Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Japanese Fighters

9. Yushin Okami

The longtime contender finishes ninth on this list. Starting with the 2000s, Japanese fighters gained a reputation for being undersized, particularly at heavier weight classes. Not so Okami, a big, strong middleweight who always came into fights in superb shape. Okami wasn't spectacular at any aspect of fighting, but he was tremendously well-rounded and tough, without any major flaws to his game. He was an excellent wrestler with good submission skills and decent boxing, especially for his time. Additionally, he had very good cardio and never stopped trying to win. Okami began his career 7-0 before facing the very talented striker and now largely forgotten Amar Suloev, who knocked him out. Okami continued scoring easy wins over domestic foes like Ryuta Sakurai and Eiji Ishikawa, while testing himself against the best fighters in the West. He had a close split-decision loss to Falaniko Vitale and hung tough against Jake Shields, though he lost via majority decision. He also won over Nick Thompson and Anderson Silva, but neither fight was as impressive as it looked on paper: Thompson suffered an elbow injury less than 30 seconds into the match and Silva, still not in his prime, knocked out Okami with upkicks from the guard, but it was determined that Okami's knees were on the canvas when it occurred, giving him the DQ win.

Thus, there was still skepticism about how good Okami was when he entered the UFC. Okami quickly proved himself by winning four straight, knocking out lower-level fighters like Kalib Starnes and Rory Singer while taking decisions over Alan Belcher and Mike Swick. Okami then faced former middleweight champion Rich Franklin and while the fight was competitive, Franklin walked away with the close decision. Undeterred, Okami continued winning, winning easy decisions over Jason MacDonald and Dean Lister and knocking out former middleweight champion Evan Tanner, who admittedly was past his prime. Okami was actually a big favorite when he faced Chael Sonnen, but it would be the American who would dominate all three rounds with his wrestling, sweeping every round on every card.

Okami responded to the setback by temporarily relocating his training—by invitation—to Sonnen’s home gym, Team Quest, in order to shore up that particular deficiency in his game. He then started another winning streak, stopping Lucio Linhares, defeating world-class wrestler Mark Munoz by split decision, and then taking the nod over top contender Nate Marquardt. This finally brought him a rematch against Anderson Silva for Silva’s UFC title. There would be no controversy this time, as Silva knocked him out in the second round. Okami was only 30 years old, but his time as a top contender was over, as in his very next fight, he was knocked out by huge underdog Tim Boetsch. Okami continued having some success in the UFC, including another rematch domination of Alan Belcher and beating Hector Lombard, but he was clearly no longer a top middleweight, which was clear when Ronaldo Souza knocked him out in the first round in 2013. Okami has continued to fight in MMA, most recently being knocked out in under two minutes in November 2022, his fourth loss in his last five outings. However, his later career shouldn't obscure that he was an excellent Top-10, even Top-5 contender in the middleweight division for many years.

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