Props: Sherdog.com
Quoteworthy:
“World Victory Road is set to announce the signing of Takanori Gomi…. Gomi, 29, was one of MMA’s most prized free agents following the Zuffa buyout of the PRIDE Fighting Championships last year. Gomi has been courted by several promoters in recent months, including K-1 and HERO’S parent company Fight Entertainment Group, as well as UFC and WEC company Zuffa. “
Looks like Zuffa whiffed on another former Pride FC champion. It would have been nice to see the “Fireball Kid” compete inside the Octagon. Oh well. It looks like Marcus Davis and the rest of the fighters on the Zuffa payroll won’t get their shot at the Japanese star anytime soon.
January 31st, 2008
48 Comments »
Thats not to big of a surprise.
World Victory Road. Excuse me, but what is that? I am assuming that it is an organization based out of Japan.
[quote comment=”287855″]World Victory Road. Excuse me, but what is that? I am assuming that it is an organization based out of Japan.[/quote]
Correct.
LAME
in order to keep his ranking as #1 LW in the world, Gomi better stay out of the UFC.
who cares, Gomi would lose to Penn (again), Sherk, Griffen, Edgar, Stevenson, Guida….if he fought at welter, many many more. he’s probably the most overrated fighter alive
I dont think he is explosive enough to hang with the UFCs LW division.
[quote comment=”287885″]who cares, Gomi would lose to Penn (again), Sherk, Griffen, Edgar, Stevenson, Guida….if he fought at welter, many many more. he’s probably the most overrated fighter alive[/quote]
Amen to that… he would be a top 5 in the L/W’s at best…
He even lost to a stoned Diaz!
Really? Uh, who is World Victory Road? Is this another lame Richard Steele promotion? WTF? Uh, who cares? And whats the deal with some of the so called best fighters in the world signing with these crappy ass leagues? Are they so sure thay can’t compete in the UFC that they want to get overly compensated for getting an as whooping? You got Kang, Fedor, Gomi, Barnett. I mean these guys are supposed to be some of the best in the world but yet they sign with mediocre or just straight out lame organiztions. I can understand a loyalty to japanese fans and stuff, but at the expense of fightting guys who flat out suck and are less than wold class? Who cares about a big name signing with a weak promotion. Would it be news if Kobe or Labron joined the CBA or the Harlem Globtrotters? In my opinion its just showing that they dont care to fight the best and just want to improve their win column by fighting crappy fighters.
[quote comment=”287860″][quote comment=”287855″]World Victory Road. Excuse me, but what is that? I am assuming that it is an organization based out of Japan.[/quote]
Correct.[/quote]
Victory Road is picking up steam in Japan. They have signed a couple of top fighters. victory Road is now Heroes main competition over in Japan. I heard they will pay Gomi $190,000 a fight. No way Dana is going that deep in his pockets for a lightweight fighter….What a shame!
I am pretty tired of hearing about these Japanese and Chinese dudes like they are bad ass. F em all seriously, they are kicking the crap out of lil asain fools who couldn’t hang in the UFC. Throw this Gomi cat against Penn, Sherk, Hughes, or GSP and watch him get his shit handed to him.
It’s a complete joke how some people hold this guys that are not American mainstream to such a high level. When these “underground” or Pride guys pop up on the map they get worked over a la Heath Herring / Jake O’Brien Gonzaga & Kongo / Cro Cop.
The UFC LW division is stacked with him or without him. Gomi and Fedor can both hold hands skip merrily through the magical land of number-one rankings and zero competition.
