Middleweight Jason MacDonald (19-8) has verbally agreed to fight Yushin Okami (20-4) at UFC 77 on October 20, according to FightNetwork.com.
Here’s a snip:
“Canadian middleweight Jason MacDonald has verbally agreed to an Oct. 20 bout against Yushin Okami at UFC 77, scheduled for the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Alberta native expects contracts to be signed shortly.”
“The Athlete” most recently defeated Rory Singer via technical knockout (strikes) in round two of their 185-pound clash at UFC 72: “Victory” this past June. He boasts submission wins over Ed Herman and Chris Leben, with the only blemish on his UFC resume being a technical knockout loss to former middleweight champion, Rich Franklin.
Okami dropped a unanimous decision to “Ace” in Belfast, Ireland, in his last fight, waiting until the last round to show his true mettle. In fact, he nearly submitted the former champion twice in the final stanza. Aside from that loss, Okami is perfect inside the Octagon with wins over Alan Belcher, Kalib Starnes, Rory Singer and Mike Swick.
This will definitely be a contrast of styles — Okami prefers the ground and pound while MacDonald excels in the submission game. However, Okami is no slouch on the ground and certainly has the better stand up skills.
In short, MacDonald is in for a very hard fight if Okami gets off early and often. He is a slow-starter, but he hopefully learned his lesson after UFC 72.
UFC 77 from the U.S. Bank Arena features the middleweight championship fight between current titleholder Anderson Silva and former keeper of the belt, Franklin. Other than that, the card thus far comprises solid match ups but no true showstoppers.
Hopefully, that changes over time. To check out the latest UFC 77 fight card click here.
45 Comments »
I want to see him fight Okami!
That would be a good fight. I hope Jason could beat him! Man that would be hard fight for him tho. If he was to fight him, and finish him. WOuld he get a title shot? Franklin couldnt finish Okami and he got a title shot. I know I know..cant do the math thing but…. I think Jason is going to come in and give anybody a a good fight. WAR MACDONALD!
joe lozan said today on his myspace he is fighin karo at ufc 78…at welter whighet
http://bulletins.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=bulletin.read&messageID=4189236978&MyToken=766be860-547e-41ce-b4d8-97e745238131
He needs to fight Kendall Grove…that would be one hell of a fight…Okami would also be sweet
He would get worked by Okami. This guy sucks!He should fight Lutter
I would like to see J-Mac fight Marquardt.
Staphylococcus > All
“joe lozan said today on his myspace he is fighin karo at ufc 78…at welter whighet’
why would Karo that is rank #3 or 4 fight Joe ??
So i guess Joe is moving up in weight ??
I dont’ see this happening.
Who else has staph? I was thinking Kendall Grove’s comments on Jmac not being the TUF Killer until he has defeated a TUF winner might be a lead up to a fight… but now he is booked with cote. With Martin vs. Leban already booked I think it has to be either Okami or a newcomer. All others are out. Kampman x knee injury McPhedries x staph Marquardt just lost… Who is left?
[quote comment="125750"]Who else has staph? I was thinking Kendall Grove’s comments on Jmac not being the TUF Killer until he has defeated a TUF winner might be a lead up to a fight… but now he is booked with cote. With Martin vs. Leban already booked I think it has to be either Okami or a newcomer. All others are out. Kampman x knee injury McPhedries x staph Marquardt just lost… Who is left?[/quote]Excellent point. Okami really is the only guy left. Him and Travis Lutter. If he fights Lutter, then who is Okami going to fight?
I would like to see him fight lutter. I think both have great bjj and i think it would be a really interesting fight on there feet or down on the mat.
http://www.ufcdaily.com/2007/08/06/rumor-yushin-okami-vs-jason-macdonald/
I’m not the only person thinking Okami ufcdaily has posted the fight macdonald vs. okami for ufc 77 as a rumour…
I think Macdonald doesn’t match up well with eiter lutter or Okami, but has a better chance at getting Okami in a sub than Lutter….
