| SENGOKU Wins Battle for Blue Chip Prospect Signs Biggest Free Agent of the Year in Olympian Satoshi Ishii |
| Written by Chris Flores |
| Monday, 01 June 2009 08:39 |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The topic is when/where will be the 2008 Judo Gold Medalist {Satoshi Ishii's} mma debut.. As seen in the top right picture, Ishii says his goal is to fight Brock Lesnar. He went on a training spree with the UFC finest in Lyoto Machida, Thiago Alves, Randy Couture, etc.. He once signed a contract with Dana White and the UFC with intentions of being a participant on The Ultimate Fighter Season 10. The 22 year old soon had a change of heart when he was flooded with Japanese fan mail urging him to stay at home and fight. He also wants to fight infront of his grandmother before it's too late. He seems content with the free UFC merchandise on his way out as Dana White uncharacteristically will not hold him to his contract. Dana White: "The thing is this: the kid's sitting on a lottery ticket right now.. He's being offered millions of dollars in Japan.. If he comes back and tells me I want to take this lottery ticket, I'll give it to him. He needs to decide what he wants to do with his life. Just because I have a contract with him, I'm not going to try to tell him what he should do with his life." A press conference was held in Tokyo on June 1, 2009 to announce that Satoshi Ishii has signed with World Victory Road to fight in their SENGOKU events. He entered to the theme song to "The Last of the Mohicans" movie and said "thank you for coming to my wedding." His anticipated mma debut date is still unknown but could come as early as SENGOKU 10 in October. The contract is for more than one fight and was a provisional contract because on Thursday he will sign the real contract at an open to fans signing event in Japan. At the press conference he said that SENGOKU is the organization he respects the most. He points to the fact that Josh Barnett is the SENGOKU heavyweight champion and if he defeats Fedor, a fight may be lined up for him. Another reason is that his Judo seniors Hidehiko Yoshida, Kazuhiro Nakamura, and Takimoto are all SENGOKU fighters. He says that he would like his first fight to be against Sumo wrestler Asashoryu [68th yokozuna in Japan's history] and that he will begin training at the end of the month in Holland. His objective is 'World Champion' and he will only fight in the heavyweight division. When asked if he'd face Hidehiko Yoshida, he said that he's not in the position to choose his opponents and that for him, anyone is OK.
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