Whenever a superstar signs with another promotion there seems to be two responses. 1) The UFC is an evil totalitarian enterprise that is obviously at fault for said superstar signing elsewhere because of their ridiculous contract demands. 2) Said superstar is ducking top competition and is content fighting cans the rest of their career to avoid tarnishing their legacy.
it still would have been cool to see him fight nate,huerta,guidw,fisher,sherk,ect…
at ww-matt hughes,gsp,fitch,sanches,kos,davis
i personally think hes duckin a possible rematch with penn
[quote comment=”287902″][quote comment=”287885″]who cares, Gomi would lose to Penn (again), Sherk, Griffen, Edgar, Stevenson, Guida….if he fought at welter, many many more. he’s probably the most overrated fighter alive[/quote]
Amen to that… he would be a top 5 in the L/W’s at best…
He even lost to a stoned Diaz![/quote]
he EVEN…whatever ! he wasnt stoned! he tested positive for it in his system, that doesnt mean he was stoned! …. how can you be overrated when you are a champion ? you dont make sense
The UFC must be offering some shockingly shit deals for so many top fighters to go else where
Takanori Gomi has been announced as a participant for the first ever Sengoku event on March 5th. No opponent has been named yet.
Sengoku I
Date: March 5th, 2008
Place: National Yoyogi Stadium in Tokyo, Japan
Fights:
Phil Baroni vs. Sanae Kikuta
Kazuo Misaki vs. Siyar Bahadurzada
Makoto Takimoto vs. Evangelista Cyborg
Participants:
Hidehiko Yoshida
Ryo Kawamura
Takanori Gomi
Rumored Fights:
Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Roger Gracie
Possible Participants:
Fabricio Monteiro
[quote comment=”287953″][quote comment=”287902″][quote comment=”287885″]who cares, Gomi would lose to Penn (again), Sherk, Griffen, Edgar, Stevenson, Guida….if he fought at welter, many many more. he’s probably the most overrated fighter alive[/quote]
Amen to that… he would be a top 5 in the L/W’s at best…
He even lost to a stoned Diaz![/quote]
he EVEN…whatever !
he wasnt stoned! he tested positive for it in his system, that doesnt mean he was stoned! …. how can you be overrated when you are a champion ? you dont make sense
The UFC must be offering some shockingly shit deals for so many top fighters to go else where[/quote]
I am probably one of the fans that wanted to see Gomi the most in the UFC, but deep down I really didnt expect it to happen. I hear Victory road is paying Gomi like $180,000 per fight. No lightweights make that much in the UFC. Maybe BJ is getting that kind of money but thats it. UFC probably offered him like $70,000 per fight tops…. Can anyone really blame him?
Also Gomi not fighting in the UFC wont hurt him as much as it will hurt Fedor because there are many top fighters in the world at LW not fighting in the UFC…so Gomi will still be able to fight top notch competition over in Japan. I can list about 5 possible opponents out there that are top notch, that dont fight in the UFC. Great possible match ups for Gomi:
joakim “Hellboy” Hanssesns
gesius “JZ” Calvancante
Shinya Akoi
Vitor “Shaolin” Ribero
Rematch with Diaz is an option because I think Diaz contract with EliteXC isnt exclusive (which is a big reason why he isnt fighting in the UFC.
In the greater scheme of things, most UFC lightweight fighters arent even in the top 10 of the world in the rankings. Do I think that those above named fighters would crush the UFC LW? Probably not…but they are great fighters. As a matter of fact the UFC Lightweight division doesnt get as much respect as it should in the worldwide rankings. Foor example, I dont ever remember Sherk being ranked higher then 5th. Rankings dont really mean anything, but its still an interesting fact.
I am suprised that there is not as much anti-UFC anti-Dana anger after this latest news.
I’m slightly dissapointed but not too much. The lightweight division is just so deep right now that it doesn’t need any Pride transplants.
The heavyweight division however…
Nick Thompson, the current BODOG welterweight champion is about to become a free agent. he said that the UFC made him a nice offer but that he isn’t ready for GSP so he doesn’t think that he will be joining the UFC. I like Nick as a fighter but I think
GSP isnt the ony welterweight that he would have trouble facing.
Lately GSP has been scaring the hell out of welterweights.
[quote comment=”287980″]I am suprised that there is not as much anti-UFC anti-Dana anger after this latest news.
I’m slightly dissapointed but not too much. The lightweight division is just so deep right now that it doesn’t need any Pride transplants.
