Judo 100Kg+ Gold Medalist Ishii -> MMA

[miscmisc]

I think I said he wouldn't come to MMA any time soon, but apparently he is. It seems that NHK reported it on its 6 O'clock news just a few hours ago, which means it's as good as a done deal.

He was denying the rumor yesterday, BTW.

Holy shit. This is potentially huge for Japanese MMA.

In case you wonder how this is different from Yoshida, Yoshida was a WW-MW in Judo, and Ishii IS a HW.

In case you wonder how this is different from Nastula (and Yoshida), Ishii is only 21.

[krikit]

I'm already pumped for Ishii vs Fedor for NYE.

[( o Y o )]

Just what MMA in Japan needs

[Souder]

This should hopefully give MMA in Japan a boost. With him being so young he could have a hell of a career if he gets the right training.

[loreia]

Good news, I hope this can up TV ratings

[tinobar]

i never thought he would do it maybe maybe if this was couple of yrs ago but now

watch the opening of dream 6 and hear the crowd react to him being shown a split second and then fedor right after

[Kenshin]

i never thought he would do it maybe maybe if this was couple of yrs ago but now



But he's just 21?

With him being so young he could have a hell of a career if he gets the right training.

Yeah, just think on Akiyama.

[tinobar]

But he's just 21?



Yeah, just think on Akiyama.

i meant like a young gold medalist in general a couple of yrs ago when pride and k-1 where on top of the world going head to head i could maybe see them offering enough money to lure someone like that
but now i did not think it would happen

[Grant Ellis]

Just what MMA in Japan needs

I think it is what MMA in general needs.

[Shiruba]

He will be interviewed 10 am tomorrow Japanese time.

[miscmisc]

Some other factoids about Ishii:

- Already a brown belt in BJJ.

- The first judo medalist ever to enter MMA in his prime (or in his case, he probably hasn't even reached his prime as an athlete yet). Remember, Yoshida came to MMA after he got easily kicked out of the national Judo championship in the first round.

- Huge fan of manga series Grappler Baki.

- Famous and infamous for his unique comments on things. One of those people who are either morons or geniuses. I personally find him funny as hell.

- Idolizes Fedor.

- Hardly a Judo "genius," but trains like a mad man. Hitoshi Saito said of him, "Nobody else in this world trains harder than he does."

- His judo was often criticized by those Japanese purist types, for its being not "beautiful" enough. His response to them was, "You like 'beautiful" stuff? Do gymnastics, then."

[machsaku]

Sengoku, DREAM/Dynamite , Yarennoka.....?

Will his signing make or break this years NYE events?

[aubtin]

His judo was often criticized by those Japanese purist types, for its being not "beautiful" enough. His response to them was, "You like 'beautiful" stuff? Do gymnastics, then."

LOL. I must say, I tend to agree with those purists.

This is exciting news though he can make a real impact on the division, and the sport in general.

[Shiruba]

I have also read some stuff about dream and sengoku possibly merging after NYE?

[Lord Gaul]

This is huge. Ishii is the cross over fighter they need. I want him fighting a bumb on NYE. Work into the elite slowly instead of the catle to the slaughter system we are usually familier with.

[miscmisc]

I have also read some stuff about dream and sengoku possibly merging after NYE?

Sports Houchi did speculate on that.

In any event, his destination is most likely DREAM for now.

His strengths in Judo are pretty much all the things other than what you'd call "throws," which kind of makes him ideal for MMA (which is also why a lot of people found his Judo boring). He often went to wrestling gyms for training too. With his far-above-average BJJ, he is pretty much set as far as the grappling part of the game goes.

But then, the stand-up part is always the tricky one. And he's not very big for a HW.

[Gomi Shoji]

DREAM had an interview with Fedor when he came to watch DREAM.6. on Sep 23.
Q. What was your main purpose of your visit this time?
A. I came to Japan to watch DREAM.6. and see Satoshi Ishii, who is a Judo gold medalist of the Beijing Olympic.

Q. You couldn't see Ishii unfortunately.
A. No. I had been excited to train together, but unfortunately I couldn't see him. I'm looking forward to seeing him next time.

Q. Did you watch his performance in the Beijing Olympic?
A. No. I was in the U.S. during Beijing Olympic. The U.S. television broadcast a swimming race but not Judo.

Q. Did you know Ishii said he wanted to fight you?
A. Yes, I know. I think it's too soon for him to fight me. I'm very happy to train with him whenever he comes to Russia. I heard he said he has desire to be the strongest guy in the world. I think his ambition is too unrealistic to realize for now. He is young, so it's important to take his time to gain techniques, knowledge and experiences.


SOURCE: http://sukimma.blogspot.com/

[tinobar]

miyata likes baki too maybe i should buy some of those hmm

[Gomi Shoji]

Sports Houchi did speculate on that.

In any event, his destination is most likely DREAM for now.

His strengths in Judo are pretty much all the things other than what you'd call "throws," which kind of makes him ideal for MMA (which is also why a lot of people found his Judo boring). He often went to wrestling gyms for training too. With his far-above-average BJJ, he is pretty much set as far as the grappling part of the game goes.

