and busting out awkward gestures and dance-like movements.

Silva meets a familiar foe in Okami. The two went toe to toe in January 2006 at Rumble on the Rock 8, where Okami earned the victory after Silva was disqualified for an illegal upkick. The fight was stopped when a wobbled Okami wasn’t able to continue.

Silva wasn’t too happy about the way the fight went, and he even went on record to say that Okami could’ve continued but simply chose not to.

“It doesn’t matter what he thinks,” Okami said. “All I think about is defeating Anderson.”

Okami certainly has the style to present a legitimate threat to Silva’s reign. At UFC 117, Silva was completely outclassed by challenger Chael Sonnen for five rounds, but he was able to latch on a last minute triangle choke in the fifth round to retain his middleweight title.

Sonnen pushed the action on the feet throughout and secured takedown after takedown. Okami is a similar fighter with superior submission defense, and he should be able to take a page or two out of Sonnen’s book.

“Of course, Chael’s fight does give me some hints, but I am a different person, and therefore it will be a different fight,” Okami stated.

Born in Kanagwa, Japan, Okami hopes to boost the morale of a nation devastated by tragedy. The American success rate for Japanese fighters hasn’t been very good, but the statistics don’t seem to apply to Okami, who is a perennial contender and one of the top middleweights in the world.

“Winning the championship will be proof that an Asian can stand on top of the heavyweight contact sports world,” said Okami. “I believe that can also give strength to everyone in Japan and Asia. I hope the people of Japan will feel joy by seeing me become the champion.”

Okami is coming off two significant wins over Nate Marquardt and Mark Munoz, and his confidence level is through the roof. Fans are clamoring for a superfight between Silva and Georges St-Pierre, but it would be downright foolish to underestimate Okami’s chances.

He has the style to beat Silva, but can he get the job done?

“[Anderson’s] got an aura that intimidates any opponent,” said Okami. “I’m going to take that aura away from him.”

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Yushin Okami: "All I Think About Is Defeating Anderson (Silva)"

While the speculation surrounding a superfight between Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre continues to grow, Japanese star Yushin Okami looks to spoil that opportunity, as he will challenge the Brazilian for the UFC middleweight title at UFC Rio this…

While the speculation surrounding a superfight between Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre continues to grow, Japanese star Yushin Okami looks to spoil that opportunity, as he will challenge the Brazilian for the UFC middleweight title at UFC Rio this summer.

The recent announcement of Okami and Silva became somewhat of a surprise to most mixed martial arts fans, as UFC president Dana White stated previously that Silva and St-Pierre would meet if both champions were to defeat their opponents, which they did,  having essentially cleaned out their respective divisions.

But for now, it appears the UFC boss has other plans.

And for Okami, he seems quite content with being booked against Silva, who, after winning 10 of his last 12 UFC bouts, is ready to get his shot at the title.

“My opponent is the champion Anderson, the fight is in Brazil, and I am the challenger. I’d say that the table has been set,” he said to MMAFighting.com.

Okami has been eagerly awaiting a rematch with the champion ever since his debut in the UFC five years prior. In January, 2006, Okami was awarded the victory via disqualification after Silva landed an illegal kick that left the Japanese star unconscious and unable to continue.

While Okami said he believes Silva’s kick was not intentional, Silva has held a grudge against Okami and he publicly stated his opponent was able to continue the bout, but chose not to.

As a result, Okami is the last man to technically defeat Silva. And regarding Silva’s bad blood towards him, Okami said he could care less about what the Brazilian thinks of him.

“It doesn’t matter what he thinks,” he said. “All I think about is defeating Anderson.”

Okami has evolved since his first bout with Silva and has been paying close attention to the Brazilian’s recent performances, vowing that he will not be able to toy with him like he has done to past opponents.

“I will guarantee that he will not be bored when fighting me,” Okami said.

Although this won’t be their first encounter against one another, it will be the first time Silva defends his middleweight title in his homeland of Brazil, a difficult task Okami must overcome in order to beat the champion again.

Meanwhile, Silva, who will be defending his title for a unprecedented ninth time, is arguably the sport’s best pound-for-pound fighter and will look to exact revenge on Okami.

But Okami said he will not let the champion’s home-field advantage nor his mystique overwhelm him.

“He’s got an aura that intimidates any opponent,” he said. “I’m going to take that aura away from him.”