The heavyweight division however…[/quote]
As much as I love Gomi, I kind of expected him not signing with the UFC. Its tough for the UFC to land Japanease stars. They are GODS back home in Japan, and make a lot of money fighting over there. Also, its no secret that Dana doesnt pay his lightweight fighters that much and i kind of had a feeling Gomi was gonna get a big money offer from a Japanease promotion….. Wherever he fights, I am still a fan, and I will keep up with his career. Keep in mind that Gomi is very young and that eventually he could still end up in the UFC….I wont be holding my breath.
Here’s some info about WVR: http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=4959&zoneid=1
Gomi’s signing with WVR doesn’t bother me as much as Fedor for a few reasons. 1) The lightweight division in the UFC is already stacked. 2) Gomi isn’t recognized as the best lightweight fighter in the world. He’s definitely part of that conversation, but not universally thought of as the best like Fedor. 3) And like john pointed out, there are plenty of good lightweights outside of the UFC.
What sucks the most about this signing, is that I have to buy more PPV’s to see the best fighters in the world.
[quote comment=”287980″]I am suprised that there is not as much anti-UFC anti-Dana anger after this latest news.
I’m slightly dissapointed but not too much. The lightweight division is just so deep right now that it doesn’t need any Pride transplants.
The heavyweight division however…[/quote]
Why be mad at Dana? Gomi would be a bust. He’s not a true 155 pound fighter. Japanese fighters don’t cut weight like American fighters. He’ll be undersized and out muscled and would have the Cro Cop affect. He’d beat his first opponent which will be a gimme to let the casual fans get to know him.
Then he’d get a Clay Guida type name and get handled. Overated.
[quote comment=”287918″][quote comment=”287860″][quote comment=”287855″]World Victory Road. Excuse me, but what is that? I am assuming that it is an organization based out of Japan.[/quote]
Correct.[/quote]
Victory Road is picking up steam in Japan. They have signed a couple of top fighters. victory Road is now Heroes main competition over in Japan. I heard they will pay Gomi $190,000 a fight. No way Dana is going that deep in his pockets for a lightweight fighter….What a shame![/quote]
Light Title match..the champ gets like 30G’s I think. They base the pay on weight divisions. Heavier the better..but why do so many “Fight of the Nights”..are in the lighter divisons.??
I couldn’t see Gomi winning too many fights as a LW in the UFC.
I think that sound was Gomi dropping off the top 10 list.
But if he can pull that sort of money, good for him. Would have been nice to see him throw down with guys like Griffin and co….
who cares? honestly? the guy isn’t even a top 5 LW and you know what? it’s his loss not the UFC’s. Being a Japanese fighter he obviously wanted to stay closer to home.
[quote comment=”288003″]Here’s some info about WVR: http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=4959&zoneid=1
Gomi’s signing with WVR doesn’t bother me as much as Fedor for a few reasons. 1) The lightweight division in the UFC is already stacked. 2) Gomi isn’t recognized as the best lightweight fighter in the world. He’s definitely part of that conversation, but not universally thought of as the best like Fedor. 3) And like john pointed out, there are plenty of good lightweights outside of the UFC.
What sucks the most about this signing, is that I have to buy more PPV’s to see the best fighters in the world.[/quote]
Or u can wait till the next day and go to http://www.myvideofight.com which shows all the fights! As much as I love those Japanease cards, I rarely order any of those events. I just watch em the next day!
[quote comment=”288033″][quote comment=”287918″][quote comment=”287860″][quote comment=”287855″]World Victory Road. Excuse me, but what is that? I am assuming that it is an organization based out of Japan.[/quote]
Correct.[/quote]
Victory Road is picking up steam in Japan. They have signed a couple of top fighters. victory Road is now Heroes main competition over in Japan. I heard they will pay Gomi $190,000 a fight. No way Dana is going that deep in his pockets for a lightweight fighter….What a shame![/quote]
Light Title match..the champ gets like 30G’s I think. They base the pay on weight divisions. Heavier the better..but why do so many “Fight of the Nights”..are in the lighter divisons.??[/quote]
I think that the only lightweight fighter in the UFC that makes good money is BJ Penn. SDoes anyone remeber how much he made in his fight against Jens this past summer? As a title holder he will get paid more then he did in that Pulver fight. BJ left the UFC as welterweight champion after beating Hughes because Dana didnt want to give him enough money. Penn doesnt need the money because he comes from a rich family, but BJ wont fight for less then what he is worth, which leeds me to believe that BJ gets paid nicely to be Lightweight champion.