But then, the stand-up part is always the tricky one.

There is a poster over at the underground who is an Australian westler who attends the same school as Ishii. He spoke of how Ishii came to wrestling practice and rolled with him. Also spoke of how humble he is as well as his work ethic. Apparently he is taking BJJ from a Rickson black belt.

[miscmisc]

There is a poster over at the underground who is an Australian westler who attends the same school as Ishii. He spoke of how Ishii came to wrestling practice and rolled with him. Also spoke of how humble he is as well as his work ethic. Apparently he is taking BJJ from a Rickson black belt.

I didn't know there was an Aussie guy in Kokushikan University Wrestling team.

Thanks for the info.

[Shiruba]

I read that he might train MMA under Akiyama.

[Shiruba]

Another hilite of this visit was one of the sparring partners I had. On this day, I wasn't the only visitor as there was a hakujin (white-guy) and then two judoka. One of which has recently made quite a name for himself having beaten one of the top-ranked in his division as an Olympic hopeful. I got to roll with Satoshi Ishii, a monster of a guy who competes at the 100 kilo weight division. I believe he took silver at the 2006 Asian Games. I wish I could end this story with me winning by kimura or armbar but sadly no. I came really freakin' close to passing his guard but made some mistakes and gassed out to his monstrous power. Really nice guy though, kind of a gentle-giant of sorts. Another cool thing is that a judo black-belt of his competition level is coming to take BJJ classes. Wish I could have had a second chance, damnit.

http://www.bjj-asia.com/2008/02/im-back.html

Another person who gave me lots of support was Taka and everybody at Axis, where I was able to keep training my Jiu-Jitsu. I even had the opportunity to train with the Judo world champion, Ishii, who practices Jiu-Jitsu at Axis now. He is pretty good on the ground and I hope he wins the Olympics. I wish him luck. I was really glad to be able to train with an athlete like him, a professional Judo athlete from Japan.

http://www.jjfj.org/info/second.php?contents_id=n4849f42b593f3&lang=e

Both from before the Olympics.

[Shiruba]

There is a poster over at the underground who is an Australian westler who attends the same school as Ishii. He spoke of how Ishii came to wrestling practice and rolled with him. Also spoke of how humble he is as well as his work ethic. Apparently he is taking BJJ from a Rickson black belt.
Nice, you have a link to that?

[Gomi Shoji]

Nice, you have a link to that?

Sorry I don't. I believe you have to be a paid member to search archive threads on that site which I am not.

[Soulrise]

Thanks for all the info fellas! I hope it gives the Japanese MMA scene the shot in the arm that it seems to need!

Anyone have any comments on how good his striking is at this point in his career?

[Lord Gaul]

Some other factoids about Ishii:

- Already a brown belt in BJJ.

- The first judo medalist ever to enter MMA in his prime (or in his case, he probably hasn't even reached his prime as an athlete yet). Remember, Yoshida came to MMA after he got easily kicked out of the national Judo championship in the first round.

- Huge fan of manga series Grappler Baki.

- Famous and infamous for his unique comments on things. One of those people who are either morons or geniuses. I personally find him funny as hell.

- Idolizes Fedor.

- Hardly a Judo "genius," but trains like a mad man. Hitoshi Saito said of him, "Nobody else in this world trains harder than he does."

- His judo was often criticized by those Japanese purist types, for its being not "beautiful" enough. His response to them was, "You like 'beautiful" stuff? Do gymnastics, then."

Whats not beautiful about a Gold Medal?lol Man I have to tell you, I am excited about this. I watched him in the Olympics, they had all the judo and wrestling online here in the states, and he was amazing. I do feel that he is not as clean as some of the other paricipants. He usually wrestles guys to the ground from an arm hold rather then a clean picture perfect pump and toss. But in MMA if he gets them down, he gets them down.

I am not big on the Fedor talk. He should fight Sean O'Haire in his first fight.

[EckY]

I agree. I hope they don't ruin him by throwing him to the big dogs straight off the bat. Feed him some cans and veterans to start him off and let him mature a bit, whilst slowly increasing the level of competition.

Really good to see this though.

[tinobar]

i say he is getting more than 2 million dollars

[We're Back]

So what did he say in the presser today?

[Shiruba]

So what did he say in the presser today?
He basically said that he wants to concentrate on graduating from university right now and that he wants to slowly think about which path to take. He said that he is interested in MMA in the future though.

I still think that he will end up in MMA sooner than later, but probably not as soon as NYE.

[Souder]

I read that he might train MMA under Akiyama.

If he does start training under Akiyama then his striking would get better and he would start using lotion, too.

[machsaku]

If he does start training under Akiyama then his striking would get better and he would start using lotion, too.

LMAO

[miscmisc]

He basically said that he wants to concentrate on graduating from university right now and that he wants to slowly think about which path to take. He said that he is interested in MMA in the future though.

I still think that he will end up in MMA sooner than later, but probably not as soon as NYE.

