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In an attempt to know what the fuck I'm talking about regarding Japan and it's fighters, I was following the whole Satoshi Ishii saga quite closely. Ishii won a gold medal in judo at the 2008 Olympics, which makes him a 'BIG DEAL' in Japan. He burned his judo bridges by announcing his intention to compete in MMA instead of preparing for another Olympics, and then burnt some more bridges when it was announced that he had signed with the UFC instead of a Japanese promotion. But yesterday out of the blue Ishii announced that he had signed a 2 year contract with Sengoku. A whole bunch of reasons were provided - the standard "I want to represent Japan in Japan blah blah blah do good honor" - but I kinda wonder if this is really the result of the UFC still not having it's Japanese shit together. Whatever the case, the UFC's loss is Sengoku's gain. And honestly, Sengoku needs this more than the UFC does. Regardless of the fact that Ishii has been diligent in training with quality camps since his intention to fight in MMA was revealed, he's still a total newb and I was giving him a 50/50 chance of flopping even against some of the UFC's more embarrassing heavyweights. In Japan, Ishii will be nurtured (or not, Japan is strange sometimes with their Judo guys) and even if he loses, it's no big deal because the Japanese don't seem to give a shit about records. All in all, it's a better fit than the UFC. I just wonder why the hell we all had to go on that retarded Ishii merry-go-round just to end up back in the same place we started. (Thanks to the Larsenator for the initial heads up!)  It's probably better for this kid to fight in Japan for now. The last thing he needs is to come in and get crushed in the ufc heavy weigh division. In Japan he can come in and be set up with cans, at least for a while.  Some people keep on talking about cans, but I seriously can't think of a single matchup that will be an easy win for him in Sengoku's HW division. Sengoku has a pretty motherfuckin' deadly HW division.The closest thing that Sengoku has to a can is probably Peter Graham. And like hell wold anyone put Ishii in with someone like him right off the bat.  If he fight s four times a year he'll have a good chance of making it.  I don't think he will make it far outside of Japan where they will nurture him. I am curious to see how he reacts when someone rings his bell the first time. Both UFC and Sengoku HW divisions are full of hard hitters. I think the gold medal inflated this guys ego a little too much. He even called out Fedor after his Gold Medal win.  Too bad. It seems like the only martial arts word that Goldberg knows is "judoka". Having Fiishi in the octagon of death would have given Goldie a chance to double the amount of times he sounds knowledgeable.  Awesome because I have another excuse to watch 3 am MMA. But I would have liked to see the ufc gain more heavyweight depth.  Sounds solid. Sengoku will build him without forcing him into freakshow matchups. They've been doing a pretty solid job with Mo Lawal so I expect Ishii to be brought up pretty well also. the assholes at Bloodyelbow say its World Victory Road. Which it is? It's both. World Victory Road is the promotion but their shows are called "Sengoku." As in "World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku 3."  Can we now stop masturbating over the thought of this guy getting into the ring and actually WATCH him fight inside the ring? Gold medals don't mean anything to me.  Wow he really pimping UFC in that pic. Does he have a UFC bumper sticker too?  Very keen on seeing him fight. Best of luck.  Yeah I think WVR will do a good job of building him up. If ie continues to train with various camps around the world like he's been doing, it can only help too.In terms of potential, the sky is the limit for him. He has a great advantage unlike some other judokas who have been successful, in that his MMA fighting weight will be similar to his judo weight. Didn't Yoshida fight at like 170 in judo or something like that? Hopefully he will give Sengoku further credibility as a real MMA organisation in comparison to Dream
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