Japanese Judo master Satoshi Ishii, who has decided to throw his talents into the MMA arena, recently commented on his desire to fight for the UFC. Ishii won the Olympic gold medal in Beijing for heavyweight judo and is planning on training for MMA with American Top Team. Current UFC President Dana White has invited Ishii to attend UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 to witness four top-ranked light heavyweights in action--an invitation Ishii has reportedly accepted. White has invited several Japanese MMA stars to UFC events in the past including Takanori Gomi and Mach Sakurai but so far hasn't been able to sign many top Japanese fighters, such as luminaries Kid Yamamoto, Yoshi Akiyama, Shinya Aoki, Fujita, Minowa, and Kaz Sakuraba. Genki Sudo, Mach Sakurai, Caol Uno, Yushin Okami, and some other Japanese fighters have made the trek to the West with varying results.
So would he compete at LHW or HW I wonder? the 3 japanese fighters I'd love to see in the UFC are Mach Sakurai Takanori Gomi Shinya Aoki And I'd love to see Sakuraba just once in the UFC as a sign of respect to the legend that he is.
Ishii was in attendance for the event. Dana White has encouraged him to start training at Xtreme Couture and expects him to fight at light heavyweight. Ishii is reportedly in exclusive contract negotiations with the UFC. There is a rumour that he will be the headliner for an upcoming UFC event in Japan--or at least that is the plan.