Can anyone tel me what organization BJ Penn fought renzo Gracie in?
[quote comment=”288003″]Here’s some info about WVR: http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=4959&zoneid=1
Gomi’s signing with WVR doesn’t bother me as much as Fedor for a few reasons. 1) The lightweight division in the UFC is already stacked. 2) Gomi isn’t recognized as the best lightweight fighter in the world. He’s definitely part of that conversation, but not universally thought of as the best like Fedor. 3) And like john pointed out, there are plenty of good lightweights outside of the UFC.
What sucks the most about this signing, is that I have to buy more PPV’s to see the best fighters in the world.[/quote]
Some people are saying that Victory road will turn into the new PRIDE. It has a long way to go to become as great as PRIDE was, but it has a shot because mma is huge in Japan, maybe even bigger then here in the UFC.
It’s so typical to hear someone say nowdays that a fighter is ducking top competition just because they signed up with someone else instead of the UFC. Money talks ppl, that’s what is the number one priority for all fighters, competition I’m sure is a close second… (though I’m not saying he won’t find any tough competition there, I’m sure he will).
Stopped reading after john’s post…
john…thank you for being rational & posting the only intelligent response…
Like it was said there is plenty of Lightweight competition outside of the UFC…
I do believe Penn would take the rematch but I also feel Gomi would do just fine against Huerta, Guida, Edgar, Florian, etc…
linx also makes sense…
Fighters want $$ and then reasonable stipulations
[quote comment=”288121″]Stopped reading after john’s post…
john…thank you for being rational & posting the only intelligent response…
Like it was said there is plenty of Lightweight competition outside of the UFC…
I do believe Penn would take the rematch but I also feel Gomi would do just fine against Huerta, Guida, Edgar, Florian, etc…
linx also makes sense…
Fighters want $$ and then reasonable stipulations[/quote]
Thanks for the props and I agree i think Penn would probably beat him again, but then again, I see Penn beating everyone right now.
I do believe that Gomi would have taken huerta out. Huerta likes to come at you and Gomi is one of the very best fighters in the world when it comes to striking while backing up. Even when he is backing up he still hits like a mule and is extremely accurate. I think Gomi vs. huerta could have challenged for fight of the year…that would have been awesome match up!
Gomi vs. Spencer fisher, din Thomas, Ken Flo would have all been great matches as well.
The toughest opponent for Gomi would probably be Tyson Griffin and Frankie edgar who could both ride out a decision win against Gomi. however Gomi is a real good wrestler so it would still have been interesting.
Another of Pride’s guy’s taking the easy way out and avoiding the best competition in the world. After that loss to Nick Diaz I can see his reason for taking the path of least resistance.
[quote comment=”288146″][quote comment=”288121″]Stopped reading after john’s post…
john…thank you for being rational & posting the only intelligent response…
Like it was said there is plenty of Lightweight competition outside of the UFC…
I do believe Penn would take the rematch but I also feel Gomi would do just fine against Huerta, Guida, Edgar, Florian, etc…
linx also makes sense…
Fighters want $$ and then reasonable stipulations[/quote]
Thanks for the props and I agree i think Penn would probably beat him again, but then again, I see Penn beating everyone right now.
I do believe that Gomi would have taken huerta out. Huerta likes to come at you and Gomi is one of the very best fighters in the world when it comes to striking while backing up. Even when he is backing up he still hits like a mule and is extremely accurate. I think Gomi vs. huerta could have challenged for fight of the year…that would have been awesome match up![/quote]
your one of the only people here that knows thier shit, theres more to mma than the ufc he is not ducking anyone i am sure they offered him close to nothing and theres plenty of top l.w. that are not in the ufc.most people here are ufc fans not mma fans.
This sucks…i really wanted to see Gomi fight in the UFC….
He singned with who?? an mma production no one watches?! really lame like Fedor! oh well i guess he doesnt want to fight the best!