[quote comment="125767"][quote comment="125750"]Who else has staph? I was thinking Kendall Grove’s comments on Jmac not being the TUF Killer until he has defeated a TUF winner might be a lead up to a fight… but now he is booked with cote. With Martin vs. Leban already booked I think it has to be either Okami or a newcomer. All others are out. Kampman x knee injury McPhedries x staph Marquardt just lost… Who is left?[/quote]Excellent point. Okami really is the only guy left. Him and Travis Lutter. If he fights Lutter, then who is Okami going to fight?[/quote]
Anderson Silva is leaving a pile of bodies behind:
Franklin
Okami (don’t count the disq loss)
Lutter
Marquardt
All those guys are a tad better than MacDonald. Quite a log jam. Seriously, MacDonald might think about WEC. It’s not the WEC is even lame anymore:
Filho, Paulo
Doerksen, Joe
Gassaway, Brian
Riggs, Joe
Nice…
Mamas Boy “Anderson Silva is leaving a pile of bodies behind:
Franklin
Okami (don’t count the disq loss)
Lutter
Marquardt
”
Question: Has Silva fought Okami before?
I guess its time to bring in some new blood Filho, Paulo, or some other good pride Middleweight. Maybe Rashad Evans could cut down to make this weight he would be a pretty mean middle weight! I still Like Okami in this division to fight any top guy and with most recent loss I think he has learned not to take it easy but to force things.
Question: Has Silva fought Okami before?
At Rumble on the Rock Okami earned a w in his fight against Anderson, after Anderson Silva ktfo Okami but with an illegal kick.
Silva was on his back with Okami trying to work GnP, and when Okami sat back Anderson kicked him in the face…. It was f**king sweet! But he then the DQ’D
In your opinion did Okami looked over matched? Or did he hold his own and make a fatal mistake?
No fighter @ 185 is going to submit Okami – especially someone as small as McDonald. JMac will be owned if he accepts this fight.
I hope this goes down and Okami funks him up. Okami could probably use his size and strength to overwhelm MacDonald. I don’t see Okami getting subbed in this fight.
[quote comment="125854"]In your opinion did Okami looked over matched? Or did he hold his own and make a fatal mistake?[/quote]
The fight only lasted a 1 or 2. Nothing really happened, Okami kept trying for the takedown, and silva keep pushing him off. They exchanged a few punches, but nothing landed. Okami finally took down Silva, and was in guard, nothing happened, stood back up, Silva threw some upkicks. Okami finally got back into Silva’s half guard and BAM!!!! Upkick that knocks OKami out, too bad his knees were down. Silva DQ’d.
Can’t really make anything of it.
[quote comment="125910"][quote comment="125854"]In your opinion did Okami looked over matched? Or did he hold his own and make a fatal mistake?[/quote]
The fight only lasted a 1 or 2. Nothing really happened, Okami kept trying for the takedown, and silva keep pushing him off. They exchanged a few punches, but nothing landed. Okami finally took down Silva, and was in guard, nothing happened, stood back up, Silva threw some upkicks. Okami finally got back into Silva’s half guard and BAM!!!! Upkick that knocks OKami out, too bad his knees were down. Silva DQ’d.
Can’t really make anything of it.[/quote]
Although, they both fought at 174 for that fight. Anderson looks the same but Okami looks MUCH bigger now. I bet Silva barely cuts any wieght, if any, to make 185. He could probably drop to Welterweight no problem.
Okami would kill MacDonald. If you watch MacDonald vs. Kalib Starnes, you can see that MacDonald doesn’t handle a superior wrestler very well. Okami is def an even better wrestler than Starnes.
[quote comment="125873"]No fighter @ 185 is going to submit Okami – especially someone as small as McDonald. JMac will be owned if he accepts this fight.[/quote]
small as mac?? wow, j mac used to fight at 205.. hes a little leaner now but he is a big boy, a wide bad ass.. with skinny legs like singer said, but that doesnt mean anything, body types dont mean shit, look at florians last fight…… enough said…
[quote comment="125873"]No fighter @ 185 is going to submit Okami – especially someone as small as McDonald. JMac will be owned if he accepts this fight.[/quote]
small as mac?? wow, j mac used to fight at 205.. hes a little leaner now but he is a big boy, a wide bad ass.. with skinny legs like singer said, but that doesnt mean anything, body types dont mean shit, look at florians last fight…… enough said…
Okami’s no Alvin Robinson. He exploits his size and strength advantages to overpower and grind opponents down. I recall JMac being rag-dolled by Franklin. Size and strength matter when you possess the skills to utilize them in a fight. Florian was neutralized (save a couple elbows) effectively by Sean Sherk’s strength. After the Sherk loss Florian hired a strength and conditioning coach, didn’t he?
