Top middleweight contender Yushin Okami (21-4-1) will return to action against Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist Dean Lister (11-5) at UFC 92 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 27, according to MMAWeekly.com.
Okami was the frontrunner to challenge 185-pound stalwart Anderson Silva for his division title before he revealed a hand injury would keep him out of action in the near term. Patrick Cote then slid into his spot and will now take on “The Spider” at UFC 90: “Silva vs. Cote” on October 25.
“Thunder” — who holds a controversial win over Silva under the Rumble on the Rock banner — has won six of seven fights inside the Octagon. His lone loss was to former champion Rich Franklin back at UFC 72: “Victory” in June 2007.
He is on a two-fight win streak since the defeat and most recently scored a knockout of the late Evan Tanner at UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion” back in March.
Lister — the 2003 Abu Dhabu Combat Club (ADCC) Absolute Division Champion — is also in the midst of back-to-back wins, submitting the crafty Jeremy Horn with a guillotine choke at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 7 Finale back in June.
“The Boogeyman” recently returned from a trip to Croatia, during which he helped prepare Mirko Cro Cop for his fight with Alistair Overeem. He is highly regarded jiu-jitsu champion who services are always in demand.
He’ll have his work cut out for him on New Year’s Eve weekend — Okami has never been submitted in his professional career. And he is among the stronger competitors in the division, boasting his own slick submission skills and a powerful ground and pound approach.
The report indicates that the match up will air on the televised portion of the pay-per-view (PPV) telecast, which also features the heavyweight showdown between interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira and Frank Mir.
To check out the latest UFC 92 fight card and rumors click here.
38 Comments »
Good, I hope to see Lister get a win against a big name.
yea me too, dean lister is a good guy… I think OKami may be too much for him though…
Okami wins this fight hands down.
yeah for real whats he gonna come in at -1000? i rarely dont think a fighter has a chance at all, but i dont think lister could beat okami 1 out of 50 times
not that i’m a big fan of okami or anything but he’s been screwed big time here, there was talk of him getting a title shot before he got injured now if he ever does get 1 it’s gonna be quite a while, 1st there’s cote, then if bisping beats leben he will likely fight hendo for the number 1 contender. The only way i see him getting a shot anytime soon, if bisping beats leben, is if silva says he doesn’t want to wait around untill TUF has finished and they give him a shot then
YAWN!!! This fight just BORES me! Dean Lister is on eof my least favorite fighters in mma, and Okami doesnt have an exciting bone in his body.
Japanese dudes are close to impossible to submit, so eventually Okami will ground n pound away to a win, especially since the boogyman lacks toughness!
More appropriate fight would be:
Lister vs. J-mac! 2 talented guys that lack toughness
this fight has bore of the night written all over it
zzzzzzzzzzz
I actually train at Dean Listers gym here in san diego… I hope I see him in the weight room often, hes going to need it against the HUGE Okami!
i dont see how you can say hands down…..okami has nasty ground n pound … but thats where lister wants to be so okami will play right into listers game…..but only way lister wins is by submission …… and okami wins tko or unam.dec.
Unbelievable, you would think yushin’s last name was Machida. He should just bail and find a contract with a ton of cash over at affliction or something. He’s never gonna get a title shot.
Wouldn’t count on it. I’d say this is just to keep Okami active so he stays next in line for a title shot.
Nice speculation!
this should be a great fight, i think lister can submit anybody in the middleweight division. This would be a huge win for lister and would move him up into title contention i am glad this fight is on the main card and not the undercard
great fight but i think okami will knock him out
No way, Okami’s not a finisher, but I think Lister is gonna get out worked and out muscled in this fight.
He’ll lose to a decision.
Just like he didn’t finish Tanner!!! Wow your smart
Okami all day.
good to see okami get screwed out of a better fight. i think okami deserved a hendo or maia fight. why lister? they may as well let okami fight grove or sadollah then.
this is a set up for failure.
Fighting Hendo will not be good for Okami and same goes for him fighting Maia. In a way, fightin Lister is like fighting Maia, grappling-wise. Otherwise, Lister is a whole different story from Maia. In any case, Lister has a “grappler’s chance”…
Okami lost his title shot with a hand injury. Now he’s going to beat The Human Sedative known as Lister, then get next crack at Silva.