[quote comment=”288237″]He singned with who?? an mma production no one watches?! really lame like Fedor! oh well i guess he doesnt want to fight the best![/quote]
Dude, do u realize there is a whole world outside of the UFC? U think the Japanease people give a damn whats going on in the UFC? Japan is a huge mma market. Although I dont agree with a lot of the world rankings, the facts are that BJ Penn is the only UFC lightweight that has even made the top 5 rankings at Lightweight in the past year and a half…and thats a Fact! There are about 6-8 big fights for Gomi outside the UFC, which means that he will be fighting top level competition for the next 2 years or so.
I understand y some people have problems with Fedor, because there arent many top HW outside the UFC for him to fight, but thats not the case in the Lightweight division. Gomi will be tied up fighting top level competition for the next 2 years. By the way Gomi would take Huerta out (and this is coming from a big roger Huerta fan)!
[quote comment=”288250″][quote comment=”288237″]He singned with who?? an mma production no one watches?! really lame like Fedor! oh well i guess he doesnt want to fight the best![/quote]
Dude, do u realize there is a whole world outside of the UFC? U think the Japanease people give a damn whats going on in the UFC? Japan is a huge mma market.[/quote]
Dude, do you realize the UFC is a business and a very profitable one that Caters to the largest consumer market in the world (a la the USA)? If the MMA market in Japan is so big, then whey did PRIDE FC die? Can we say….YAKUZA (Japanese Mob) anyone?
Face reality, the Japanese MMA market is a sleazy wasteland with no regulations or credibility. Do they even test for steroids in Japan? It’s doesn’t take a genius to answer that question. Now wonder why PRIDE died (and good riddance!)
Morever, the past year has shown that fighters coming over from PRIDE to the UFC are a bunch of WWE inspired, overated, competitors.
If you like WWE inspired theatrics and steroid freak shows, maybe Japanese MMA is a perfect for you.
Japan has hosted the largest events in MMA history. Gomi belongs over there, he might have some what of a fan base over here but nothing close to like in Japan. Yeah life sucks but I’ll still be entertained none the less.
way to go dana nice to see him drop the ball again
The UFC is Cheap! we heard this story a couple of months ago when they missed their chance to sign Fedor. This isn’t news. I don’t understand how the UFC, the mixed martial arts promotion that makes more money than all the other banners combind, goes 0 for 2 on signing guys who are number 1 in the world rankings. Someone better tell Dana and Larenzo to stop keeping such a tight grip on their wallets.
[quote comment=”288353″][quote comment=”288250″][quote comment=”288237″]He singned with who?? an mma production no one watches?! really lame like Fedor! oh well i guess he doesnt want to fight the best![/quote]
Dude, do u realize there is a whole world outside of the UFC? U think the Japanease people give a damn whats going on in the UFC? Japan is a huge mma market.[/quote]
Dude, do you realize the UFC is a business and a very profitable one that Caters to the largest consumer market in the world (a la the USA)? If the MMA market in Japan is so big, then whey did PRIDE FC die? Can we say….YAKUZA (Japanese Mob) anyone?
Face reality, the Japanese MMA market is a sleazy wasteland with no regulations or credibility. Do they even test for steroids in Japan? It’s doesn’t take a genius to answer that question. Now wonder why PRIDE died (and good riddance!)
Morever, the past year has shown that fighters coming over from PRIDE to the UFC are a bunch of WWE inspired, overated, competitors.
If you like WWE inspired theatrics and steroid freak shows, maybe Japanese MMA is a perfect for you.[/quote]
haha you might have taken it a little to the extreme, but i’ll get behind you on that one.
Oh and JOHN regarding the top 5 LW rankings that you said only Penn had made in a couple years or something, i’m pretty srue Sherk has been on there since the second he dropped to LW. And personally I think Kenny, Stevenson, and in a year or two, plenty of the up and comers in teh UFC will make the UFC dominate teh LW rankings.
[quote comment=”287922″]The UFC LW division is stacked with him or without him. Gomi and Fedor can both hold hands skip merrily through the magical land of number-one rankings and zero competition.[/quote]
LMFAO!!!!!!
