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LAS VEGAS -- Takanori Gomi, once considered to be one of the best lightweight fighters in the world, has signed a multi-fight contract with the UFC. MMAFighting.com learned of the acquisition from sources on Friday.

Nicknamed "The Fireball Kid," Gomi (31-5-0, 1 NC) had talked about wanting to sign with Strikeforce or the UFC in 2010, and recently spent some time training at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Calif.

No word on when and where Gomi will make his debut for the UFC. The organization has yet to officially announce the signing.

The former PRIDE lightweight champion has recently gotten his career back on track after losing two straight fights in Sengoku. Gomi followed up his victory over Takahashi Nakakura at the Shooto: Traditional Final event in May with a unanimous decision win over Tony Hervey at Vale Tudo Japan 2009 in October.

He holds notable victories over Rumina Sato, Jens Pulver, Hayato Sakurai, Duane Ludwig and Mitsuhiro Ishida.

http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/01/01/t ... -with-ufc/

Great news! There will be some exciting matchups down the road.

Good news if true.

Wonder when he would debut and against who?

Good news. I've heard some people say that he would not be able to beat BJ .

^^^ I'd agree with them. I don't think he's done like a lot of people seem to and i think he'll have some success and make some noise, but there's no way he beats Penn in my estimation.

Penn already beat Gomi once, I think he would do it again.

The latest sherdog trend: "101 ways Gomi can beat penn" or something to that effect. Still seeing the Aoki > Penn threads as well.

At least the Gomi vs Penn arguement will be settled hopefully this year.

^ That argument has already been settled. Gomi IMO will do well in the UFC and possibly enough to get the titleshot but he'll get railroaded when that time comes.

I think Penn is better than he was when they first fought, and Gomi is worse, so I don't see why it would go any differently.

That being said, it's a great signing that should bring some excitement to the LW division.

The Gomi who fought Penn the first time was nowhere near the best Gomi there's been. That was a couple years before Gomi peaked. The problem is Gomi appears to have declined from that peak.

But I guess 2006 or so, he was top 3 pound-for-pound. Kawajiri KO the same night as beating Azeredo. KO of Mach. He was a wrecking machine. Vintage Gomi was unbelievably fun to watch. Absolute killer. He could just walk dudes down with complete calm. It was badass.

He often took advantage, though, of a size advantage that he won't have in the UFC. Guys like Azeredo and Pulver were not legit 160s.

jTF2 wrote:^ That argument has already been settled. Gomi IMO will do well in the UFC and possibly enough to get the titleshot but he'll get railroaded when that time comes.

Oh I just mean the new arguement that Gomi would win.

http://urdirt.com/2010/01/02/the-ufc-is ... discussed/

Gomi vs Florian being discussed?

I kind of wanted to see a warm-up fight.

damo[23] wrote:

jTF2 wrote:^ That argument has already been settled. Gomi IMO will do well in the UFC and possibly enough to get the titleshot but he'll get railroaded when that time comes.

Oh I just mean the new arguement that Gomi would win.

http://urdirt.com/2010/01/02/the-ufc-is ... discussed/

Gomi vs Florian being discussed?

I kind of wanted to see a warm-up fight.

ditto. hoped he would get a can first and then a mid level fighter like Nate Diaz to build him up.

I would love to see him kick Nate Diaz's ass.

This Florian vs. Gomi fight makes little sense. Florian does not need to beat a legend like Gomi to get over, because he is already elite. And it risks Gomi looking bad in his first UFC fight. A smarter move would be Maynard vs. Florian for the title shot after Edgar and Gomi vs. someone who will stand and slug with him like Spencer Fisher.

If the UFC makes a Florian vs. Gomi fight, it will be both the beginning and the end of the Gomi era in the UFC, because Florian will roll through him.

Cammo101 wrote:This Florian vs. Gomi fight makes little sense. Florian does not need to beat a legend like Gomi to get over, because he is already elite. And it risks Gomi looking bad in his first UFC fight. A smarter move would be Maynard vs. Florian for the title shot after Edgar and Gomi vs. someone who will stand and slug with him like Spencer Fisher.

If the UFC makes a Florian vs. Gomi fight, it will be both the beginning and the end of the Gomi era in the UFC, because Florian will roll through him.

True

Cammo101 wrote:This Florian vs. Gomi fight makes little sense. Florian does not need to beat a legend like Gomi to get over, because he is already elite. And it risks Gomi looking bad in his first UFC fight. A smarter move would be Maynard vs. Florian for the title shot after Edgar and Gomi vs. someone who will stand and slug with him like Spencer Fisher.

If the UFC makes a Florian vs. Gomi fight, it will be both the beginning and the end of the Gomi era in the UFC, because Florian will roll through him.

Yeah, I'd like to see that fight somewhere down the road, but not as Gomi's first fight in the UFC. Like you said, Florian doesn't need this fight. UFC fans will just see it as him beating some Japanese guy, and they won't be any more impressed with him than they are now. And it would make Gomi look bad. Just doesn't make any sense right now.

Gomi vs. Fisher would be a good idea and a fight I'd like to see. They can talk about how Fisher ruined Caol Uno's return to the UFC. If Fisher isn't currently booked, I think this is the fight that makes the most sense.

Sam Stout might be a good choice as well, but I think he's a little bit too far down in the rankings. They might as well use him for something though, it's not like he's a real contender.

Nate Diaz would be interesting, but I'm not sure the UFC would want to tell the story that makes it interesting. Plus he's already fighting Maynard, and will most likely lose that fight. If he fights Gomi, he'd be at risk of losing 4 of 5.

Sean Sherk is another name that comes to mind, but that might be a better second fight. A few years ago, that was one of the fights I wanted to see most. Would still be interesting today, IMO.

Gomi's feud with Chute Box back in Pride was legendary and he was one of the most exciting fighters at the time. He's past his prime but I'm excited to see him fight in the UFC.