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1 - Shinya Aoki
2 - Kazushi Sakuraba
3 - Takanori Gomi
4 - Kid Yamamoto
5 - Genki Sudo
6 - Hayato Sakurai
7 - Satoru Kitaoka
8 - Masakatsu Funaki
9 - Kyoji Horiguchi
10 - Caol Uno
Top 10 - Greatest Japanese Fighters in MMA
- Thread starter NandoMoura
- Start date
1 - Shinya Aoki
2 - Kazushi Sakuraba
3 - Takanori Gomi
4 - Kid Yamamoto
5 - Genki Sudo
6 - Hayato Sakurai
7 - Satoru Kitaoka
8 - Masakatsu Funaki
9 - Kyoji Horiguchi
10 - Caol Uno
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Saku , Minowa and Funaki
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Sakuraba has to be #1 otherwise list is a sham.
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Lol At that pic
1 - Shinya Aoki
2 - Kazushi Sakuraba
3 - Takanori Gomi
4 - Kid Yamamoto
5 - Genki Sudo
6 - Hayato Sakurai
7 - Satoru Kitaoka
8 - Masakatsu Funaki
9 - Kyoji Horiguchi
10 - Caol Uno
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4 SURE secondedSaku is #1 for sure IMO.
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If Saku isn't number one then the list is number one bullshit imho.
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No Yushin Okami love?
Are he and Uno the only to have fought for UFC belts?
Are he and Uno the only to have fought for UFC belts?
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no Kondo vs Tito and Mach vs Hughes
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Also Horiguchi-DJ and Yamamoto-Miletich.
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Kazuo Misaki has a pretty great win agaisnt Henderson (MW GP Champion), another competitive match agaisnt him, starched Akyiama, won agaisnt Phil Baroni, Patino, Daley, Nakamura, Shoji, Herman. Won the MW GP as a replacement agaisnt Kang... Besides Sakuraba and Aoki, he has the greatest wins of this guys.
And he could have be a WW if he cutted weight.
And he could have be a WW if he cutted weight.
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No love for Sexyama?
Isn’t he Korean ? I might be wrong ..
Yea sakuraba is for sure number one, heck you can make the argument sakurai and Goni are ahead of aoki
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My problem with the japanese is they fucked up a pretty good generation, putting guys like NAKAMURA who could be a awesome MW agaisnt top killer from the get go, guy have not time to learn the game and still had great wins and great battles. Nakamura would stack very well agaisnt UFC MW division of the time, but he was pinned with LHW monsters with zero aclimatazing... SAKURABA was already epic and won impressive matches at higher weights, could be spared of being a sacrificial lamb and be put to fight at MW or WW and actually have a shot of wining shit and not getting his shit pushed all the time.
And Japan bigest talents were lazy motherfuckers such a pity that Gomi and Sakurai were as lazy as they get, sailing by talent alone during their careers... Sakuraba with a proper conditioning training would be fucking scary.
Nakamura could be at least top 5 MW at the time. UFC title challengers at the time were Loiseau, Quarry, Tanner... Champion was Franklin.
Misaki and Sakuraba at least top 5 WW at the time. UFC title challengers at the time were Young GSP, Riggs, Trigg, Penn... Champion was Hughes.
And Japan bigest talents were lazy motherfuckers such a pity that Gomi and Sakurai were as lazy as they get, sailing by talent alone during their careers... Sakuraba with a proper conditioning training would be fucking scary.
Nakamura could be at least top 5 MW at the time. UFC title challengers at the time were Loiseau, Quarry, Tanner... Champion was Franklin.
Misaki and Sakuraba at least top 5 WW at the time. UFC title challengers at the time were Young GSP, Riggs, Trigg, Penn... Champion was Hughes.
Last edited:
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1 - Shinya Aoki
2 - Kazushi Sakuraba
3 - Takanori Gomi
4 - Kid Yamamoto
5 - Genki Sudo
6 - Hayato Sakurai
7 - Satoru Kitaoka
8 - Masakatsu Funaki
9 - Kyoji Horiguchi
10 - Caol Uno
Okami has to find a place on this list.... Also, and I know I’ll the Saku supporters will want to tar and feather me... But Both Gomi and Aoki probably achieved more in a deeper more talented division.. And it’s not that I don’t love me some Saku.. I just think guys that are able to be argued as some of the best LW’s of all time, and the talent they faced and beat over their careers, put them just a fraction above Saku... In my humble opinion.. He’s definitely top-3, no doubt... Just think it can be argued... He definitely gets bonus points for fighting at HW when he could have made 185lbs / 183lbs with no problem... Guys a straight Legend and a killer.. Gods don’t make them any tougher then Saku.
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Aoki is below top 5..
Sakuraba is No1, Gomi is No2
Sakuraba is No1, Gomi is No2
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1. Saku
- IMO the most talented fighter to ever come out of Japan. His natural weight class by today's standards would be WW. He fought LHWs and HWs for the vast majority of his career. He would've easily handled Hughes, Miletich, Trigg & Lawler. I would personally favor him vs GSP as well. Thats the top WWs of his prime.
2. Gomi
- Possibly the most "decorated" fighter out of Japan. His 2004-2005 was the best streak of any LW in history. He had insane natural gifts and one can only imagine his peak had he truly took training seriously and evolved.
3. Kyoji Horiguchi
- Was hard to place him above his mentor Kid, but he surpassed him terms of accomplishments. Kyoji is extremely young and has a long career ahead of him. That being said he has already accomplished a ton and has shown an elite level of athleticism and technique. He isn't smashing cans either and would easily be a top 3 FlyW in the UFC right now.
4. Kid
- Easily the most naturally gifted fighter in BW/FlyW history and possibly out of any weight class. He never met his full potential due to injuries and taking a long break from MMA to pursue a medal for wrestling in the 2008 Olympics.
5. Hayato Sakurai
- Similar to Gomi in terms of just needing to train harder and more disciplined. Even so he was an elite WW and has some insane wins on is record.
The 5 above are the best by a large margin. Aoki, Fujita, Misaki, Funaki & Yoshida can fill out the list in any order.
- IMO the most talented fighter to ever come out of Japan. His natural weight class by today's standards would be WW. He fought LHWs and HWs for the vast majority of his career. He would've easily handled Hughes, Miletich, Trigg & Lawler. I would personally favor him vs GSP as well. Thats the top WWs of his prime.
2. Gomi
- Possibly the most "decorated" fighter out of Japan. His 2004-2005 was the best streak of any LW in history. He had insane natural gifts and one can only imagine his peak had he truly took training seriously and evolved.
3. Kyoji Horiguchi
- Was hard to place him above his mentor Kid, but he surpassed him terms of accomplishments. Kyoji is extremely young and has a long career ahead of him. That being said he has already accomplished a ton and has shown an elite level of athleticism and technique. He isn't smashing cans either and would easily be a top 3 FlyW in the UFC right now.
4. Kid
- Easily the most naturally gifted fighter in BW/FlyW history and possibly out of any weight class. He never met his full potential due to injuries and taking a long break from MMA to pursue a medal for wrestling in the 2008 Olympics.
5. Hayato Sakurai
- Similar to Gomi in terms of just needing to train harder and more disciplined. Even so he was an elite WW and has some insane wins on is record.
The 5 above are the best by a large margin. Aoki, Fujita, Misaki, Funaki & Yoshida can fill out the list in any order.
