Combined W-L-D of Japanese fighters in the UFC is...

47-78-2 1NC (Pre and post Zuffa)

37-63-2 (Post Zuffa)

Yushin Okami has the most wins out of any Japanese UFC fighter with eleven, followed by Caol Uno who has three (tied with Takanori Gomi).

Okami, Uno, Hayato Sakurai, Yuki Kondo, Kenichi Yamamoto are the only Japanese fighters to fight for a UFC title, Okami and Uno are the only ones to do so after Zuffa had purchased the UFC.

Kazuo Takahashi was the first Japanese fighter to win in the UFC.

Kazushi Sakuraba, Caol Uno and Kenichi Yamamoto are the only Japanese fighters to win a UFC tournament.

Fun fact, both draws are Caol Uno (draw with BJ Penn at UFC 41 and Fabricio Camoes at UFC 106).

 

Honestly, most of the Japanese fighters in the UFC do not deserve to be in the octagon. They only get in due to name recognition. Its why so many of them lose to virtual unknowns.

 

I'd say the opposite... most Japanese fighters signed by the UFC are nobodies with no name recognition. The notable fighters like Aoki and Kawajiri are not signed.

 

Interesting. Much respect to Okami, he's very under appreciated.

 

the only japanese they signed with name recognition were gomi and kid, and way past their best years.

and akiyama was overrated from the get go

 

Yeah let's sign Yamamoto when he is on the downside of his career.

 

Makes you wonder why the UFC has yet to sign any top flight Japanese fighters. They've done well in picking up pretty much all of the best Korean fighters, but they'e failed to get anyone other than Hioki as of late.

 

What is there to appreciate? He ruins fights with how he doesn't attack and he is just incredibly good at holding people down. Everyone knows this. If Yushin would just attack, even if they were just pillow fist shots, he would be a lot more appreciated and liked.

 

I think the main reason a lot of Japanese fighters don't do so well is because they continue to confine themselves to the little bubble of japan's MMA scene. They have created this culture where they don't involve anyone else outside of japan. Its silly. It would be like fighters from the northeast never leave that area to train and don't seek any outside help.

Their training is just so far behind the rest of the MMA world now because of it.
Then you look at Okami who has completely committed himself to actually winning and training in a competitive environment and hes a top 5 fighter.

 

Yeah, and you all flamed me when I asked "who is Kid Yamamoto?"

Whatever happened to THAT guy anyway? Oh yeah...

 

And dumb posts like this is why Okami is underappreciated.

 

Aoki and kawajiri did fight for zuffa, 0-2 against el nino.

 

Great post, I may have to break out my trusty pokeball considering how rare they are on sherdog.

 

How is this overrated? Sexiest man in MMA (no homo)

 

strikeforce wasnt under the zuffa banner when aoki fought for them

 

Kawajiri and Aoki are mid-card at best. Aoki got run out of Strikeforce and Bellator. Kawajiri also got ass-whooped by Melendez and Alvarez.

 

Probably exactly what they'll do with Aoki too.

 

ummm aoki's last fight in strikeforce was a win.

 

You have to take in to consideration that a lot of these guys have been past their prime, the obvious example being Gomi.

 

Agreed. Also, they don't cut as much weight and aren't as athletic as other fighters. People saying "well the best haven't...blah, blah, blah..." are delusional. Caol Uno and Gomi came over and go destroyed. Japanese fighters are (for the most part) overrated.