Great and Obscure Strikers #1: Mamoru Yamaguchi
It is no secret around here that I have a great affinity for strikers, particularly those who can make wrestlers think twice about spamming takedown attempts. There is an embarrassment of riches in terms of talented strikers now entering the sport of MMA, simply because of the declining state of kickboxing and the growing purses and exposure of Mixed Martial Arts competition. My fondness of Japanese MMA stems from my fandom in the PRIDE FC days, and my taking up wrestling and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Tokyo while over there training my striking, and I have made sure to keep up to date with the current crop of talent working it's way through Shooto in hopes of DREAM FC returning to the form PRIDE FC was on. For the die hard fans of JMMA this list will provide nothing new, but those who are perhaps only familiar with the major U.S. promotions, this will provide an interesting little guide to some of the more entertaining fighters Asia has to offer.
Mamoru "The Fro" Yamaguchi
One of the premier names in the flyweight (125 lbs) division for the last five years, a Shooto champion and one of the most dynamic fighters in Japanese MMA. Mamoru Yamaguchi fights in Thai style shorts and is responsible for more dropped or KOd opponents in Shooto's oversized (5 oz.) gloves than anyone at 125lbs.The first time I saw Yamaguchi fight I realised two things; the first was that the Japanese can grow afros - quite impressive ones at that, and the second was that in the 125 pound division, which is so little heard about due to lack of explosive finishes or big names, KOs can happen. I happened to discover Yamaguchi through his fight in Shooto with Stonnie Dennis, which Yamaguchi finished by establishing the Thai clinch on Dennis' neck, pushing him into the ropes, and knocking him out cold with a beautiful head kick.

Yamaguchi's hands are as fast an furious as you'd expect from a flyweight fighter, and his kicks are heavy, but what is most interesting about Yamaguchi to die hard fans is that he, just as Anderson Silva has done, has negated the majority of his opponent's takedown attempts through mastery of the clinch from a striking perspective. Watch his destruction of Frank Baca as the latter struggles to gain underhooks on the smaller, craftier Yamaguchi.

Much of Yamaguchi's success from a technical perspective is not from his superior fighting at range, but rather in his ability to fight out of the clinch.
Continues at http://www.headkicklegend.com/2012/1/27/2752523/great-and-obscure-strikers-1-mamoru-yamaguchi#
Jack Slack now blogs at his brand new website www.fightsgoneby.com
He can also be found on Twitter @JackSlackMMA
The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.
13 comments
|
7 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Such a shame that his greatest moments weren't in front of a larger audience
Dude is so bad ass.
"Now you see that evil will always triumph, because good is dumb."
Daniel James Miller Foundation - Please donate, every penny helps.
Ah well... UFC is getting flyweights soon
And unlike Gomi and Kid Yamamoto he is not washed up and hasn’t been out for 2 years with injury.
The bigger shame may be...
…Mamoru’s unfortunate tendency of giving up his back, and then hoping for his best. Against less talented grapplers he gets away with it, however, as displayed overtly in his recent fight with Formiga, this hole in his game can end up costing him severely.
One of my favorite things about Mamoru’s striking is that he’s capable of throwing super fast kicks, without telegraphing or doing a large wind up. His head kicks are especially impressive, especially the fact that he can throw lead leg headkicks, almost instantly without setting up a stance switch first. The Dennis KO above is a nice example as is his blazing fast kick KO of Kitahara from the end of 2010:
Youtube – Yamaguchi v Kitahara
And now that I followed the link
I know that Jack already hit on the Kitahara KO. Well done, Jack. Lead lead headkicks make me warm and fuzzy inside.
Also
I’ve got a lot of love for Mamoru, and have been looking for a t-shirt (or even a good picture of the design from it) that he used to wear, that was something of a Skull and Crossbones with an Afro. If anyone has any idea where I could find one of these, or even a good picture of one of these, I would be HUGELY appreciative.
i love how somebody suggested u use a dot com, and you have one now.
You’re articles are awesome btw.
GreenHouse
Fave 3 fighters: BJ Penn, Rashad Evans, Frank Mir
Proudly Supportin the fighters you Love to Hate.
Great piece! Didn't know much about Yamaguchi other than the Dennis KO.
I watched a few of his fights. Great striker, those lead head kicks and those knees are great. I also like the fact that he goes to the body quite a bit in his boxing combinations.
BECW season 2 member of the Intellegent Northern English Picking Team.
Draft number: 72.
by Sweet Scientist on Jan 28, 2012 7:54 AM EST reply actions
The illist afro in Asia!
Yamaguchi is on so many levels an absolute boss. I do wish he would get with a better camp to work on his grappling, but his striking is the absolute best out there at flyweight.
i dont know about that.
Dodson is a very creative and effective striker. Rambaa Somdet (who I think will return to flyweight to fight in the ufc) is a fiery Nak muay as well.
"God loves violence... Why else would there be so much of it? It's in us. It's what we are. We wage war, we burn sacrifices, and pillage and plunder and tear at the flesh of our brothers. And why? Because God gave us violence to wage in his honor... There's no moral order at all. There's just this: can my violence conquer yours?"
- Warden of Ashecliffe Hospital
by ElliotMatheny on Jan 28, 2012 2:17 PM EST up reply actions
He's definitely more suited for 115,
but has the skill to make up for it at flyweight IMO.
"God loves violence... Why else would there be so much of it? It's in us. It's what we are. We wage war, we burn sacrifices, and pillage and plunder and tear at the flesh of our brothers. And why? Because God gave us violence to wage in his honor... There's no moral order at all. There's just this: can my violence conquer yours?"
- Warden of Ashecliffe Hospital
by ElliotMatheny on Jan 30, 2012 4:54 AM EST up reply actions
The clinch is Yamaguchi’s best weapon, but he sometimes gives up his back blatantly, like for ex. against Formiga, which cost him the fight.
I love the guy though. Really creative and vicious.
by Carlos Estrada-Ibars Martínez on Jan 28, 2012 2:49 PM EST reply actions

by 














