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Okami vs Lombard Ufc on Fuel 8 - Japan

3K views 44 replies 34 participants last post by  mmaswe82 
#1 ·
With Boetsch and Belcher recently taking themselves out of any title-shot talk, the Ufc appears to be putting Lombard on the fast track, placing him against top-5 MW Okami.

Ufc on Fuel 8

Main Card
Light Heavyweightbout: Wanderlei Silva vs. Brian Stann
Heavyweight bout: Stefan Struve vs. Mark Hunt
Lightweight bout: Takanori Gomi vs. Diego Sanchez
Middleweight bout: Yushin Okami vs. Hector Lombard
Welterweight bout: Dong Hyun Kim vs. Siyar Bahadurzada
Featherweight bout: Mizuto Hirota vs. Rani Yahya

Prelims
Middleweight bout: Riki Fukuda vs. Brad Tavares
Bantamweight bout: Takeya Mizugaki vs. Bryan Caraway
Lightweight bout: Cristiano Marcello vs. Kazuki Tokudome
Bantamweight bout: Alex Caceres vs. Kyung Ho Kang
Welterweight bout: Marcelo Guimaraes vs. Hyun Gyu Lim

"Japanese middleweight contender Yushin “Thunder” Okami has been added to the Ultimate Fighting Championship® card scheduled for Mar. 3 at the Saitama Super Arena. The UFC® announced that the 31-year-old, from Japan’s renowned Wajutsu Keishukai Gym, will meet former Olympic judo competitor Hector “Lightning” Lombard in middleweight (185 lbs.) action when the organization returns to Japan.

Okami (29-7-0) holds wins over several UFC veterans, including UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, who he defeated via disqualification in 2006. Lombard and Okami, both coming off dominant wins in December, continue their run toward the middleweight title. Lombard (32-3-1), a Cuban-Australian mixed martial artist and former Olympic judoka, has a 4th degree black belt in Judo and is known for his vicious power punching.

Also announced on the main card will be an intense featherweight bout between Rani Yahya and Mizuto Hirota. Hirota (14-5-1), who has never been knocked out in his career, is a veteran of the Sengoku and DEEP organizations in Asia. Prior to his North America debut in STRIKEFORCE last July, he was 4-1 in his past five fights. Brazilian Yahya (17-7) has won all but two of his fights by way of submission and holds notable wins over Mark Hominick and Eddie Wineland.

In a five-round, light heavyweight main event matchup, former PRIDE® middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva will step into the Octagon® against top contender and decorated U.S. Marine Brian Stann. Brazilian fighter Silva, nicknamed “The Axe Murderer,” is known for his aggressive fighting style with the majority of his fights ending in knockout or referee stoppage due to strikes. He holds the records for the most wins, knockouts and title defenses, and longest winning streak in PRIDE history. This will be Silva’s first fight in Japan since 2006. Stann, born at the Yokota Air Base in Tokyo, owns a Silver Star for combat in the Marine Corps. The veteran has already accomplished some impressive feats that include winning the WEC® light heavyweight title and defeating Chris Leben, Jorge Santiago and Alessio Sakara.

In the co-main event, contenders Stefan “Skyscraper” Struve and Mark Hunt face off in a hard-hitting UFC heavyweight bout. Making his long-awaited Japan debut, Struve, the tallest fighter in UFC history at seven foot, has won four in a row, with two Submission of the Night and one Fight of the Night awards. Hunt has long been one of the most popular fighters ever to compete in Japan because of his warrior spirit and knockout power. Hunt is on a three-fight winning streak and last fought at UFC 144 in Japan in February 2012, winning via knockout over Cheick Kongo.

The main card also features local hero and former PRIDE champion Takanori Gomi vs. Diego Sanchezat lightweight, and Korea’s Dong-Hyun Kim vs. knockout specialist Siyar Bahadurzada in a welterweight contest.

Other fights on the card include Japan’s own Riki Fukuda facing off against Brad Tavares at middleweight, Japanese bantamweight Takeya Mizugaki vs. Bryan Caraway, and the UFC debut’s of two Koreans, welterweight Hyun Gyu Lim and bantamweight Kyung Ho Kang, taking on Marcelo Guimaraes and Alex “Bruce Leeroy” Caceres, respectively.

Also making his debut is Japan’s Kazuki Tokudome who will take on Cristiano Marcello in a lightweight matchup."

http://www.ufc.com/news/okami-added-to-march-3-japan-card?f8
 
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#2 ·
Oh shit, Okami about to be 0-2 in Japan in the UFC. Good match up though if Okami had some better striking defense I would give him a better chance. Good thing they are giving Japan good cards after all these years without any.
 
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#4 ·
Okami should fire his management for agreeing to this fight. He's being set up to lose.

UFC is going to push Lombard through to a title shot with wins over a bunch of grapplers with no chin (like Okami and Palhares) then hype him up as a striking monster only for him to get KO'd in the first round by Anderson.

