Bummer of the Day: Satoshi Ishii won't be coming to MMA anytime soon after all. The 21-year-old...

Bummer of the Day: Satoshi Ishii won't be coming to MMA anytime soon after all. The 21-year-old judoka announced today that he intends to focus on graduating from Kokushikan University before pursuing a career in mixed martial arts sometime the future.

Comments

Well damn.

Akiyama-Yoshida on NYE anyone?

by Tonley on Oct 7, 2008 12:54 PM EDT reply actions

Of course assuming WVR and FEG can work something out.

by Tonley on Oct 7, 2008 12:54 PM EDT up reply actions

Let’s hope so. WVR seems to be a little further ahead in planning their Jan.4 show than FEG is with their Dynamite!! card. Come to think of it, they haven’t even announced anything for DREAM.7 yet. :(

by Chris Nelson on Oct 7, 2008 1:13 PM EDT up reply actions

He is 21… how long until he graduates?

by smoogy on Oct 7, 2008 1:21 PM EDT reply actions

Just found out – he is supposed to graduate in March.

by Chris Nelson on Oct 8, 2008 9:33 AM EDT up reply actions

He must have watched some of Fedor’s fights and figured calling him out was a bad move. I don’t blame him… it would have sucked to start off 2009 eating through a straw.

by gremlin1496 on Oct 7, 2008 2:00 PM EDT reply actions

Mehhh!!

edguctshun is ovureated.

"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"

by BJJDenver on Oct 7, 2008 2:17 PM EDT reply actions

Despite his indecision, several sources familiar with the judoka have said that he has already made up his mind to quit. The judo federation has already said it intends to drop Ishii from its plans in preparation for the 2012 London Games.

Source

While it’s not set in stone it does look like he’ll be pursuing a MMA career full-time.

I’m pretty excited about this guy’s potential. His background will obviously lead him to a submission-oriented gameplan, but of course it won’t be enough. As soon as he starts training he’ll have to work on his striking maybe 80% of the time, excluding general conditioning. Meanwhile he’ll probably take a few fights against cans to get used to the ring/cage. It would take at least a few years before he’s ready to face top 10 competition.

by Flying Gogoplata on Oct 8, 2008 5:09 AM EDT reply actions