Hehe, I like that. “Human Sedative”…
good to see okami get screwed out of a better fight. i think okami deserved a hendo or maia fight. why lister? they may as well let okami fight grove or sadollah then.
this is a set up for failure.
I think they (the UFC) know he got screwed cause he was going to get a title shot. Hendo or Maia would have been a much harder fight. Now he beats Lister, gets a title shot, everyones happy.
Yeah I’ll go ahead and say that i think Okami is going to win a decision. he will have to keep it on the feet. I realy wanted to see Racardo Almieda vs Dean Lister. There would be some technical ground fighting in that fight.
Aww mania, why take my post down? It ain’t offensive in any way…I’ve seen posts here with the N word, and you ain’t doin’ anythin’ about it, so wattadilly?
Poor Lister. He is a good guy, but Okami is top tier.
Okami could have some “ring rust” in this one, I say Lister by RNC
i want to see maia vs. lister
Maia has the best Jujitsu in the UFC MW division.
easy fight for Okami. i’m going to get some great fantasy points from this one.
Where could we play fantasy UFC?
It’s time for Dean to take his training seriously, run a couple of marathons so that he can go for submissions all night long!
There you go Edgar vs Maynard kind of fight !!
Lister via N/D.
OKAMI for the WIN via TKO hopefully not a decision, but i agree he got screwed , hopefully he gets a title shot after he beats Lister. i do agree he has been a tad bit boring in some fights but he gets the job done.
OKAMI FTW
I wouldn`t give a squirt of piss to see lister and okami fight Dean lister is the most boring fighter I have ever seen.
If u think that Machida is boring and Rashad is a deserving champion and exciting then something is wrong. I agree Rashad is the NO. 1 contender he has beaten Liddell by ko-punch, Bonnar by dec.-un, Bisping by dec-sp, Salomon by kick, Lambert by G&P,Hogar by boring ass dec, Hector Ramirez before he fought in the UFC and had a draw against Tito but he is way to boring to watch. Just before 2007 he was being criticized for being boring and not finishing fights he was almost like the TUF 2 version of Koscheck @ 205, he has improved a lil bit since then but has a lot to improve to become an elite LHW. He is a deacent fighter but does not match Machida in skill, just look at what Machida did to Tito and and what did Rashad do, he just moved around and did the chicken run and got away with a draw. I just don’ t see Evans beating Machida, if Tito and Soku coulden t do it hows Rashad gonna do it only if he pulls some lucky trick but i doubt it. I honestly think it should be like this: Mir and Nog fight for the interim, then have Wanderlei fight against someone like Vera or even Gouveia if he goes back up to 205 where he belongs, then have Rampage go up against either Shogun/Franklin or have Rich Franklin fight Bonnar that can be a match up of its own. Then have Okami go agaist Hendo i think it would be a better match up for now than lister, have Lister fight against Pallahares they have both a good ground game. For the premli. they could have Thomas Dwarl vs. Tim Boestch and Houston Alexander vs. Andy Resse?( The guy that lost to Brandon Vera at UFC FN 14 in july the wrestler, don’t remember his name.)
So:
Frank Mir vs. Antonio Minotauro Nogueira for the Int. Heavyweight
Forest Griffin vs. Rashad Eans For Lighheavyweight title
Wanderlei Silva vs. Brandon Vera(granted he wins his next fight)
Quinton Rampage Jackson vs. Shogun Rua
Rich Franklin vs. Stephan Bonnar
Yushin Okami vs. Dan Henderson
Dean Lister vs. Palahares
CB Dollway vs. Jorge Rivera and add a mega fight at 155 Nate Diaz vs. Clay Guida or Spencer Fisher
add 1 more big fight at 185 Nate Quarry vs. Alessio Sekara
For the preml.
Thomas Dwarl vs. Houston Alexander
Tim Boestch vs. Resse or Eric Schafer
I think that would close the year in style, i also think that the UFC should bring back Vitor Belfort and Babalu at 205, both of those guys are missing in the UFC right now and would help make the 205 division even more stacked, they are two of the best Brazilian fighters out there and legends in the sport.
“Big Bear is not a champion, Big Bear is a mountain” Vitor Belfort in the pre-fight talk against Tito Ortiz