This ploy is transparent as hell.
 
#7 ·
Okami about to derail yet another hype train.

Yushin by decision after Lombard gasses.
 
#8 ·
I am shocked LL is the first to think Okami takes this,my knee jerk reaction is that this is Okami's fight to lose. I see this as one of the worst match ups for Lombard.
 
#9 ·
I'm mostly picking Okami out of pure fanboyism, to say Lombard hits hard would be an understatement and Yushin hates getting hit, that said Okami has the perfect style to wear him out and grind on him for fifteen minutes, he just has to avoid getting hit.

Oh and how good does it feel to have FUEL TV, Wand/Stann, Gomi/Sanchez, Hunt/Struve, Stun-Gun/Siyar, and now Lombard/Okami, all for free.
 
#11 ·
That's a sick free card. I'm glad I got FUEL. I also love how quickly they are moving Lombard along, if he is able to win this then he should be put in a contender fight. Maybe if Vitor beats Mike and Lombard wins we could see Lombard vs Vitor for #1 contender? That would be a fun fight to watch.
I'm thinking Hector eventually puts Okami down but you can never count out Okami and he could very well win this fight.
But for the sake of new blood and exciting matchups, I'm rooting for Hector.
 
#13 ·
Lombard isn't very good at cutting the cage off. He's a counter striker. Most of his KO's come from when his opponent attacks him and he finds an opening on the inside to land a brutal short counter. Guys that like to stand and bang infront of him are tailor made for Lombard.

Okami isn't the type to rush in and engage on the feet. He's a very conservative fighter and will look to pump out the jab en route to a UD victory. I don't think Okami has any thing for Hector in the grappling department. Lombards base is absolutely ridiculous, he shouldn't have a problem stuffing any TD attempts from Okami and that's when he should look to land the KO. When he's seperating from the clinch, activate berserker mode and put Okami down with a flurry of punches against the cage.

Tough fight to call. Okamis conservative, boring style will cause Hector problems to land his killer shots. Grappling will be neutralised. Okami is ridiculously slow how ever, so Hector should be able to find the KO at some point within three.
 
#15 ·
Two guys with pretty good takedown defense, this is probably going to be a stand-up fight. Yushin is a very conservative fighter with improved striking, but I think Lombard has the power to KO him on the feet.

Hopefully the Lombard that fought Palhares shows up and not the one that fought Boetsch.
 
#18 ·
I think that Lombard takes this easily..okami is going to have to dive on lombard and get him to the ground or lean against him, I think he will get caught on the way in, Lombard is strong with the judo base I doubt he gets taken down easily. Also, Okami is scared of getting hit..he will jab and run until he gets cornered and covers up
 
#20 ·
Okami doesn't take hits too well and he doesn't recover well once he's been flustered. Couple this with Lombard's unbelievable strength in both grappling and striking exchanges on top of his reflexes means that this is a horrifying matchup for Yushin.

I see Lombard getting a second round TKO after clipping Okami late in the first round. Okami will be broken mentally and from there it'll be easy for Hector to finish.
 
#22 ·
I think this fight is going to look a lot like Koch/Brookins with Okami just holding him against the fence while getting rocked through-out the fight. Okami won't get a TD do any sort of damage, but with the way judges treat Lombard he could get the win.
 
#27 ·
I don't know why, but when I see Okami fight, I see a guy trying not to lose. Lombard is a powerful judo guy, I have a feeling the fight will play out similarly to the Boestch fight, with the judges not being as kind to Okami as they were to Boestch.
 
#28 ·
Okamie deserve A LOT more credit than he's been given. The man is not one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC by most fans. But I personally love his grinding, tactical style.

I think Okami will continue to beat the contenders coming up through the MW Ranks.

Lombard is a good grappler, but Okami will press the fight (or so I hope) and drain Lombard, and break him. Okamis style is too grueling for Lombard.

If Okami can avoid Lombards big shots, I think he has a great chance. If Okami makes it out of the first round I think he has the fight.

Though I'm curious to see if Lombard comes out like he did in the Palhares fight, or if he is going to sit back more and pick his shots. Personally I think for Lombard his best bet is to go forward in the first round and make Okami uncomfortable. But has to be careful to not gas himself because Okami will take him down once he's gassed.

I know the chances are slim, but I'd lose it if Okami stopped Lombard. Then maybe he'd get some more respect.
 
#30 ·
If Okami makes it out of the first round I think he has the fight.
I agree, MuscleSherk. Assuming that his style is successful of course. If Lombard can entice him into a game of cat and mouse on the feet, it may not matter much if he survives the round.
Okami will definitely be a challenge for Lombard though, given the proven gap between each fighter's cardio level. I see this fight playing out in Okami's favour.
 
#35 ·
If I had it my way I would like every year 2 case in australia, 2 in japan, 2 in england, 2 in russia, 2 in brazil, 2 in canada and the rest in the US. Japan and russia getting quality cards would be terrific
 
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