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC: Interview with UFC Rising Prospect Daniel “Danny Boy” Downes

“Danny Boy” Downes is a young, hungry up-and-coming fighting out of the Roufusport camp in Wisconsin. The 25-year-old fighter was born in Chicago and moved to Wisconsin after college to train and pursue a career as a mixed martial arti…

“Danny Boy” Downes is a young, hungry up-and-coming fighting out of the Roufusport camp in Wisconsin. 

The 25-year-old fighter was born in Chicago and moved to Wisconsin after college to train and pursue a career as a mixed martial artist.  Downes fought twice in the WEC before that company was absorbed in the UFC last winter. 

He headlines the North American Fighting Championship’s Mayhem event in Milwaukee on Friday May 6 while waiting to get a shot at fighting in the big show.

Q: Where did you get the Danny Boy nickname?

A: At the gym, I was always the skinny Irish kid.  That’s where that came from.  I’m not a natural athlete by any means, so I’ve gotten to this point with hard work and toughness, and I’m scrappy kinda like Mickey Ward almost.  So that’s how the Danny Boy thing came about.  I’m a hard-nosed scrappy type.

Q: You fight at lightweight, and I noticed you are 6-feet tall.  Is that a natural weight for you or do you cut to get down to 155?

A: I have to cut.  I just have a thinner frame.  So I think lightweight is the best weight for me to train at.  As I get older, I’m only 25 now, I may move to welterweight.  I think right now lightweight is the best for me especially because I usually have a height advantage.  I don’t think you will ever see me going to featherweight or below.  I know that guys like George Roop do it but I already have to cut to make 155 so that is not for me.

Q: I see you train at Duke Roufus’ gym.  Who else besides Pat Barry trains there?

A: It’s me, Pat Barry, Anthony Pettis, Eric Cope.  Alan Belcher comes in from time to time, and we also just got Ben Askren.  We got a bunch of up-and-coming guys that people haven’t heard of.  It’s really grown.  There was a time for a while a few years ago when it was just me a couple other guys fighting and goin’ so it was kinda hard.  It’s different now, and it’s fun to have guys like Anthony and Eric on that high level which makes everyone better.

Q: I was reading that Pat was pretty down after his last fight because he couldn’t put Beltran away.  Has he gotten past that?

A: It’s what they say with baseball hitters how they have to have a short memory.  It’s the same way with fighters.  Everyone wants to finish fights but let it bother you.  He can’t worry about Joey Beltran when he has Cheick Kongo coming up in June.  He’s already forgotten about it.  You gotta have that short memory.  You can’t let setbacks drag you down.  You just gotta go on to the next one.

Q: Your record is 7-1.  Was that loss early in your career or was that recently?

A: It was at WEC 49 against Chris Horodecki.  I got a call on that Tuesday from my manager and he asked me where what my weight was at.  And I was thinking I probably have a fight coming up on short notice.  I figured it was local Wisconsin fight or something and he asked me if I was to fight Chris Horodecki in Edmonton on the WEC card.  The only problem was I was kinda out of shape.  I’d been drinking and a few things like that and had let myself go a bit.  I was like 178 on Tuesday and made 156 on Saturday.  I fought Chris Horodecki in front of however many thousand people on Versus.  I didn’t perform that well but it got my foot in the door and then I got that win against Zhang in my next fight last December at WEC 53.  Now I got the UFC contract and we’ll see what happens next.

Q: So you are headlining the NAFC Mayhem card correct?

A: Yes.

Q: When I was looking it up it said to be announced.  Do you know who you are fighting yet?

A: Yea. I fighting a guy named Tory Bogguess.  I don’t really know that much about him.  You can’t get too bogged down with the little details.  I don’t have any recent film on the guy but you can’t worry about that you just got to go out there and perform regardless that is my job.  Even in my last fight against Zhang at WEC 53 I watched a lot of tape, but fight went the exact opposite of my gameplan.  That’s why in MMA you’ve got to train everything.  You try to pigeon hole yourself into any one thing.

Q: Are you more comfortable standing or do you train everything equally?

A: When I started, I was a strike first and then we’ll see what happens on the ground.  But, now I’ve changed.  GSP is a perfect example of what the modern MMA fighter needs to be.  He is great at everything.  By being good it opens up a lot of other things.  By having good wrestling or jiu jitsu, it opens up my striking and makes it better.  The days of the one dimensional MMA fighter is over.  Everybody is getting good at everything.

