The UFC still has interest in Takanori Gomi
January 2, 2008 by Sam Caplan
With Fedor Emelianenko, Brock Lesnar, and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou now all under contract, the two biggest free agents currently on the open market are Josh Barnett and Takanori Gomi.
Barnett has received lucrative offers from both M-1 Global and EliteXC, while little is known about the status of Gomi. Many have said that he is holding out from a strong offer from one of the Japanese MMA promotions such as K-1 HERO’s, World Victory Road, and possibly even the group behind organizing Yarennoka!
However, the UFC should not be ruled out as a possible destination. According to Gary Herman of CBSSports.com and 15rounds.com, Gomi attended UFC 79 in person on Saturday and even spoke briefly with UFC president Dana White.
After the event, White confirmed that Gomi was indeed in the building and that the promotion is still interested in him:
“I’ve wanted to sign Takanori Gomi for a long time. I am very interested in him,”
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Please tiny infant Jesus let this happen!
I read Jordan Breens’ article over at sherdog.com that was basically a wrap up of the entire year in Japanese MMA when it was originally posted. It gave a strong impression to me, later in the article, that many japanese fighters are looking at North America as the proving grounds now(not a big surprise really). And that more and more may be coming over here to fight, not only for the competition but that the paydays are worth it as well.
So maybe will get lucky and Gomi will sign with the UFC or any American based promotion and we can see him fight over here more often. I really do hope the UFC brings in the GCM tournament winners, especially Yoshida, because I think they have some good talent for them to use.
If they do this they could really showcase them in NY and Seattle where they have a strong base of Asian communities.
T-Blood should just move their camp to the U.S. and start crushing people. Kawajiri and Ishida both have the ability to reign supreme.
Ishida impressed the hell out of me at Yarennoka. Melendez is arguably top three and Ishida pretty much handled him.
Think of the matchups for Gomi in the UFC:
Gomi v. Huerta
Gomi v. Penn 2
Gomi v. Joe Daddy
Gomi v. Sherk
Gomi v. Fisher
Gomi v. Guida
Gomi v. Griffin
Those are some huge matchups right there. You’d have to think that if they bring him in he gets an immediate title shot for a “Champion vs. Champion” PPV.
Can Gomi make the 155 limit? I thought he even had trouble making 160?
I will admit i would love to see the fights you mention Adam. They should be good
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