UFC 134 Fight Card: Yushin Okami Can Put Japan Back on the MMA Map

Yushin Okami is fighting for Japan without the pressure and the weight of an entire country on his back.

During the heyday of Pride Fighting Championships four to ten years ago, Japan was essentially the epicenter of mixed martial arts.

Since the UFC's business model has subsequently enveloped the MMA world, Japanese MMA has fallen by the wayside.

Some of Japan's stars in Takanori Gomi and Shinya Aoki have had mixed results in showcases for American promotions.

Meanwhile Japanese fighter Yushin Okami has been quietly and methodically building himself up as one of the premiere mixed martial artists in the world, under the UFC banner.

Now Okami finally has earned a shot at the title, but this is no regular title shot. It is a fight against a man ranked as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and considered by many as the best fighter the sport has ever seen.  That man, Anderson Silva, also gets this fight in his home country of Brazil.

You would be hard pressed to find fans, analysts, or experts picking Okami to win the fight, but as we all know, anybody can win on any given night in this sport at this elite level.

The reality is that Okami is a mainstay in the top five middleweight rankings in the world and he has a very real opportunity to defeat any fighter.

Silva has earned his place in the record books, and people are deservedly talking about him, but let us not forget there is a huge story behind Yushin Okami as well.

If the upset happens, Yushin Okami becomes a new beacon of hope for the land of the rising sun.