Q: Do you ever travel to a different gym or try out any other schools?  I know that guys do that a lot these days.

A: It’s been really nice with the success of our gym.  Guys come in and we get new people a lot.  I haven’t had to leave.  These days they want to train at our gym so it’s like they come to me.  The gym has really exploded and we have some new instructors so it’s been really good.  You can’t get stale or do the same thing.  One you get bored and two you don’t get better.  You gotta keep it fresh and keep getting better.

 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 130 Fight Card: Can Frankie Edgar Avenge His Only Career Loss?

Bleacher Report’s Robert Gardner:UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie “The Answer” Edgar will meet Gray “The Bully” Maynard for a third time on May 28. Not only will Edgar be looking to defend his UFC title but he will also be looking to finally avenge …

Bleacher Report’s Robert Gardner:

UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie “The Answer” Edgar will meet Gray “The Bully” Maynard for a third time on May 28. Not only will Edgar be looking to defend his UFC title but he will also be looking to finally avenge his only career loss.

Edgar and Maynard first met back in April 2008 with Maynard picking up the win via unanimous decision. After that loss, Edgar went on a tear, winning his next three fights and earning a shot at then-UFC Lightweight Champion, BJ Penn.

Is a stunning upset, Edgar defeated Penn at UFC 112 then drove the point home by dominating the legend in his first title defense at UFC 118.

Edgar then met Maynard for the second time at UFC 125. After Edgar fought his way out of trouble in the first round, the two would battle back and forth leaving the judges no other choice but to rule the epic battle a draw.

Click here to read the entire article.

UFC Rio: Ben Rothwell’s Return and Rumored Opponent

According to a report on MMA Mania, Ben Rothwell will be returning to action this August at UFC: Rio.  He is rumored to have two possible opponents as well, Brendan Schaub and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.If Rothwell fights at UFC: Rio, it would be hi…

According to a report on MMA Mania, Ben Rothwell will be returning to action this August at UFC: Rio.  He is rumored to have two possible opponents as well, Brendan Schaub and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

If Rothwell fights at UFC: Rio, it would be his first fight in over a year.  Rothwell will look to build on his last fight that saw him claim a unanimous decision victory over Gilbert Yvel.

The fight was considered lackluster by many fans, and even Rothwell said he was not pleased with his performance.

In his UFC debut, Rothwell faced Cain Velaquez.  That bout saw Rothwell dominated by Velaquez, and the referee stopped the action in the second round giving Rothwell the TKO defeat.

Brendan Schaub is 8-1 with only one fight going the distance.  He is currently on a four-fight win streak in the UFC, after being knocked out by Roy Nelson in the Ultimate Fighter 10 finale.  That loss resulted in Nelson winning the season and Schaub finishing as the runner up.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria has not fought since suffering a first-round knockout at the hands of Cain Velasquez in February 2010.  The reason for the long layoff is a string of surgeries.

First, was a knee surgery to reconstruct his ACL, followed by two hip surgeries. Nogueria has said that he hopes to begin training again in May and be ready to fight when UFC: Rio arrives in August.  If he does fight on the card, it will be his first fight in his career in his homeland.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 130 Fight Card Edgar vs Maynard III: Odds, Predictions, Analysis and News

UFC 130 is set to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 28.The main event on the card will see UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar (13-1-1) defend his title against challenger Gray Maynard (10-0-1-1).The two have met twice in …

UFC 130 is set to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 28.

The main event on the card will see UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar (13-1-1) defend his title against challenger Gray Maynard (10-0-1-1).

The two have met twice in the past. The first bout, in 2008, resulted in a unanimous decision win for Maynard.

Edgar would rebound from that loss to go on to defeat BJ Penn for the UFC lightweight title in April of 2010. Edgar and Maynard fought for that title on Jan. 1 of this year, battling to a majority draw. The result put the title back in the hands of Edgar and drew an immediate rematch.

Also appearing on the main card of UFC 130 will be Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Matt Hamill in a light heavyweight fight that is developing into somewhat of a grudge match as the fighters and their respective camps have been exchanging words since the fight was announced.

Three other fights make up the main card:

Frank Mir versus Roy Nelson

Stefan Struve versus Travis Brown

Brian Stann versus Jorge Santiago

Bleacher Report will be your source for news, analysis and opinions on the upcoming fight card.

Check back often as the fight card nears for all the UFC 130 information you need.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com