Yamamoto's upset signals a dark age for Japanese MMA

Japan was once the dominant country of Mixed Martial Arts. Its organizations and fighters, though many were foreigners, were at the top echelon of the fighting community. To describe the importance of Japan we may rely on an old adage, all roads lead to Rome' but in this case 'all MMA roads led to Japan'. Dana White even took Chuck Liddell to a Pride event in the hopes of having Liddell fight Wanderlei Silva. For a time Japan was the Rome of the mixed martial arts.

Now the times have changed. Pride is dead, Dream is dying and every significant ethnic Japanese MMA fighter keeps losing in shocking fashion. Rome has fallen and the barbarians are picking the carcass clean.

The latest incarnation of Japan's dark age is the Dream.9 Super Hulk Tournament. Besides the freak show quality of the event some meaningful fighters were on the card. Particularly featherweight standout Norifumi 'Kid' Yamamoto. However Yamamoto was beaten in shocking fashion by Joe Warren, a Greco-Roman wrestler with just one professional MMA fight under his belt.

Yamamoto was the jewel of the remaining Japanese talent. 17-1, pardon, now 17-2, Yamamoto held devastating power for a featherweight which had him on many pound-for-pound lists. While 'Kid' hadn't fought since 2007 the fact that an inexperienced fighter defeated him will be a huge blow to Yamamoto's legacy.

In Yamamoto's defense Warren may be new to MMA but he does have an excellent resume for Greco-Roman wrestling. He won a gold medal in 2006 and was ready to compete for the Olympics but was removed from the Olympic trials due to a positive test for THC.

It is not like Yamamoto is devoid of wrestling skills though. 'Kid' was in competition for the Japanese Olympic team until an injury sidelined him.

While one fight does not make a trend it is still a shocking upset for a fighter that many thought could easily rival Mike Brown and Urijah Faber.

Unfortunately this is nothing new to Japanese MMA fans. Takanori Gomi, a once highly rated lightweight, had his own free fall. In 2007 Gomi was handled easily by UFC cast off Nick Diaz thought the NSAC overturned the ruling due to a positive marijuana test. Gomi would enter into Sengoku after Pride was bought. There Gomi would suffer back-to-back defeats to Sergey Golyaev and Satoru Kitaoka.

Shinya Aoki represents another highly touted Japanese fighter that suffered a shocking defeat which cast serious doubts over his abilities. Aoki defeated Eddie Alvarez at the end of 2008 to become WAMMA lightweight champion. Many elevated Aoki to the top of the lightweight division. However Aoki recently lost in devastating fashion to Hayato Sakurai. While Sakurai may be a welterweight fighter his early knockout victory created many questions for the Aoki. 

[Note by Zak Woods, 05/26/09 3:03 PM EDT: WKR incorrectly reported that Warren competed in the 2008 Olympics.]