The UFC still has interest in Takanori Gomi

[BigBanda]

Not sure if anyone had posted on this or not but I have not seen it. Anyways I would very much like to see Gomi in the UFC mainly to see a BJ Penn vs Gomi 2.

Source: Five Ounces of Pain | The UFC still has interest in Takanori Gomi

The UFC still has interest in Takanori Gomi
January 02, 2008 By: Sam Caplan Category: Takanori Gomi, Pride, UFC

With Fedor Emelianenko, Brock Lesnar, and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou now all under contract, the two biggest free agents currently on the open market are Josh Barnett and Takanori Gomi.

Barnett has received lucrative offers from both M-1 Global and EliteXC, while little is known about the status of Gomi. Many have said that he is holding out from a strong offer from one of the Japanese MMA promotions such as K-1 HERO’s, World Victory Road, and possibly even the group behind organizing Yarennoka!

However, the UFC should not be ruled out as a possible destination. According to Gary Herman of CBSSports.com and 15rounds.com, Gomi attended UFC 79 in person on Saturday and even spoke briefly with UFC president Dana White.

After the event, White confirmed that Gomi was indeed in the building and that the promotion is still interested in him:

“I’ve wanted to sign Takanori Gomi for a long time. I am very interested in him,”

[Diegonightmare]

I'm assuming Gomi would fight at 155 in the UFC. He would make an incredible, incredible addition to their already-stacked LW picture.

[BigBanda]

Originally Posted by Diegonightmare

I'm assuming Gomi would fight at 155 in the UFC. He would make an incredible, incredible addition to their already-stacked LW picture.

Yeah he would make a great addition for sure and would absolutely love to see him take on Penn for the second time and a Sherk fight would be interesting as well.

[dofking]

Dumb move by gomi if he goes to the ufc.

[pimpslappd]

God I wanna see alot of matches with him in UFC, I definately want Gomi Penn II

[BigBanda]

Originally Posted by dofking

Dumb move by gomi if he goes to the ufc.

Why is that a dumb move? I mean other than UFC I'd like to see him in Yarrenoka because I believe they have Shinya Aoki, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Mitsuhiro Ishida and Gilbert Milendez. He has already fought and beat some of them so If I was Gomi, I would want some new competition as well as to "try" and avenge a loss against another great fighter in BJ Penn. Then again he would have many exciting fights over at Yarrenoka as well. I also do not know of those fighters I mentioned are under contract to Yarrenoka. I do know they all fought this past new years under their organization though.

[valheruking]

Originally Posted by BigBanda

Why is that a dumb move? I mean other than UFC I'd like to see him in Yarrenoka because I believe they have Shinya Aoki, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Mitsuhiro Ishida and Gilbert Milendez. He has already fought and beat some of them so If I was Gomi, I would want some new competition as well as to "try" and avenge a loss against another great fighter in BJ Penn. Then again he would have many exciting fights over at Yarrenoka as well. I also do not know of those fighters I mentioned are under contract to Yarrenoka. I do know they all fought this past new years under their organization though.

Yarrenoka isn't an org though it was a once off show put on by various companys, and he has some competition in Japan if he were to sign with Heros, JZ, Shaolin, a definite stand up war with Dida etc, UFC definitely isn't his only option competition wise, and financially probably not as good either.

[BigBanda]

Originally Posted by Valerhuking

Yarrenoka isn't an org though it was a once off show put on by various companys, and he has some competition in Japan if he were to sign with Heros, JZ, Shaolin, a definite stand up war with Dida etc, UFC definitely isn't his only option competition wise, and financially probably not as good either.

Yeah i guess i put that completely wrong, thanks for setting me straight lol. They all fought on the Yarrenoka event is all I know. I didnt get a chance to watch it. Wonder why Gomi didnt? So of those names I'm not even sure where all of them are signed. I think Melendez is with Strikeforce however. All of those light fighters seem to be scattered around.

[NinjaShogunRua]

You could possibly see Gomi fight for WVR. They are holding an event called Sengoku in March. It has a few former PRIDE fighters like Hidehiko Yoshida, Kazuo Misaki, Makoto Takimoto, Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos and Phil Baroni.

SENGOKU OFFICIAL WEBSITE


Also, there are major rumors out of Japan that K-1(FEG), and former PRIDE employees (DSE) will unite for a new MMA event called "DREAMS". They will use K-1's TV deal and DSE's production and will scrap the HERO'S format, as it's not very popular at the moment. This is only rumor for now, but if it does officially happen, it would be likely that Gomi would fight there if he doesn't sign with the UFC.

2008-01-11 - JPN MMA News-from SAMURAI NATION

[ArMnHC]

Gomi needs to sign with someone since its been almost a year since he fought, and having him still as the #1 ranked LW is a joke. UFC would be the best place for him...would they do a unification bout with him and the champ?