Yoshimura from the Judo Federation was the dick. He's the one who leaked this to the media. Ishii probably did talk about his interest in MMA to them, but the way they leaked it at such a timing is fucking disgusting. What a bunch of petty assholes.

Whatever Ishii will end up doing after graduation, this media leak fucked a lot of shit up, and that's exactly what they wanted.

[Gomi Shoji]

Yoshimura from the Judo Federation was the dick. He's the one who leaked this to the media. Ishii probably did talk about his interest in MMA to them, but the way they leaked it at such a timing is fucking disgusting. What a bunch of petty assholes.

Whatever Ishii will end up doing after graduation, this media leak fucked a lot of shit up, and that's exactly what they wanted.

Are these the same guys who gave Yoshida a hard time for doing MMA?

[tinobar]

pay him 4 MILLION DOLLARS!!!!

[Global Honored]

I say feed him past Japanese Judo-to-MMA "stars" until he works his way up to Yoshida. Ogawa would bring gate.

[Global Honored]

source: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gQfvaF-3NwnP4y5iLwUWcT48rb1g

Enfant terrible Ishii two-times Japanese judo

9 hours ago

TOKYO (AFP) — Japanese judo is feeling two-timed by Olympic champion Satoshi Ishii, who is getting ready for the world of mixed martial arts only two months after saving the Japanese sport's pride at Beijing.

The 21-year-old will miss the 2012 London Olympics because the tradition-bound Japanese judo authority bans grapplers from turning professional.

An enfant terrible with his no-holds-barred fighting style and rough way of speaking that upsets the sport's purists, Ishii was one of only two Japanese men to claim medals in Beijing, winning him a major fan base at home.

But the over-100kg star sat out the world judo team championships here on Sunday, citing a fresh injury, just as a press report said he was "determined" to join mixed martial arts.

The hybrid sport, which combines techniques from judo, karate, kick-boxing and wrestling, has become a popular fixture on Japanese television, with colourful personalities and rowdy battles.

Ishii sounded unusually cautious when he explained his intentions on Tuesday.

"I am interested in joining the world of mixed martial arts, but for now I'm focused on graduating from school," the crewcut-sporting judoka said.

He is due to leave Tokyo's Kokushikan University, famous for its elite athletic programmes, in March. Media reports said that several martial arts organisations are interested in him.

"I still have time and there is no use being hasty," he said.

But judo leader Kazuo Yoshimura was furious.

"This guy turns everybody into an enemy. He'd better get out without delay," Yoshimura, director of technical development at the All-Japan Judo Federation, told reporters.

He added that he had already counted Ishii out of his plan for the London Games.

It would be impossible for Ishii to win a ticket to London, anyway, if he does not regularly compete in international events to earn points under new International Judo Federation rules to make the sport a global tour.

His possible departure from judo will deprive stylish Japan of a unique weapon against doggedly unorthodox fighters from the rest of the world.

"Judo is a brawl guided by rules," the flexible and hard-working Ishii said after winning his second national championship in April to earn his first-ever spot in the Olympics or the worlds.

Relatively small at 108kg and 181cm, he can win by both perfect execution of skills and crafty tactics to pick up minimal points. He has not lost a bout since stepping up to the over-100kg late last year, sweeping the Austria and Kazakh Open titles.

He has also amused the largely self-effacing nation with a big mouth that runs counter to the etiquttes of judo.

When he shook hands with mild-mannered prime minister Yasuo Fukuda, who stepped down last month due to low approval ratings, Ishii said: "His pureness came through. He's probably not popular because he's not so wicked."

He would follow other Olympic and world judo champions into professional martial arts -- but at an extraordinary young age.

Four-time world heavyweight and open champion Naoya Ogawa turned a professional wrestler in 1997 at age 29. In 2002, Barcelona Olympic gold medallist Hidehiko Yoshida joined a mixed martial martial arts league, called Dynamite, at 32.

Dutchman Willem Ruska, the 1972 Olympic double champion, turned a professional wrestler in 1976.

In the end, Ishii may meet his own target.

"My ultimate goal is to become the strongest man in the world," he said after his triumph in Beijing. "I will become the strongest in the world."

[miscmisc]

Are these the same guys who gave Yoshida a hard time for doing MMA?

Most of the Judo people don't like MMA at all. They hate it.

On the other hand, the wrestling world (not pro) is trying to take some shares in MMA, mainly because of the local and global decline of the sport.

[EckY]

I remember someone mentioned about the Aussie poster that sometimes trains with Ishii, well I noticed today he put up a very interesting post about it:

http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/?go=forum_framed.posts&forum=1&thread=1356202&page=1&pc=7

[Gomi Shoji]

I remember someone mentioned about the Aussie poster that sometimes trains with Ishii, well I noticed today he put up a very interesting post about it:

http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/?go=forum_framed.posts&forum=1&thread=1356202&page=1&pc=7

Yup this the guy I was referring to. I love how Ishii is so open to learn new techniques/styles. I wonder who he will go with for his stand up.