Yushin Okami cut.

welkin

Fairly bloody weird decision.

The guy won 3 in a row and lost to a probably top 3 MW in the world in his home country in Brazil.

Another Dana White "Knock people out or you're cut" decision like Fitch but I think okami can feel far harder done by than Fitch.

He's been in the UFC 7 years and he always seemed like a genuine honest fighter.

Dana White is poison imo.

Tubbs4

This was in the general mma chat.
He was an good fighter but rarely heard anyone excited for his upcoming fights.
If he does well he might be back but no point paying huge money to a fighter hardly anyone wants to see.

riffmongous

It's not really too surprising though when you think about it though, the UFC is all about money and Okami's fighting style and personality doesn't bring enough in. It's a real pity the UFC is the number one mma org, these sort of decisions are really going to influence the future of mma

Mellor

He's a huge star in Japan. I wouldn't be surprised if he was offered a hefty contract else where and UFC weren't willing to match.

El Guapo!

This is the answer Dana gave when he was asked to explain the decision to cut Okami.....

"He's been with us forever," White said of Okami, who first fought in the UFC in 2006. "He was always a tough guy and was right up there, but it's almost like he'd become a gatekeeper. I like Okami, and you've heard me say this many times, that a win over Yushin Okami meant something

"But he was never able to get over the hump and win one of those [significant] fights. We have a lot of guys coming in and I've been saying this all year: We have a full roster and there are guys who deserve opportunities. When you bring guys in, someone has to go. That's why these fights are so meaningful."

So basically, according to Dana, he was cut for being a gatekeeper and nothing more.
There has to be more to it than that. If fighters got cut for being a gatekeeper then there'd be a lot more guys getting the chop.

welkin

Mellor wrote: »

He's a huge star in Japan. I wouldn't be surprised if he was offered a hefty contract else where and UFC weren't willing to match.

With who?

Mellor

welkin wrote: »

With who?

Well Dream is struggling by all acounts, so the only real contender is ONE FC. They're easily the most powerful MMA promotion in Asia, who also have a supposedly bottomless budget.
They're slowly growing all the time, currently they have champions in the BW, FW and LW division, they are holding their inaugural WW championship soon, and I imagine a MW division might follow. Okami would be a massive addition to the roster.

Complete speculation by me, if they haven't made him an offer, they should now.

welkin

hEARD he's in talks with WSOF

Chewabacca

With the UFC saying they wanted to expand the asian market it's a very strange cut.

Also, wins over Marquardt, Lombard and belcher are pretty damn good for a 'gatekeeper'.

Guy was arguably top 5 in the division and despite what people say he is not getting paid that much. 42k to show as far as I know. To put it in perspective, Chris Leben, who's completely irrelevant and who nobody really cares about anymore, gets 51k to show. Jon Fitch got 60k to show in his last few fights.

Very bizarre cut by the UFC. All uncle Dana wants is blood and sloppy brawls. His post fight comments on TUF proves this, has no respect for proper technique and has a very very basic understanding of the sport. Despite Okami being boring he did pose serious problems for almost everyone in the division and has some dominant wins over great fighters.

Xlami

Can anyone else thinnk of a promoter with a bias against 'boring' fighters?

welkin

Xlami wrote: »

Can anyone else thinnk of a promoter with a bias against 'boring' fighters?

Not Floyd Mayweather's promoter anyway.

Big Ears

welkin wrote: »

Not Floyd Mayweather's promoter anyway.

Mayweather promotions ?......funny that !














I'd also like to state that I don't find Mayweather boring, and enjoy watching him display his craft and skill. Although I realise it's not for everyone