Media Kyoji Horiguchi and Kai Asakura May Be Joining UFC According to Rizin President

[Khaosan]

Dude stop. I'm still heartbroken by how Hatsu Hioki's UFC run went.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

Dude stop. I'm still heartbroken by how Hatsu Hioki's UFC run went.

I never understood what people saw in him. But I never watched his fights outside of the UFC. Maybe a cro cop situation

 

[NoSmilez]

Dana is probably going to tell them to fuck off unless they sign for much less than they are worth. JMMA is sort of dead and the yen is weak. There isn’t a strong market for MMA right now.

 

[Chael_Sonnen]

Gooch will be champ if he gets signed. Mark my words.

 

[Yosuke]

Dana is probably going to tell them to fuck off unless they sign for much less than they are worth. JMMA is sort of dead and the yen is weak. There isn’t a strong market for MMA right now.

You been following MMA outside of UFC?

 

[Bobby Boulders]

I know the UFC let friendly promoters 'negotiate', like the Cage Warriors guy, but Rizin? Sakakibara?

I dunno about that...

I can't see Dana welcoming Chatri to the negotiation table for one of their stars.

I'm pretty sure it's already happened, though, with Jiri, probably Kape, too. Dana was always a huge PRIDE fan, he still wears the odd PRIDE shirt, out and about. He's got mad respect for Sak, probably taught him a cool lesson in slick business acumen. I don't think that it necessarily means Sak is dictating anything at the table, but I would wager that, if Sakakibara wants to meet with Dana White, Dana is going to entertain what he has to say. Open secret that Sakakibara is still backed by yakuza, I'm sure something probably gets worked out.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

i would say he's much better than average. he's got wins over two former Rizin 150 lb champions and he looked a step above them both IMO. ground game is his weakness though. he's still right there, on the same level as Kai to me. Kai has more of that killer instinct though, but they are very similar. solid stand up, solid understandings, ground game a little behind.

I think he's just a very conservative fighter with quite decent boxing that falls apart when it gets tough. There's a young fighter in Road called Park Si Won who I think is what people tell me Mikuru is.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Meh, I’d be excited if this was before Horiguchi got knocked out cold twice in recent years.

The first fight against Kai he had a knee injury and probably shouldn't have taken it but I think he thought he was invincible at the time. The Pettis fight he was absolutely dominating until Sergio caught him.

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

I think he's just a very conservative fighter with quite decent boxing that falls apart when it gets tough. There's a young fighter in Road called Park Si Won who I think is what people tell me Mikuru is.

i think that is a fair assessment. quite decent boxing and when it gets turned on him, it's not good. still got some good wins over former rizin champs, i think the asakura bros with the right opponents in the US could make some waves.

i'll have to check out some more ROAD FC, fell off during the pandemic. BLACK COMBAT is another new org, they just BLACKED DEEP recently.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

i think that is a fair assessment. quite decent boxing and when it gets turned on him, it's not good. still got some good wins over former rizin champs, i think the asakura bros with the right opponents in the US could make some waves.

i'll have to check out some more ROAD FC, fell off during the pandemic. BLACK COMBAT is another new org, they just BLACKED DEEP recently.

Kai I agree, I think Mikuru in the UFC would be in the range of guys like Julian Erosa.

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

Kai I agree, I think Mikuru in the UFC would be in the range of guys like Julian Erosa.

dude i had to look him up, oh hell no! i think mikuru has stand up to rival the top, but ground game is severely lacking.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

dude i had to look him up, oh hell no! i think mikuru has stand up to rival the top, but ground game is severely lacking.

I think his problem at the top level is that he really lacks power and I think his pitter patter boxing only gets you so far. In the UFC guys who just come at him like Nate the train would give him fits.

 

[NoSmilez]

You been following MMA outside of UFC?

MMA in Japan is pretty dead. The last few Rizin events had competitors with 20 fights but still fight at a lower level. I don't believe they will make an impact in the international scene. JMMA aren't the top dogs in terms of producing competitors in Asia. The Koreans probably took that spot and they produce competitors more suitable for cage fighting.

 

[pankrat]

MMA in Japan is pretty dead. The last few Rizin events had competitors with 20 fights but still fight at a lower level. I don't believe they will make an impact in the international scene. JMMA aren't the top dogs in terms of producing competitors in Asia. The Koreans probably took that spot and they produce competitors more suitable for cage fighting.

Japan is not competitive in upper weightclasses, but they could easily be top3 nation in the wordl at FLW, and pretty competitive at BW and FW too, better than Korea overall I would say.

 

[pankrat]

Takeya Mizugaki at least got into the bantamweight top 5 and fought for the WEC belt. Him and Okami achieved the highest levels for JMMA in the promotion. Tatsuro Taira is a very strong prospect who’s in the rankings now.

I guess you mean in the last decade or so.