[quote post="3017"]No fighter @ 185 is going to submit Okami – especially someone as small as McDonald. JMac will be owned if he accepts this fight. [/quote]
As small as Macdonald, what? he’s huge for 185lbs.
j mac is to small he is one of the bigger 185 fighters, he got out struck by franklin not over powered.he has gave both herman and leben there first losses to subs.when he lost to starnes he was a part time fighter,not saying he wins but will be one heck of a fight
[quote comment="125845"]Mamas Boy “Anderson Silva is leaving a pile of bodies behind:
Franklin
Okami (don’t count the disq loss)
Lutter
Marquardt
”
Question: Has Silva fought Okami before?
I guess its time to bring in some new blood Filho, Paulo, or some other good pride Middleweight. Maybe Rashad Evans could cut down to make this weight he would be a pretty mean middle weight! I still Like Okami in this division to fight any top guy and with most recent loss I think he has learned not to take it easy but to force things.[/quote]
Yeah Silva fought Okami in the Cage Rage organization. Silva was dominating the fight but at one point Okami took him down and believe it or not (I have the video somewhere) Silva upkicked from the guard position and hit Okami on top of the head. Yeah. From full guard Silva kicked Okami on top of the head- not a typo. Okami was dazed and the fight was ruled a disqualification in Okami’s favor. Barring that, it would have ended as a Silva victory.
[quote comment="125852"]Question: Has Silva fought Okami before?
At Rumble on the Rock Okami earned a w in his fight against Anderson, after Anderson Silva ktfo Okami but with an illegal kick.
Silva was on his back with Okami trying to work GnP, and when Okami sat back Anderson kicked him in the face…. It was f**king sweet! But he then the DQ’D[/quote]
You’re right, Rumble on the Rock, not Cage Rage. He had a bunch of fights in CR before and after this particular one.
The wild thing was that Silva got his leg up that high with Okami in the mount.
[quote comment="125910"][quote comment="125854"]In your opinion did Okami looked over matched? Or did he hold his own and make a fatal mistake?[/quote]
The fight only lasted a 1 or 2. Nothing really happened, Okami kept trying for the takedown, and silva keep pushing him off. They exchanged a few punches, but nothing landed. Okami finally took down Silva, and was in guard, nothing happened, stood back up, Silva threw some upkicks. Okami finally got back into Silva’s half guard and BAM!!!! Upkick that knocks OKami out, too bad his knees were down. Silva DQ’d.
Can’t really make anything of it.[/quote]
I watched it again this morning. I disagree that you can’t make anything of the fight. Silva dominated. This is how it went:
Silva lands a series of hard leg kicks. Okami futily shoots and gets stuffed. Silva lands punches. Okami backing up. “Okami is in deep trouble”. “Silva is just taunting him”. Okami gets a takedown. “Okami is pretty much puzzled. Silva is giving him no respect. WOW! A kick from the ground… a heal kick on the top of the head knocks Okami out!”.
Other than securing a takedown, Okami wasn’t able to acheive anything. Marquardt took Silva down in their fight too. So did Lutter. This fight might have been Okami’s first (T)KO loss had it gone the distance.
I think we all may be surprised with the outcome of this one. This is a real solid fight with serious implications. Can definitly change a fighter’s ranking from 5 to 3 or from 3 to 4 etc. UFC has done a solid job we need more fights like this with meaning for a change.
Look for Jason MacDonald to win
[quote comment="126119"]j mac is to small he is one of the bigger 185 fighters, he got out struck by franklin not over powered.he has gave both herman and leben there first losses to subs.when he lost to starnes he was a part time fighter,not saying he wins but will be one heck of a fight[/quote]
You got it right here… Jmac was part time, and he has even said that he was considering either quiting fighting, or going full time around this time. He wasn’t acheiving the sucess he felt he could training part time. I’m glad he decided to rededicate himself to the game and go full time.
To me I think Jmac’s big weakness is stand up ability, and I see a guy the Anderson giving him the Chris Leban treatment, but a GnP guy could be in trouble… Okami’s game is the take down grind out a W, but Jmac wants the fight on the ground, and I think he locks in a triangle or an unexpected/ unorthodoxed sub early in the fight.
