Just to give some context on each of these fighters and their accomplishments to those not too into the JMMA scene.
Johnny Case- Very good Lightweight. Was seemingly cut from the UFC for no reason after a sub loss to Jake Matthews and a good war with Anthony Martin. Recent Notable win is his brutal TKO of Yusuke Yachi. Could do very well in the tournament if not win.
Tatsuya Kawajiri- If you don't know who Crusher is, you aren't a real MMA fan. Simple as that. He won't win or most likely make it past the first round of the tournament due to age but fuck it WAR CRUSHER!!!
Roberto Satoshi Souza- BJJ phenom and absolute monster on the ground.
List of his grappling accomplishments. A bit unproven in MMA, his best wins are the corpses of Kitaoko and Pungus. Could do well.
Hiroto Uesako- Former DEEP Featherweight champion. Made his move up to Lightweight and looked good. Knocked out Yves Landu fairly hard. Most likely not gonna make it far if I am being honest.
Luiz Gustavo- The Darkhorse of the tournament here. 9-1 record with his lone loss coming from Mikuru Asakura who is fantastic. Although normally a featherweight his lone Lightweight fight showed absurd power for him considering
he sparked the life out of poor Yusuke Yachi. He's gonna make it to the semi-finals for sure.
Damien Brown- UFC reject. His win over Cruickshank was pure luck. He had a terrible UFC career and consistently went on skids outside of it too. Would be VERY shocked if he makes it past the first.
Patricky “Pitbull” Freire- Although not NEARLY as good as his younger brother he is still a very impressive lightweight. Holds wins over Benson Henderson and Josh thompson. Should be the favorite to win by far.
Tofiq Musayev- Another very good Lightweight. Has connections to Khabib and similarities in style of fighting. Murked Shooto Lightweight and Welterweight Vet Nobumitsu Osawa and UFC vet Daron Cruickshank. Should do well.
TL: DR...
CRUSHER CRUSHES EM ALL!!!
