Yamamoto Eyes Dec. 31 Bout with Former BJJ World Champion

The Iceman · #1 (**permalink**) 11-29-2007, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Yamamoto Eyes Dec. 31 Bout with Former BJJ World Champion

By Gino Mongelli

Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto will face former Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Rani Yahya at K-1 “Premium 2007 Dynamite!!” on Monday, Dec. 31 at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan, according to a report from Sports Navi.

Yamamoto (16-1) has reeled off 13 consecutive victories since suffering his only professional defeat in May 2002.

A Rickson Gracie protégé, Yahya (11-3) made his MMA debut in Brazil in 2004, as he won an eight-man tournament at TNT Vale Tudo 2. He made stops in the Greatest Common Multiple and K-1 promotions before heading for World Extreme Cagefighting in the United States. There, he scored a submission victory over Mark Hominick and became the top contender to WEC bantamweight champion Chase Beebe’s throne. Beebe defeated Yahya by unanimous decision at WEC 30 in September.

Yahya took the grappling world by storm when he defeated both Baret Yoshida and Leo Vieira to win the 2007 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling world championship (under 65 kilograms). Gracie coached Yahya at the event, which leads many to believe he will also be in attendance at K-1 on New Year’s Eve.

Yamamoto defeated Bibiano Fernandes, another skilled BBJ fighter, at K-1 HERO’S “Tournament Final” two months ago, though the win did not come easy. The 30-year-old recognizes Yahya as a formidable opponent.

“Yahya’s grappling skills are endless,” Yamamoto said. “I will seriously have to defend against his ground techniques. Last time, I only had a week to train on the mat, but this time I have about a month to work with a really technical group at my gym.”

K-1 “Premium 2007 Dynamite!!”
Monday, Dec. 31
Kyocera Dome
Osaka, Japan

K-1 HERO'S Rules
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Masakatsu Funaki
Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto vs. Rani Yahya

K-1 Rules
Masato vs. Yong Soo Choi

K-1 Japan U-18 Tournament
Hiroya vs. Tsukasa Fuji
Kenji Kubo vs. Yudai

http://thefightnetwork.com/news_detail.php?nid=5521

BigBanda · #2 (**permalink**) 11-29-2007, 11:13 AM

Oh yeah, been looking to see him back in action.

WAR KID YAMAMOTO!!!

gogoplata · #3 (**permalink**) 11-29-2007, 11:16 AM

Warrrr Yamamoto!!!

dofking · #4 (**permalink**) 11-29-2007, 01:32 PM

Rani Yahya is no joke but WAR KID!!!

deeznizzies · #5 (**permalink**) 11-29-2007, 02:06 PM

shit i really hope this doesn't go the way of gomi/aurellio I....

hopefully kid can keep it on the feet or stay outta rani's guard... yaya was really impressive in his lost to beebe in his last fight. its good to see kid fighting world class competition though.. i wonder how long urijah's contract with the wec is for? those dudes need to hurry up and fight.

Buggedoutnicy · #6 (**permalink**) 11-29-2007, 03:48 PM

war kid

tho im still waitin on kid vs gomi but now thats jus wishful thinking

jlruthven84 · #7 (**permalink**) 11-29-2007, 04:18 PM

This fight is going to be sick. Yahya really impressed in his WEC title match; Beebe's just an animal. Should be a great match with Kid eventually pulling it out.