Home

Advertisement

Customize
 
 
07 October 2008 @ 09:45 am
Ishii to MMA!  
The big news shaking up MMA fans in Japan is that Satoshi Ishii, gold medalist in 100kg judo at the Beijing Olympics this year, is heading to MMA. He has shown a genuine interest in MMA since winning the gold medal, talking of his plan to move into MMA for his future. However, subsequently, rumors about him moving to Japanese pro wrestling started to appear.

However, on October 6, he announecd that he is going into MMA.

He will make his debut at the FEG (DREAM) NYE event, December 31.

He is of course a national sports hero, and his debut at the biggest MMA event of the year should help boost Japanese MMA overall.
 
 
( 1 comment — Post a new comment )
[info]xkmasada on October 8th, 2008 03:56 pm (UTC)
Why this is significant
This is massive news (if it actually is news and not just a rumor). I want to see him fight Fedor! He has an Olympic gold medal - that alone makes him a contender. He has a "royal prerogative." Brock was just a college champion and he gets a title shot after a couple fights.

The historical connection between Sambo and Judo add further interest to this, making it much more significant than the Yoshida vs. Barnett.

A loss to Fedor would certainly not damage his career. And a win over Fedor would frankly not damage Fedor too much either. This one match could save Japanese MMA.
 
 

Advertisement

Customize