I am no MMA guy and will concede instantly if somebody tells me I just don’t know what I’m looking at. I saw this guy several months ago in a match on cable and was impressed enough to find myself tuning in whenever I see he’s in a match.
Like I say, I’m no expert, but this floppy haired surf boy appears to be stompin the livin snot outta everybody he fights. And in different ways. Doesn’t matter if he ends up on the mat or in a striking match. He winds up winning and by a not very close margin. He got some early challenge in a couple matches I saw, but he adjusts and puts a serious hurtin on all his opponents.
Before the hockey game tonight one of his matches was on Versus and there he was grotesquely abusing yet another opponent. This guy looks unstoppable in his class. I like him. Maybe just because he doesn’t look tough. He’s built well, but looks like a goofball. If you ran into him on the street you’d never guess he could most likely whip yer ass down the block.
Faber is a great guy to watch fight. Always brings it and his fights usually end in a KO or submission.
He’s fighting former UFC lightweight champ, Jens Pulver, next month in what is the WEC’s biggest show to date. Faber should win but I expect Jens to make it a competitive bout.
[quote]Djwlfpack wrote:
Faber is a great guy to watch fight. Always brings it and his fights usually end in a KO or submission.
He’s fighting former UFC lightweight champ, Jens Pulver, next month in what is the WEC’s biggest show to date. Faber should win but I expect Jens to make it a competitive bout.[/quote]
Was Jens’ last fight with Cub? Jens put a serious hurting on Cub who looked to be pretty unstoppable up to that point.
Love Miguel Torres also. Met him in person, fought on same card as him. He’s an excellent fighter on ground and standing. I agree that the lighter weight guys are exciting because of pace and technical prowess. Many learn when they start to train that they can’t power into or out of much because they are the smallest guys in the gym. So they bother to learn good tech and then its great to watch.
I saw that Faber has that fight coming up with Pulver. Will have to catch that. Is this guy everybody keeps callingthe Kid the oriental looking guy with a relatively traditional martial arts style with lots of kicks? You can tell I’m no expert.
if you know who Masato is then the fact that kid can actually hang with him w/o getting knocked out is a HUGE statement to his standup ability. Being able to stand with Masato puts him in the top 5 of standup fighters for MMA EASILY.
Kid knocking Royler Gracie the fuck out
Testament to his ground skills
Another highlight:
give you some more idea of his ability.
his RBK (REEBOK) endorsement
which fyi is why a lot of japanese fighters won’t fight for the UFC, they make more money, get treated better, and get better endorsements in japan. Underarmor, Nike, Reebok, they DO endorse fighters but they know where the better market is.
more informed fans along with a better run organization = better $$ for fighters.
Anyway, Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto
k-1 level striking
olympic caliber wrestling
Decent Subs (Though he rarely uses them they do exist)
Excellent ability to avoid subs
Explosive, Athletic
Ridiculous genetics
unparalleled killer instinct (with exception of w. silva)
If you’re a fan of MMA, then you’re a fan of “Kid” Yamamoto. It’s a fucking SHAME that he and Faber will probably NEVER fight (at least in their respective prime’s).
From wikipedia:
Kid comes from a wrestling family with his father Ikuei Yamamoto representing Japan at the 1972 Olympic games in Munich and his sisters Miyu and Seiko both winning world championships in freestyle wrestling. Kid received his education in the United States and wrestled at Marcos de Niza High School in Tempe, Arizona, capturing three state championships (with a third place finish as a freshman). He also trained briefly under Choi Mu Bae[1].
Kid naturally walks around at 143 pounds. Though most fighters his size fight at 130 pounds, most of Kid’s fights have been in the Lightweight Division (155lbs) as it was the lightest division in HERO’s. Now competing in DREAM (co-promoted by former PRIDE executives from Dream Stage Entertainment and K-1 HERO’s executives), Kid will be fighting in the Featherweight Division (145lbs) as it is closer to his natural weight.
…
In early 2007, Kid announced an indefinite leave of absence from MMA to train for and compete in freestyle wrestling for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He had hoped to win the Olympic Gold medal for freestyle wrestling ever since he was a child, as his father Ikuei Yamamoto represented Japan in the 1972 Olympic games in Munich. However his hopes of following in his fathers footsteps stopped short, after an injury prevented Yamamoto from competing in the Japanese Olympic wrestling qualifiers. With this injury, Kid would have no choice but to leave his hopes of competing in the Olympic Games and return to Mixed Martial Arts.
[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
I saw that Faber has that fight coming up with Pulver. Will have to catch that. Is this guy everybody keeps callingthe Kid the oriental looking guy with a relatively traditional martial arts style with lots of kicks? You can tell I’m no expert.[/quote]
I believe the guy you are talking about is Cung Le. Another guy that’s fun to watch fight. That was a great fight he had with Shamrock, although I think Frank was just starting to figure out how to attack Cung before he had his arm shattered into pieces.
[quote]Donut62 wrote:
Kid is pretty damn good, but him and Faber are 50/50. I would take Faber in that match all day long.[/quote]
I’d go with Kid. Faber reminds me a lot of Wandi, in while his stand up is brutal, he leaves himself open a lot. Kid’s striking is a little cleaner and more controlled. That being said, I haven’t seen a lot of either fight, so I might just be talking out my ass(as usual).
[quote]analog_kid wrote:
Donut62 wrote:
Kid is pretty damn good, but him and Faber are 50/50. I would take Faber in that match all day long.
I’d go with Kid. Faber reminds me a lot of Wandi, in while his stand up is brutal, he leaves himself open a lot. Kid’s striking is a little cleaner and more controlled. That being said, I haven’t seen a lot of either fight, so I might just be talking out my ass(as usual).
[/quote]
wanderlei tears shit up with his hands.
i dont care what anyone says man. fighting shouldn’t look like a video game. if you can stay crisp and win matches, good for you, but im a fan of wanderlei because he throws the way his body was meant to throw. hes got that kyphotic posture, protruding neck, … i mean, i dont think hes ever throw a straight punch, all his shit is an off shoot of a hook.
kid knocked some mofos out with crisp punches but he brawls also. thats a given. he is brutal. he throws whatever will connect.