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We visited Kenji Osawa recently to talk JMMA and hear about HEARTS, his new dojo in Shinjuku, Tokyo.
Kenji, always cheerful and friendly, emphasized his ethos on enjoying training in MMA regardless of your level or ability.
Somewhat unsure of the future of DREAM in Japan he was unable to give a clear answer to where his career is headed; turning 35 this year also making hopes of entering the UFC slim. Wherever he fights we wish him all the best!
UFC 126 in Las Vegas, Nevada, is headlined by Anderson Silva vs Vitor Belfort. At the weigh ins the crowd seemed to be behind the challenger, Belfort, but the fight itself could shape up to be an epic battle. Both fighters are undoubtedly at the top of the middleweight division so we will have to wait and see on Saturday, February 5th.
This UFC also sees two top class Japanese fighters, Michihiro Omigawa (12-8-1), and Norifumi Yamamoto (18-3-0), who face
MMA-in-Japan.com went along to Wajutsu Keishukai’s A3 gym in Wako-shi to see Rikuhei Fujii, the new Pancrase Middleweight Champion, do his strength and conditioning workout, and we were lucky to get the chance to ask him a few questions afterward.
Fujii trains at A3 but is often at Wajutsu Keishukai’s RJW gym training under Yushin Okami. Recently crowned the middleweight King of Pancrase Fujii is an up-and-coming fighter with experience in the ring and the cage (Cage Force) and can be seen in the corner of Okami when he fights in the UFC.
Check the video and interview!
A good friend of MMA-in-Japan has recently updated his photo blog with a new article including our own Stewart Fulton.
The article covers Stewart’s three fights in 2010. William Robb, an already well established photographer in Japan talks of his learning experience shooting MMA fights held in both the ring and the cage. See the article here.
For anyone interested in more of his work, please see Will’s portfolio or Facebook.
MMA-in-Japan.com spent a few days with Swiss fighter, Yasubey Enomoto during his recent visit to Japan. Yasubey fought Keita (K-Taro) Nakamura in the welterweight division tournament final of Sengoku Raiden Championship (SRC) at Ariake Colloseum in Tokyo Japan on December 30, 2010.
This video is from the weigh in and the pre-fight warm up.
The following interview was taken immediately after the weigh in, the day before the fight.
Dream Dynamite!! 2010 Fight Card – Dec. 31st, 2010 – Saitama Super Arena – Japan
Have a look at some of the shots from UFC 122 on Nov. 13, 2010 at the Konig Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen, Germany.
MMA-in-Japan.com would like to congratulate Yushin Okami on his win in the main event and wish him all the best with his fight next year against the winner of Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort.
With Chael Sonnen seemingly out of the running in the middleweight division, Japan’s Yushin Okami is firmly back in the running. Facing Vitor Belfort in UFC 122 in Germany and winning will give Okami a title shot against Anderson Silva.
MMA-in-Japan would like to wish Yushin all the best!
*UPDATE*
Vitor Belfort is apparently getting a title shot before the end of the year and Nate Marquardt steps in to fight Yushin Okami.
Yoshihiro Akiyama fought Chris Leben at UFC 116, which turned out to be one of the most exciting cards of recent times.
Leben took the fight at short notice, Akiyama’s original opponent, Wanderlei Silva, having pulled out unable to fight.
Akiyama displayed superior takedown and grappling skills early in the fight, but had serious trouble knocking out Leben who seems to have a jaw made of steel! Akiyama himself took some quite hard strikes and did not go down but it was clear that his stamina was not what it should’ve been as he entered the second round looking the worse for ware.
Although Akiyama was caught in a triangle choke in the second round and tapped out, the fight was a battle the fans thoroughly enjoyed. See it here.
So, the question is where does Akiyama go from here?