[quote comment="125957"]Okami’s no Alvin Robinson. He exploits his size and strength advantages to overpower and grind opponents down. I recall JMac being rag-dolled by Franklin. Size and strength matter when you possess the skills to utilize them in a fight. Florian was neutralized (save a couple elbows) effectively by Sean Sherk’s strength. After the Sherk loss Florian hired a strength and conditioning coach, didn’t he?[/quote]
dont even mention steroid boy aka human blanket, at least franca was man about it… sherk ia all hype man, one dimensional wrestler who can avoid submissions, the hardest training mma figter “quote on quote” hasnt finished a fight in what 4 years… gsp smoked him and i dont think j mac was rag dolled by rich, he was trying to pull guard while on his back,
I assume all these guys are huge, but I have met Jmac a couple of times, and he seemed Huge! I am 6′0″ and 240lbs, a little bit out of shape, but not terrible, and he seemed way bigger than me. (this was between the Herman and Leban fight) I guess when your like 4-8% body fat your body weighs less, but has a lot more size in the muscle…
In the Franklin fight Franklin was a bit thicker, but shorter, and he only tossed Jmac around at the end after he had basically f’d up his face with strikes.
J-Mac will get wrecked by Okami and his ground and pound. J-Mac got his ass beat by Franklin. Franklin almost lost to Okami, so this seems to be a tough fight for J-Mac to win. Should be good, but it will be Okami by Wreckage!!!
This should be a close fight with the edge going to Okami. But one thing I’ll say for “J-Mac” is Franklin was a big step up from the TUFfies he’d been fighting. He said he had doubts going into that fight. Now he knows he belongs in the big leagues.
[quote comment="126424"]This should be a close fight with the edge going to Okami. But one thing I’ll say for “J-Mac” is Franklin was a big step up from the TUFfies he’d been fighting. He said he had doubts going into that fight. Now he knows he belongs in the big leagues.[/quote]
i agree completely
[quote comment="126273"]I assume all these guys are huge, but I have met Jmac a couple of times, and he seemed Huge! I am 6′0″ and 240lbs, a little bit out of shape, but not terrible, and he seemed way bigger than me. (this was between the Herman and Leban fight) I guess when your like 4-8% body fat your body weighs less, but has a lot more size in the muscle…
In the Franklin fight Franklin was a bit thicker, but shorter, and he only tossed Jmac around at the end after he had basically f’d up his face with strikes.[/quote]
I totaly agree he is large and strong but its no secret he has weak stand up but has never been ko,d on his feet ethier dont even think he has been knocked down with a punch.dont forget okami is no slugger
nice, this will be a good fight, another chance for mcdonald to try and prove he can hang with the big dogs
JASON IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE FIGHTERS ALTHOUGHT I DONT THINK HE WILL EVER BE CHAMP, HE IS A GOOD CONTENDER!! THIS FIGHT WILL BE ONE OF HIS MOST DIFFICULT FIGHTS BUT I PREDICT A W FOR HIM!!
BY WATCHING JASONS FIGHT WITH FRANKLIN, YOU CAN TELL HE REALLY NEEDS TO WORK ON HIS STAND UP GAME A LOT MORE, WHEN HE PUNCHES HE LOOKS LIKE ANYONE OF MY FRIENDS IN THE BACK YARD WITH THE HEAVY BAG. HE LEARNS STAND UP, THEN MAYBE THERE IS A SHOT FOR THE TITLE, I STILL THINK HE IS ONE OF THE BEST!!
This fight will be a contender fight. The winner will face the winner of Franklin vs Silva
This is an interesting division. A lot of strong competition coming up. My prediction is MacDonald will win if Okami decides to sit back and wait…If he gets aggressive Mac D is in trouble. Silva will Destroy Franklin.. He takes it easy on everyone until he decides to end it, Then its over in a matter seconds. He has the most accurate strikes in the division…whoops I mis-spoke. Now enters Dan Henderson. Dan Henderson is a 185′r and will overthrow Anderson Silva for the belt early next year. He will keep it for quite awhile.
Jason mcdonald is one of the worst stand up fights at 185, he’s ok on the ground, and the only reason why he won is because he was fighting even worse contenders on the ground. He got worked against rich franklin, and he’ll get mashed by okanomi.. IF okanomi decides to push the pase instead of sittign back and countur punching.. if the fight goes to the ground mcdonald is done cuz okanomi is too strong for him to handle, he was even too strong for rich franklin to handle but it was too late in the 3rd round when he decided to show up for the fight.