Fighters Only

Issue 092

September 2012

An Olympic gold medalist in judo, this fearsome 25-year-old Japanese mixed martial artist has plenty of potential

NEED TO KNOW

NAME Satoshi Ishii

AGE 25

STARTED 2009

DIVISION Heavyweight

STYLE Judo

Based Osaka, Japan

RECORD 4-2-1

0 (T)KOS 0%) 2 SUBS (50%)

2 DECISIONS (50%)

As a young standout judo competitor, Japan’s Satoshi Ishii won silver at the 2006 Asian Games at only 19 years of age, before taking gold at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Having proven himself as an elite player in Japan’s native grappling art, Satoshi sought a new challenge and soon announced his intention to compete in mixed martial arts.

Ishii, now 4-2-1, made his professional debut at Dynamite!! 2009 against another Japanese judoka, Hidehiko Yoshida, who was himself an Olympic gold medalist at the 1992 Games in Barcelona. Although both men’s biggest strengths lay in the grappling department, the fight turned into a kickboxing contest with Ishii being out-struck by the much more experienced Yoshida, who took the decision victory.

Heavyweight Ishii went on to win his next four fights, all of which took place in 2010. The most notable of these ‘W’s was an upset over Jerome Le Banner in which Satoshi used his superior grappling to take down the former K-1 champion and use an impressive mix of ground ‘n’ pound and submission attempts to claim the unanimous decision.

Following the Le Banner victory, it was reported Ishii had plans to retire from MMA and return to his roots in the competitive world of judo for the 2016 Olympic event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. And in a controversial twist, it emerged that the former Japanese medalist did not wish to compete for his home nation, but instead planned to gain American citizenship and become a member of the US team.

However, at present those plans are on hold, and Ishii returned to mixed martial arts action in September last year against Brazilian Paulo Filho. The bout ended in a draw, yet the majority of fans and media felt the judoka had won all three rounds. Satoshi competed again at the end of 2011, at Japan’s traditional New Year’s Eve event, against heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko, losing via first-round KO. Today, rumors once again swirl of this promising heavyweights desire to retire from MMA.

JUDO

As a world-class judo player, much like many other athletes who make the transition from another specific discipline to mixed martial arts, Ishii came to the sport as a rather one-dimensional fighter. However, he has shown he isn’t afraid to trade blows with fighters far more experienced than himself (as against Fedor Emelianenko), taking risks when many other athletes would play it safe.

POTENTIAL

An Olympic gold medalist when he was only 21 years old, Satoshi Ishii is now 25 and still a young man in MMA. With such a solid base and several years before he reaches his athletic prime, the Japanese judoka has a ton of potential as a professional fighter. With the right training and enough dedication, who knows what he could accomplish?

AMERICAN DREAMS

Although his arrival into the world of mixed martial arts was hailed by many as a new hope for Japanese MMA, the judo community were not so supportive. As a result, when Satoshi considered a return to judo competition for the 2016 Olympics in Rio, he announced that he planned to compete for the US team and intended to gain citizenship in order to do so.