Horiguchi, Okami and Uno all made their way to a tittle shot in UFC, so achieved higher levels than Mizugaki

 

[NoSmilez]

Japan is not competitive in upper weightclasses, but they could easily be top3 nation in the wordl at FLW, and pretty competitive at BW and FW too, better than Korea overall I would say.

Koreans aren’t that small anymore. They are one of the tallest groups in Asia. Their average height is similar to America. They aren’t going to produce many smaller guys like Japan. Their people on average are much bigger. It’s the same rationale that I don’t expect Japanese to produce “larger” fighters either.

Who is Japanese that is top ten in the world at FW and BW? You might have gooch at 125. No offense but Okigubo doesn’t make it far in the UFC. He is probably ten years too late. He is old and he somewhat blew his chance in TUF. Saomoto is another one. He’s a 20+ fight veteran and I don’t believe he even wins in a prelim fight. He looked really underwhelming against a washed Dodson. Taira looks promising but he is already in the UFC. For BW you have Asakura but I don’t think he will fare well. There are so many killers at BW. You had guys like Yuta that came in to the UFC and struggled in both weight classes.

 

[pankrat]

Koreans aren’t that small anymore. They are one of the tallest groups in Asia. Their average height is similar to America. They aren’t going to produce many smaller guys like Japan. Their people on average are much bigger. It’s the same rationale that I don’t expect Japanese to produce “larger” fighters either.

Who is Japanese that is top ten in the world at FW and BW? You might have gooch at 125. No offense but Okigubo doesn’t make it far in the UFC. He is probably ten years too late. He is old and he somewhat blew his chance in TUF. Saomoto is another one. He’s a 20+ fight veteran and I don’t believe he even wins in a prelim fight. He looked really underwhelming against a washed Dodson. Taira looks promising but he is already in the UFC. For BW you have Asakura but I don’t think he will fare well. There are so many killers at BW. You had guys like Yuta that came in to the UFC and struggled in both weight classes.

At FLW there are several Japanese that could make the top10 in UFC, or at least be competitive in there. Horiguchi, Shinryu, Taira and Ougikubo imo, then others who would be solid gatekeepers as Motoya or Wakamatsu. Rei Tsuruya is a good prospect as well.

At BW Asakura, Rinya Nakamura, and some of the aforementioned FLWs are legit imo. Also Naoki Inoue.

I mean, outside of USA, Brazil, and maybe Russia, its not like there is any single nation in the world that will provide plenty of solid top10 contenders in a particular division. But I can't think of any better than Japan at FLW/BW than those.

 

[NoSmilez]

At FLW there are several Japanese that could make the top10 in UFC, or at least be competitive in there. Horiguchi, Shinryu, Taira and Ougikubo imo, then others who would be solid gatekeepers as Motoya or Wakamatsu. Rei Tsuruya is a good prospect as well.

At BW Asakura, Rinya Nakamura, and some of the aforementioned FLWs are legit imo. Also Naoki Inoue.

I mean, outside of USA, Brazil, and maybe Russia, its not like there is any single nation in the world that will provide plenty of solid top10 contenders in a particular division. But I can't think of any better than Japan at FLW/BW than those.

Naoki washed out from the UFC. JMMA scene is somewhat dead. UFC already has their young talent and the guys who are still in Japan are getting older or they aren’t good enough.

I like Gooch but he might be a dud by the time he comes back to the UFC. He is about 40 fights in the game and with a few losses by knock out. He is in the same boat as Oguikubo. They are a bit old and most fighters don’t do well the second time back in the UFC. Guys like Lawler are the exception rather than the norm.

 

[Brigfa2]

Dana won’t allow it. Ever since his boy Chuck got KO’d in pride by Rampage he’s been terrified to do cross promotion.

Lul you are pathetic
Guy hates some random stranger so much it even effects his reading

 

[pankrat]

Naoki washed out from the UFC. JMMA scene is somewhat dead. UFC already has their young talent and the guys who are still in Japan are getting older or they aren’t good enough.

I like Gooch but he might be a dud by the time he comes back to the UFC. He is about 40 fights in the game and with a few losses by knock out. He is in the same boat as Oguikubo. They are a bit old and most fighters don’t do well the second time back in the UFC. Guys like Lawler are the exception rather than the norm.

Naoki was in UFC with 21 years old and lost a split dec with a guy who is now top10 ranked. He obviously improved since he was 21, so it's not far-fetched to say that he could be top10himself or at least right up there. And he is not even top3 from Japan.

If you are asking for legit champion material in UFC, yeah I don't think anobody besides maybe Horiguchi is at that level at the moment. That doesnt mean JMMA is dead. Its still probably the strongest nation outside the big3 in those lighter weightclasses and has several strong native promotions.

I mean, if JMMA is dead, under those standards MMA is dead in every country in the world outside of a few handful. There is no nation with plenty of champions and UFC top ranked fighters outside of USA, Brazil, Russia and now UK and Australia