isn't this pretty much a repeat of maggie's article last week? the only update to the info provided is the sengoku results from an entirely different japanese judo star than the one the headline provides. maybe the article should've been about yoshida's recent weight change and whether it was good for him considering his one-sided loss.....then maybe you could've touched on Ishii as a sidenote? just my opinion, i'm no journalist

So he is a judo gold medalist. What future does he have as an athlete than to either teach Judo or keep competing in the Olympics? Can he throw a punch?? A kick? There is so much more that goes into it. Just because he is a gold medalist in Judo to me doesn't qualify the sport of MMA as legit or not. Nor does it quality him. He could more likely be another guy that will get people on the ground and then bore us to death with lameness..

Come on, anybody with any credibility comes to MMA from some discipline. That hardly precludes their ability to develop. Judo excellence definitely 'qualifies' a master for MMA training. Don't think automatic inclusion as a 'contender' is on the table here.

well said IDGAD, i think people tend to forget or never knew that BJJ came from judo, which came from jujutsu....and surely the world is convinced that bjj is legit by now, so what gives with judo?

it's ignorant to think his skills will not translate given the proper training, but at the same time one would have to assume his only motivation for coming to the UFC would be to fight against better competition since he'd most likely make more money fighting for DREAM....having said that, he might get thumped early on due to his lack of experience and get booted from the UFC before we get the chance to see him really develop as a fighter...all because he's used to top level competition and has the pride to keep himself there, as well as the UFC needing to win the battle for japan's future stars.

He has all of the qualities to become the next Fedor of the UFC. As someone else said, BJJ is derived from Judo. The only differences is that BJJ focuses on the ground, while Judo focuses on throws and Japanese discipline. Regardless Judo uses all of the same submissions and chokes that we are used to seeing in BJJ.
One could possibly say that Judo is superior. Royce Gracie was recently choked out by a judo master, Yokishira.

So what if judo is derived from BJJ.. Can he throw a proper punch?? can he move on his feet to avoid getting punched in the mouth?? You guys should know by now, there are guys like Page and Evans that make these one dimensional guys look pedestrian.. So what if he can throw you?? Then what?? It takes at least 4 years in a gym to become proficient on your feet as a striker. Not to mention clinches and Muay Thai.. This is my prob with MMA. I saw 20 guys in the NFL playoffs today that would give Lesnar a better fight than Couture did.. You see your sport as fully developed and full of well rounded fighters, where i see a lot of holes.. Evans and Page have proved my point.. Someone go wake up Chuck and Wandy..

And so what if Royce Gracie was choked out by anyone.. Time marches on. He was great back in his day, but now he is a legend that needs to sit on the sidelines.. I dont see Jerry Rice going over the middle to catch any balls. Just as I dont need to sse R. Gracie fight anyone. Times they are a changing.. Lesnar is your HW champ and you have to reconcile this with a pro record of 4 fights?? LMAO.... Jake Long would probably kick his a$$ in the street..

So dubya. why isnt yokishira in the ufc???/

Cofield, you realize that K-1 and DREAM are owned by the same parent, right?
Ishii won't be doing any kickboxing anytime soon.

This one is a big head-scratcher to me. I've wanted to see Ishii try his hand at MMA from the 1st time I saw him in the Japan National Judo Championships a few years back. But I always envisioned him fighting in Japan where being an Olympic Champion wrestler or judoka carries a lot of respect; or just being a Olympic-level wrestler or judoka who is Japanese carries a lot of star-power. But the UFC signing him? When was the last time the UFC signed someone who has never ever had a MMA fight, amateur or pro? I know that Lesnar only had 1 MMA fight prior to being signed, but Lesnar also had the aforementioned star-power in the US that makes him a big draw and obviously benefits the UFC financially. Did the average American MMA fan even know who Ishii was before he was signed?
Sure, this is an attempt to draw in more Japanese fans to the UFC, but what about it risking the UFC's credibility of being the only major "legit" MMA brand out there? The constant argument that the UFC used against Pride and now against Dream/Dynamite is that the Japanese MMA companies have too many gimmic matches involving pro wrestlers, actors, and other unproven/not-legitimate fighters; matches held for the pure purpose of attracting new viewers. Now the UFC is doing the exact same thing.
Does Ishii have potential? Hell yeah. Anyone who has the athleticism and drive to be an Olympic Champ in a combat sport, and is still in their early 20's, clearly does. However, will we get to see him live up to that potential before he losses 2-3 times against experienced and proven UFC competition and gets sent back to Japan? I doubt it. Unlike Lesnar who did MMA style training for a few years before fighting, Ishii is still currently practicing only Judo because his college scholarship dictates that that's all he can do until he graduates in March.
This move benfits no one. I respect Ishii for wanting to fight against better HW competition than Japan can provide. The UFC obviously has the right to try to expand their market. But Ishii would benefit from starting with lower-level competition and working his way up like everyone else. And the UFC would attract far more Japanese fans by bringing Ishii in only after he has built up his fan-base in his home country by fighting and beating pro MMA competition.