Dana White: “Yushin Okami will be getting a title shot. Definitely.”

Props: FiveOuncesofPain

UFC middleweight Yushin Okami defeated Dean Lister by unanimous decision at UFC 92. Even though the fight was not the most exciting bout on the card, UFC President Dana White confirmed that the victory puts Okami back in the hunt for the middleweight title currently held by Anderson Silva.

“Yushin Okami will be getting a title shot. Definitely,” White said.

Okami was very close to receiving a title shot earlier in the year after beating Evan Tanner at UFC 82 (Silva defeated Dan Henderson on that same card). Unfortunately, Okami was injured during training and the matchup could not be finalized.

Okami and Silva have an interesting backstory in that Okami is the last man to beat the champion. Okami defeated Silva by disqualification due to an illegal kick. The match took place in January 2006 for the Rumble on the Rock promotion.

Prior to Silva vs. Okami being signed, Silva will first have to defeat Thales Leites. Silva and Leites are set to square off in April.

Well, all I can say is I’ll believe it when I see the poster for it.  Yushin Okami, top 10 middleweight for the last 2 years, 7-1 in the UFC (only loss coming to Rich Franklin via unanimous decision at UFC 72), currently holds a victory (via disqaulification due to an illegal kick) over current big man Anderson Silva from a fight that took place in 2006 for the Rumble on the Rock promotion, click here to watch it.  He’s definitely the best Japanese fighter to come into the UFC period.  He’s found sucess using his imposing ground and pound, and has shown to pack a punch as well as being very durable (note only one of his four losses came by submission due to strikes, the rest have been by decision).  More after the jump…

Bottom line is this, Anderson and Okami need to have a rematch, they’re first fight ended with controversy, they’re both in the same organization now, in the same division….just make it happen.  In all truth, I think Okami’s the only fighter at 185lbs than can handle and possibly beat Silva.  That’s a fact that many people, yet nobody wants to see happen because the general consensous is that Okami’s boring as shit and can finish a tuna melt.  You also have to take into consideration that Okami brutally knocked out one of the most beloved men in all of MMA, the late, great former UFC middleweight champion Evan Tanner back at UFC 82 earlier this year.  That right there put him on the shit-lists of many fans, and I think it would’ve been a stab in the heart to all who loved and admired Evan (which was pretty much everyone), if Okami had received a title shot for it.  Now, I know that’s not right, but the UFC is all about making the bank, and giving Okami a title shot after destroying a guy like Tanner (who was looking to make a comeback after suffering years of alcoholism), didn’t seem like the most “financially safe” move for the organization.

Now, when will this “definite title shot” take place?  Who the hell knows?  Anderson’s apparently going to do battle with Thales Leites at UFC 97 in April of 2009, a fight which he should win given Thales’ most recent fights haven’t been anything impressive.  April’s four months away, after that, I’m sure if Anderson wins he’ll sit out for about three months, then fight again….against Okami.  So, we the MMA fans have to wait until possibly July to see this fight?  It could be worse I suppose, and in all truth I don’t think Okami will want to wait that long, nor will the UFC keep him on hold as the middleweight division progresses with talent like Michael Bisping, Demian Maia, Rousimar Palhares, and Denis Kang.  Like I said above, I’ll believe this fight when I see the poster for it, until then it’s just a horseshit rumor.