The Legacy of Tatsuya "Crusher" Kawajiri (All-Time Great: Y/N?)

If you go by the old EA MMA game's career mode he's the greatest lightweight on the face of the fucking planet. That guy was the most frustrating opponent in the goddamn game.
 
He's up in the rankings for sure -- he beat a lot of tough guys in the Japanese ciruits who were top 10 at the time. He had an amazing fight with Gilbert Melendez back in 2006 which was one of the fights of the year. The fact that he has had that much experience and been in so many wars yet is still a relevant (albeit aging) fighter in the UFC speaks volumes in my opinion.
 
Krazybee129 said:
Masato made this dude cry like a baby. It was awesome to see it especially the trash were was talking about Masato.
Click to expand...
Masato really beat the shit out of poor Kawajiri, who even attempted a takedown (you can say he "panic wrestled", to use a fashionable term, lol). It was cruel.

Then again, Masato could very well be the GOAT LW kickboxer, and Kawajiri was never known for his hands, except maybe for his power (he did put Melendez on his ass in the first fight). Gross ass mismatch.

NaughtyBoy said:
He's a Japanese MMA legend.
He also got the cojones to stepped in the ring against Masato. o_O
Click to expand...

More like "death wish" :confused:
 
He was a top guy a pin Shooto, at a time when Shooto was the only legit place for lighter guys in MMA. That alone says a lot. That he was competitive in weight between 145 all the way to 160, a difference of 15 pounds, says a lot. He's way past his prime now, though.
 
NaughtyBoy said:
Whatever the situation was, he took the risk and have the balls to fight him in his own territory. I give more credit to him for that than bashing him for "open his mouth" like you said. Is that all you got against him or you will try a little more ?
Click to expand...
He is over rated and not a legend or goat. Taking fight with Masato means nothing cuz he is getting paid. I could take a fight with Masato if they pay me. That's doesn't make me tough, it just makes me smart.
 
He's a legend

Whether you agree or not is irrelevant, he has had a more successful career than 99% of people who entered MMA. That's good enough. Not every fighter is going to be a dominant champ.
 
He's a legend for sure. He was the shooto champ back in the day, and that title had meaning back then. Beat Thompson. Had that ridiculous war with Eddie Alvarez. So many highlights to his career.

His fight with Cub was a 50/50 fight and I think that illegal knee to the chin from Cub probably had a big impact on how that fight played out in rd 3. The fact he's even able to compete with Cub at 38 in that division shows how good this guy is.
 
Was in Gomi's and Mach's shadow, but very good still for a long time. LW's had so many great fighters it's tough to be an all-time great in it. Has to mean something. He's there with JZ, Thomson, Hansen, Edwards and Uno, but below Penn, Gomi, Aoki, Edgar and Bendo. The in between gets close. So I'd say very good but not an all-time great.
 
Natesblackshirt said:
Lost to everyone good he ever fought except for Thompson. No. Legendary lay and pray game though.
Click to expand...
Someone hadn't heard of Kawajiri until he came to the UFC


Kawajiri is somewhere in the 5-10 range for all time Lightweight greats. Had some crazy wars, remained in the top 10 of the division for over half a decade and beat other divisional greats like Shaolin, JZ, and Thomson. He's still picking up solid wins and competing with the top 15 at Featherweight in his late 30's. His top game is legendary, incredible control and guard passing. It's a shame he gets overlooked by many people when talking about Lightweight greats and most fans only know him by his UFC performances.
 
Asurah said:
Someone hadn't heard of Kawajiri until he came to the UFC


Kawajiri is somewhere in the 5-10 range for all time Lightweight greats. Had some crazy wars, remained in the top 10 of the division for over half a decade and beat other divisional greats like Shaolin, JZ, and Thomson. He's still picking up solid wins and competing with the top 15 at Featherweight in his late 30's. His top game is legendary, incredible control and guard passing. It's a shame he gets overlooked by many people when talking about Lightweight greats and most fans only know him by his UFC performances.
Click to expand...
Shaolin and JZ are all time greats? Kawajiri top 5 lw all time?(Penn,Pettis,Cerrone,Edgar,Gomi,Bendo, Aoki etc.) get real. He did well cleaning up on easy competition in Japan.

Legendary top game= lay and pray
 
Natesblackshirt said:
Shaolin and JZ are all time greats? Kawajiri top 5 lw all time?(Penn,Pettis,Cerrone,Edgar,Gomi,Bendo, Aoki etc.) get real. He did well cleaning up on easy competition in Japan.

Legendary top game= lay and pray
Click to expand...
And that says it all. Shaolin and JZ are legends of the division.
 
Krazybee129 said:
He is over rated and not a legend or goat. Taking fight with Masato means nothing cuz he is getting paid. I could take a fight with Masato if they pay me. That's doesn't make me tough, it just makes me smart.
Click to expand...
No, it would make you a stupid since you aren't a pro fighter (not in MMA, not in kick boxing, etc...), you could end up dead right there for pretending to being that "smart".

In sherdog, every fighter is overrated (except for those ones that somebody is rooting for), and I don't see MMA fighters becoming richer for taking fights at K1 top fighters in their backyard.

It's ok if you don't like the guy, but don't come up here with the type of shit that you just brought in. It makes you look bad, you know...
 
Man, the standards for all time greats have really gone tits up around here.
 
Alvarez
Edgar
Penn
RDA
Melendez
Pettis
Benson
Cerrone

Then Kawajiri is right there with Aoki, JZ, Gomi..... around top 10.
 
Mondo Freaks said:
Man, the standards for all time greats have really gone tits up around here.
Click to expand...
No... There's just not that many LWs with better careers. Kawajiri was top 3-5 long before UFC had reestablish the LW div
 
NaughtyBoy said:
No, it would make you a stupid since you aren't a pro fighter (not in MMA, not in kick boxing, etc...), you could end up dead right there for pretending to being that "smart".

In sherdog, every fighter is overrated (except for those ones that somebody is rooting for), and I don't see MMA fighters becoming richer for taking fights at K1 top fighters in their backyard.

It's ok if you don't like the guy, but don't come up here with the type of shit that you just brought in. It makes you look bad, you know...
Click to expand...
Do u even know how popular Masato was back in the day? Beating him makes you one of the best especially those Japanese fans/girls. U think crusher would not have gotten great deals If he had beaten Masato? It's all about money and plz fighting a pro fighter doesn't mean it's guaranty death. Look how popular kid yamamoto(my favorite fighter) got after he knocked down Masato in round one. People looked at him differently and he got paid real good. Fighting Masato back in the day was like fighting mcjoker only in money and recognition wise . I don't hate crusher, I just don't think he is the greatest or legend and getting his ass beat by Masato is a fact. He even cried and flooped on his back and stomped his feet lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,236,983
Messages
55,459,325
Members
174,787
Latest member
Freddie556

Share this page

Back
Top