It must be very difficult to carry the weight of an entire country’s sports scene on your shoulders. Yet it seems that the Japanese fighters moving over to the North American Mixed Martial Arts scene are taking up that challenge head on. Still, many of them have failed to live up to the standards they set while participating in combat across the Pacific Ocean. Hatsu Hioki is the latest Japanese fighter to step into the UFC’s Octagon, and he has a resume that brings high expectations.
Hioki earned multiple title reigns while competing in Japan. The fact that he was at one time the featherweight champion of both Sengoku Raiden and TKO Major League, as well as the lightweight champion of Shooto, causes many sites to rank Hioki highly. Sherdog lists him as the second best featherweight behind Jose Aldo, while MMA Weekly has placed him at number three. [Editor’s note: MMA Ratings has him ranked at #5.] Rankings discussions aside, it’s apparent that he is one of the best fighters in the world at 145 pounds.
But waiting for him in the Octagon is the tall, both figuratively and literally, challenge of George Roop at UFC 137. It’s hard to pick a winner in such a contest, because even though Hioki should be the favorite on paper, it’s always hard to judge how well a Japanese fighter will perform during his UFC debut. Look back over the debuts of the biggest names to jump to American promotions, and what do you see? Defeats for Takanori Gomi, Norifumi Yamamoto, Michihiro Omigawa, and even Shinya Aoki. Each of these fighters was highly-touted before appearing in a North American event, but none of them were able to deliver when it came time for them to perform in the cage.
However, Hioki should break that trend. While Roop does have an advantage in height and reach, his opponent has proven quite capable of out-striking many other competitors. For example, during a one-sided decision victory over Marlon Sandro, Hioki used a stunning standup game to frustrate Sandro, and control where the fight took place at all times. Even a highly-touted striker like Mark Hominick was defeated by Hioki twice. It would not be at all surprising if Hioki proves able to match Roop’s striking skills until he decides to take the fight down to the mat, where he will hold a distinct advantage, as he is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt. I’m expecting a third round stoppage in this bout.
Hioki is the most recent in a long line of Japanese fighters that have been making the move to North American promotions, and as a rule, they have not experienced success. That alone causes fans and pundits to be skeptical about the outcome of this move, but Hioki should prove them wrong, and be seen as a rare exception to the rule.