[quote comment=”288860″][quote comment=”288353″][quote comment=”288250″][quote comment=”288237″]He singned with who?? an mma production no one watches?! really lame like Fedor! oh well i guess he doesnt want to fight the best![/quote]
Dude, do u realize there is a whole world outside of the UFC? U think the Japanease people give a damn whats going on in the UFC? Japan is a huge mma market.[/quote]
Dude, do you realize the UFC is a business and a very profitable one that Caters to the largest consumer market in the world (a la the USA)? If the MMA market in Japan is so big, then whey did PRIDE FC die? Can we say….YAKUZA (Japanese Mob) anyone?
Face reality, the Japanese MMA market is a sleazy wasteland with no regulations or credibility. Do they even test for steroids in Japan? It’s doesn’t take a genius to answer that question. Now wonder why PRIDE died (and good riddance!)
Morever, the past year has shown that fighters coming over from PRIDE to the UFC are a bunch of WWE inspired, overated, competitors.
If you like WWE inspired theatrics and steroid freak shows, maybe Japanese MMA is a perfect for you.[/quote]
haha you might have taken it a little to the extreme, but i’ll get behind you on that one.
Oh and JOHN regarding the top 5 LW rankings that you said only Penn had made in a couple years or something, i’m pretty srue Sherk has been on there since the second he dropped to LW. And personally I think Kenny, Stevenson, and in a year or two, plenty of the up and comers in teh UFC will make the UFC dominate teh LW rankings.[/quote]
The anomaly. I subscribe to 4 major mma magzines. Now there are about a 100 different mma rankings out there. But I only pay attention to the major ones. BJ Penn has been up there on a few occasions, but since he was always flip flopping from Welterweight to lightweight he has never had the #1 spot and sometimes wasnt even listed at Lightweight. Now after having 2 fights at lightweight, I think that will change. On too Sherk, the highest I have seen him ranked in the past year and a half was 5th, but more often he is at the 7th or 8th slot. Stevenson and Florian sometimes were left of the top 10, but always usually recieve honarabe mention. I think the highest I have seen stevenson ranked in a while was like 7th by fight magazine. Florian has been included from 8-10 spot, but sometimes is left off all together.
Do I agree with these rankings? NO! Do I think that Stevenson, Florian, Penn, Sherk would beat many of the people ranked over them? Probably! But these arent my rankings. I didnt make them up nor do I agree with them, but these are the published facts.
Keep in mind: Gomi, Akoi, Gilbert, JZ all hold a high status in the international mma community.
Like I said, these aren’t my rankings…but I do keep my eye on them, and If you need me to provide the exact rankings from all the major magaizines in the past year and a half, I can…. I getthem all sitting in my house. I can provide that info later in the day.
i dont like gomi, hes a cocky little punk. and he isnt the best lw out there, so forget that. hes afraid of the ufc because he knows every LW in ufc wants a shot at him. clay guida would kick his ass.
and does anybody know when his fight with diaz (i think it was pride 33) comes out on dvd? i have to buy that.
Gomi contrary to most of the LW has knockout power and destroyed Jens Pulver, Ishida, Kawajiri, Sakurai.
Guida got his ass kicked by Melendez, who himself got dominated by Ishida. Guida is good but doesn’t belong to the big league, he’s like Aurelio, Florian or Din Thomas. A good world class fighter, nothing more. Stevenson was only impressive against Guillard or Mishima, big fuckin deal!
So the UFC LW are so fucking overrated. Like Franklin, Sylvia and Liddell in the past. Rampage, Silva and Big Nog who were blocked at their weight class in PRIDE came to kick some ass in da UFC, and brought the truth to the mainstream fans.
Whatever Gomi isnt number 1, my ranking is:
1. BJ Penn
2. JZ.Cavalcanti
3. Hayato Sakurai
4. Gomi
5. Huerta
6. Sherk
7. Ishida
8. Melendez
9. Aoki
10.Kawajiri
The fireball kid sucks! I would put him out with my piss. He looked like an idiot against Diaz and Diaz couldn’t even hang in the UFC. Good luck following your “yellow brick road”. Maybe Fedor can give you a piggy back there. I will probably see them next on the bum fights website…