Yoshida Dojo Coming to UFC - MMAUniverse.com

The famous Yoshida dojo of Japan is for the first time entering the octagon in force at UFC 76: Knockout. Flying the flag of one of the most successful mma/judo partnerships will be two young protégés of the former Olympic champion Hidehiko Yoshida.

Kazuhiro Nakamura has already carved out an excellent reputation for himself in Pride FC having beaten top fighters like Yuki Kondo, Igor Vovchanchyn, Murilo Bustamante and former UFC champion Kevin "The Monster" Randleman. Although his record of 11-6-0 does not look anything to sing about all his losses come to some of the biggest names in Pride FCs’ history such as Wanderlei Silva and Current Pride welterweight and middleweight champion Dan Henderson.

Nakamura’s introduction to the UFC should certainly be a trial by fire as he is set to face Ryoto Machida. Machida who so far has an unbeaten record in mma and holds a win over former UFC champion Rich Franklin undoubtedly harbours light heavyweight title ambitions of his own. Whether he will ever be a favourite of the UFC due to the methodical and less than exciting style of fighting he showed in his last bout against David Heath remains to be seen.

Michihiro Omigawa is definitely the lesser known fighter of the two boasting a record of 4-3-0. Having won his last three fights back to back Omigawa has plenty of momentum and everything to gain going into his fight with TUF 5 contestant Matt Wiman.

Wiman looked to be an impressive young talent on TUF 5 but did not really measure up to either of the finalists Nathan Diaz or Manuel Gamburyan. Wiman holds an advantage over his opponent as he already ahs experience in the Octagon, albeit a loss on the undercard of UFC 60: Hughes vs Gracie to Spencer Fisher. Going into this fight both of these young talents have great potential to stop the fight in by either KO or submission so this had the potential to be an explosive and exhilarating matchup.

Hidehiko Yoshida himself has said that he will not return to the ring until some time in 2008, and his return will be a major boost to whichever promotion he allies himself too. Yoshida is a legend in Japan, largely because of his judo background, Yoshida won the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, but has also developed a huge fan base solely from his MMA career where the promoters of Pride FC have tended to place him against opponents who carry a lot of weight with the fans. Having beaten the likes of Mark Hunt, David "Tank" Abbott, Royce Gracie and Don Frye he knows his way around the ring but is never likely to threaten for the heavyweight title as his losses have come when his has stepped up in class against opposition like Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic and Wanderlei Silva.

The American fans are soon going to be aware of the Japanese history of martial arts as Yoshida Dojo brings with it a lot of history, but also some very skilled fighters who could take the UFC by storm. Keep your eyes open at UFC 76: Knockout - the Japanese are coming.