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Last year, one of the bigger stories that broke was the announcement that 2008 Beijing Olympic Judo gold medalist Satoshi Ishiiwould enter the sport of mixed martial arts. Following a lengthy courtship by promotions such as DREAM, Sengoku, the UFC, and the now-defunct Affliction, Ishii was leaning toward the UFC at the final hour in 2008. In dramatic fashion, news broke on January 1st of 2009 that Ishii had, in fact, signed with Sengoku instead.

During his courtship and following his signing, Ishii was training with some of the most famous training camps in all of MMA in order to fast track his way into the ring and become a success instantly. He had trained at Xtreme Couture, American Top Team, Lyoto Machida, Fedor Emelianenko, and Gegard Mousasi. It's safe to say that he's been given ample opportunities to increase his level of skill in a short amount of time, but the transition from a judoka who never gets hit in competition to a judoka who uses his skills to submit and punish opponents while being hit is a tough undertaking for any combat sports athlete.

Ishii was scheduled to make his MMA debut on August 2nd, but the fight was strangely postponed to November 7th due to a minor surgery involving a "hernia-related" injury. Interestingly enough, Ishii was at a press conference two days earlier talking about his debut fight, and suddenly the carpet was dragged out from under him with the postponement. Most fans and writers believe Sengoku pulled the plug due to training problems, not enough interest from fans, or his choice of opponents were unsatisfying.

What was the real deal? We'll never know, but it's safe to say that such a coveted signing by WVR has to win and be successful. If he had some sort of deficiencies in training, an injury, or an easier opponent wasn't being offered, it's pretty clear to see why the fight would be pushed back. With Ishii's debut coming in November, there are now some interesting rumors circulating involving potential future opponents that could draw some solid ratings in Japan.

According to Tokyo Sports newspaper (Nightmare of Battle), 2008 Beijing Olympics Judo Bronze medalist Teddy Riner is seeking to battle Ishii, on the judo mat or the MMA ring. Riner won the 2007 European Championships and the 2007 & 2009 World Championships on top of his bronze at Beijing. He won the bronze medal at only 19 years of age. He's also over 6 feet 8 inches tall, a heavyweight, and a judoka. Yeah... imagine that in the ring.

In Beijing, a dream final between him and Satoshi Ishii was hyped beforehand but Riner lost a close match in the quarterfinals. He did go on to win bronze however.

When Ishii was brought up in the Tokyo Sports interview Riner suddenly had a serious look on his face. "I want to fight him again". About punches, Riner says no problem. He got into a lot of fights in his childhood.

Ishii was happy to hear this. "I love Riner. When he came to Japan and was asked if Kosei Inoue is his rival, he said "my rival is Satoshi Ishii". I want to say thanks to him."

What Riner means with wanting to fight Ishii again above (I don’t think they’ve faced each other in an official match yet) is that when the French team visited Japan they went to Kokushikan University’s dojo (Ishii’s university) where Ishii and Riner had practice matches many times over.

"Tell him that I’ll be waiting in the MMA ring." – Ishii

These guys are either going to throw down in 2012 at the Olympics, or Sengoku is going to court Riner into a MMA bout that could actually feed off the rivalry and hype that was evident at the 2008 Beijing Olympics between the two judokas. It's a far-fetched scheme for Sengoku to chase, but there aren't exactly a plethora of low-level heavyweights in their own ranks to take on Ishii. They certainly won't be using Antonio Silva or Josh Barnett any time soon to take on Ishii, and this may be the perfect opportunity for WVR to capitalize on a 2008 judo bout that never happened.