A Big Day For Judo

Recently, the UFC announced the signings of two of the greatest judo practitioners in MMA. In fact, they probably run #2 and 4 in the sport.

Both PRIDE fighting star Kazuhiro Nakamura (considered a top ten lightheavyweight in many circles, #2) and lightweight Michihiro Omigawa (sports a decieving 4-3 pro record, with very good judo and two very impressive recent performances in Japan's DEEP organization, #4) were announced as members of the UFC roster a little while ago.

I've been behind on my writing for a little while now, but I found that the UFC has announced both Nakamura and Omigawa are set to appear on the UFC's 76 card.

While I have alot of issues with this card (the fact that Jardine and Griffin are getting way more publicity than they are due and are matched up with two of the most dangerous fighters in the world when they don't deserve to be has been bugging me for a little while now), the UFC's announcement has made this card much more exciting for me.

Judo fighters are fun to watch. Though, for some reason, alot of the new UFC fans have been booing foreign fighters and fighters from the PRIDE organization, I think that guys like Nakamura add a new level of depth in the UFC.

I like to talk about Nakamura much more than Omigawa mostly because Nakamura is a much more well established fighter in mixed martial arts. He has had an impressive performance (though a loss) against former UFC champion Josh Barnett (Barnett is a weight class above Nakamura), he took the worlds #1 lightheavyweight Mauricio "Shogun" Rua 20 minutes to a decision, he's only been stopped by former PRIDE 205 pound champion Wanderlei Silva and current champion "Dangerous" Dan Henderson and he lost a very close decision to Jiu-jitsu legend Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (little brother to former heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo).

Nakamura is a fighter of epic proportions in the UFC. While many think that he is just a judoka, I, personally, resent the term.

People will rank Nakamura #9 or 10 in the world pretty regularly, but when I look at the numbers I have to rank him higher than UFC champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and, as a result, Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Rashad Evans and the rest of the pack in the UFC's 205 pound division.

I think that the real top 5, statistically speaking at 205, belongs to Shogun, Henderson, W. Silva, Sokoudjou and Jackson. However, I put Nakamura in the 6 spot.

Getting Nakamura is good news for everybody, especially Zuffa. Now Zuffa has half of the majority of the world's top ten, between Nakamura, Rua, Jackson, Liddell and Evans/Ortiz (whoever you believe should be in the 10 spot).

Personally, I like the arrangement that they have right now, though I'm still hoping for the likes of one Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (aka "The African Assassin") to grace the octagon.

Still, for the time being, this 205 pound weight class looks absolutely stacked.