Yushin Okami, the last man to defeat the great Anderson Silva, could he possibly the next? The thought brings chills to any MMA fan’s spine. The thought of Anderson Silva not being the UFC’s Middleweight Champion is as strange as it was to think of B.J. Penn not being the UFC Lightweight Champion.
Okami, since he beat Silva via disqualification in 2006 under the Rumble on the Rock promotion, has beaten Mike Swick, Mark Muñoz and Nate Marquardt. Okami also dropped fights to Jake Shields, Rich Franklin and Chael Sonnen. Sonnen and Franklin are two fighters that Silva has been able to beat. Franklin was bested by Silva twice.
It can’t really be said that Okami can’t win the big fights because he has lost to some big names, but he has beaten as many as he has lost to. Okami is still a relative unknown, as his only claim to fame is beating Silva by getting knocked out. He has never been a champion, and even though he advanced in the Rumble on the Rock tournament after his win over Silva, he lost to Shields immediately after, crushing his title hopes.
Okami does have a shot at beating Silva, but it is a rather slim one. He has managed to beat elite and strong wrestlers like Muñoz, and Sonnen, and he beat a great striker with an equally great Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu game in Nate Marquardt. He has the skills and the tools at 6’2’’ to beat someone of Silva’s caliber, but maybe not Silva himself.
Silva is more than his height, weight and skill set. He is Anderson Silva, winner of thirteen straight fights, eight of which were title fights, eight-time winner of UFC Fight Night bonuses, and widely considered the best of all time at any weight. At least half of the fight game, if not more, is mental, and for Okami that’s a lot to swallow before the first punch is even thrown.
Okami will undoubtedly have a more solid game plan than Silva, whose game plan consists of ending the fight as quickly as possible. Okami recently began training with his old foe, Chael Sonnen, the man to have the most success against Silva in his five-year title run. The combination of Sonnen’s hatred for Silva and Okami’s thirst for a title could culminate in a new UFC Middleweight Champion. The game plan that Sonnen develops for Okami could give him the tools to grind out a decision over the champion, but again, it is highly unlikely.
Even though Okami has a two-inch reach advantage, he will start the fight with an uphill climb. To beat a man who can pretend to play a banjo, while still not getting hit, well it hasn’t been done in five years and Okami won’t be the man to do it. Silva wins by knockout in round one.
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