UFC: Yushin Okami Swears He Will Be the One to Dethrone Anderson Silva

Okami has been a contender in the middleweight division since debuting with the organization in August of 2006.

During that time, he has compiled an impressive 10-2 record, with his biggest win a unanimous decision victory over Nate Marquardt at UFC 122. 

Technically, Okami is next in line for a middleweight title shot, but many are expecting Anderson Silva to square off with welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre before Okami gets a middleweight title fight.

Okami was not shy in letting off some stream about the situation to CagePotato.com.

"(With Silva vs. GSP) there is the problem of weight…and GSP will go for the takedown. But the middleweight division is for the fighters who are there, and have been fighting there, so I don’t think there’s much point in that fight.”

Apparently, Okami has no regard for the fact that Silva and Georges St-Pierre are respectively the number one and two pound for pound fighters in mixed martial arts right now. 

Okami continued by saying “Basically, I haven’t really thought about it because Anderson and I are top of the middleweight division, so it should be left to us."

Fellow middleweight contender Chael Sonnen probably has something to say about that, considering he soundly defeated Okami at UFC 104 and pushed Anderson Silva to the brink at UFC 117. 

Sonnen’s return is eminent following a court date on Monday, March 28th, as long as he receives a fine and a probation period in exchange for cooperating during the investigation of a money scandal he was involved with. 

Back to Okami though, he did not leave much ambiguity to how he thinks a match between him and the Spider would conclude. 

"I want to fight Anderson, beat him, and I believe I’ll become a new star in the UFC. I’m concentrating and training for that fight now." 

He concluded by saying “Anderson is the top of the middleweight division and I am coming for the belt. I promise you’ll see him fall and I’ll be the new champion. Thank you for your support!"

Funny enough, Okami is the last fighter to defeat Anderson Silva.  Make no mistake about it though; it was by no means a decisive victory.

Back at the Rumble on the Rock welterweight tournament in January of 2006, Silva had Okami in his guard and in the midst of Okami trying to pass the guard, Silva inadvertently delivered an “upkick” to Okami’s head. 

Now, fighters do not normally get disqualified for inadvertent strikes, but Silva’s kick rendered Okami unconscious.

Needless to say, Okami was unable to continue the fight, and therefore went on to win by disqualification. 

A rematch between these two will happen sooner than later, the big question is: can Okami prove he is a legitimate threat to Silva?  Or was the first time really just a fluke?

Sherdog.com currently has Okami ranked as the number three middleweight in the world, while Yahoo! Sports has Okami as the number two top middleweight.

Thanks to BloodyElbow.com for extracting the most worthwhile quotes from the interview.