Can Somebody Please Give Yushin Okami Some Love?

On Jan. 20, 2006, Yushin Okami had the privilege of fighting soon to be pound for pound king, Anderson Silva. The outcome of the fight was not as Okami would have expected, even though he won the fight.

Anderson hit Okami in the head with a kick while Okami was still on his knees and knocked him out. Unable to continue, Okami was declared the winner by disqualification.

Okami made his pro MMA debut back in 2002 fighting in the GMC and Pancrase promotions. His first six fights all took place in Japan and he was able to win all of them bringing his record to 6-0. Okami then fought Amar Suloev in Russia and suffered his first loss.

He later fought Falaniko Vitale back in 2004 in Hawaii and suffered his second loss to bring his record to 8-2.

In 2006, he competed in a tournament in Hawaii, winning against Silva by DQ in the first round, only to lose a decision against Jake Shields in the second round. With a win in his next two fights, the UFC gave Okami a contract.

Yushin made his UFC debut at UFC 62 against Alan "The Talent" Belcher and won a unanimous decision. He then defeated Kalib Starnes and Rory Singer, stopping both fighters before the end of the fight.

For his fourth UFC fight, Okami was put against highly regarded Mike Swick who was still undefeated in the UFC. Okami proved to be too much for Swick and won a decision sending Mike Swick down to the welterweight division.

With four fights and four wins, Okami was put up against former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin at UFC 72 in a No. 1 contender's fight. Okami fought well but lost a decision to Franklin in his only UFC loss so far.

Okami came back from the loss with a win over Jason MacDonald and a KO against Evan Tanner. With an impressive record of 22-4, the UFC scheduled the much anticipated rematch between Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami at UFC 90 for the middleweight belt. Unfortunately, Okami suffered an injury and was replaced by Patrick Cote.

Okami is now scheduled to fight Chael Sonnen at UFC 104, a fight he will most likely dominate. Okami is a top contender in the division, it seems only the UFC doesn't see that. After pulling out of the Silva rematch, he was matched up against Dean Lister in the undercard, which is pretty disrespectful.

Sonnen is a good fighter, but he isn't in Okami's league. Okami deserves a title shot against Silva and for a while now. It seems the UFC are keeping him as far away from a title shot as possible, do they know something we don't?

Yushin Okami should be fighting fighters like Michael Bisping, Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt, I truly believe he belongs in the elite of the middleweight division and at some point, I hope even the UFC will see that.

If Okami can be decisive in his next wins, the UFC won't have much of a choice to put him in there against a top contender. It's just ashamed that he needs to work his way back up the ladder when guys like Vitor Belfort win a catch-weight fight and get an immediate title shot.