Five Years on Faith

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To me, Yushin Okami is a young, bleached-haired Japanese fighter, far skinnier in 2006 than the solid UFC middleweight contender we now know.

I remember the pained expression in the Rumble on the Rock cage as doctors and officials assessed whether he could continue fighting, just after eating an illegal kick across the face while in Anderson Silva’s guard.

The unintentional foul thus disqualified the Brazilian from competing further in the Hawaiian promotion’s 175-pound “welterweight” tournament. It is Silva's only loss in almost seven years.

It was both a disappointing and momentous turn of events. As one of the tournament favorites, Silva was out on a technicality with barely two-and-a-half minutes of cage time put in. Even though he was a largely unknown Japanese fighter, eight months after that close loss, Okami was picked up by the UFC, where he has since excelled and become something of a cult icon.

Then again, so has onetime nemesis Silva, who has not simply excelled but rather has shot to stardom by cutting a highlight reel path to the middleweight championship and a spot amongst the sport's all-time greats.

“Since we first met, Anderson has become the middleweight champion of the world and successfully defended the belt against the best of the best, so it’s safe to say his technique and power have progressed much in those five years,” says a respectful Okami, reflecting on how far they have come since their initial, ill-fated meeting.

“But I’ve also fought in the UFC for years and have been training hard, doing new things with training, so I’ve also grown like Anderson. I think we’re both completely different now. I’m looking forward to facing him again. I hope he is, too,” he adds thoughtfully.

After so many years and a few false starts, their slated rematch for UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, almost feels mirage-like; as if it could evaporate at any moment should fate or injury once again rear its ugly head.

Okami and Silva were originally scheduled to rematch in October 2008’s UFC 90, but a broken hand sidelined “Thunder” and saw Patrick Cote take his place.

The Japanese middleweight has since become something of a rallying point for a vocal subset of MMA fans to point to as proof of UFC matchmaking villainy; Okami being the deserving but overlooked challenger for a champion quickly running out of proper contenders.

Though the quiet and contented Okami has never been given to the kind of melodrama that hardcore fans tend to stir up, it would be disingenuous to say he has not harbored some fear that the rematch would continue to evade him.

“There were so many rumors from people surrounding the situation, so I was worried before [our rematch] was officially announced,” says Okami. “One of the biggest rumors I heard at the time was that they were thinking about putting [Georges St. Pierre] against Anderson, right after he defeated Vitor [Belfort]. Rumors like that made me worried as to whether I’d get my chance and when.”

It is interesting to hear Okami framing UFC President Dana White’s comments on the GSP-Silva match as rumor. Whether or not he was unaware that White spoke about the potential mega-fight after Silva’s foot-to-face blasting of Belfort at UFC 126 and was only notified by a third party afterward of such talk, Okami’s faith in his employers rings out here.

“Since it was never made official, I treated them as rumors. People heard Dana and told me about it, and it made me very concerned, but they were never made official” Okami clarifies.

“I don’t know if it’s proper to call it fate, but so many people were involved in making the decision [for the rematch], and so many things had to happen to make the situation flow into the way that it was. Because of that, I was thinking, ‘Things just can’t be helped,’” he says with a chuckle. “But, I always had this strong will in my heart that I would give everything I had to the UFC, and thus my heart was not moved by the situation into believing that it was hopeless.”

The notion of hopelessness here is highlighted by Okami’s unique word choice. In concluding that “things just can’t be helped,” he uses the phrase “shikata ga nai,” a particularly oft-used phrase, heavy with meaning in Japan.

Uttered in instances where no personal action can change the outcome of events affecting one’s self, his use of it indicates his belief that the decision to schedule the Silva rematch, regardless of his personal wishes, is not solely up to him. While the phrase is also often criticized by non-Japanese as a culturally institutionalized way to escape taking responsibility or to avoid potentially unwanted confrontation or friction, Okami’s conviction in relying on the UFC to provide for and take care of him outweighs any sense of apathy that might be conveyed with the phrase.

Thus, in an industry built squarely upon personal ambitions -- whether it is to be the best, to become rich, to become famous or all three -- Okami’s admissions here are refreshingly humble for a title contender.

Lobbying loudly and brashly for a particular fight is typically the order of the day, and once that is achieved, it is customary for fighters to start trash talking.

Not so with Okami, it seems. He is, if anything, respectful to the champion and a loyal soldier of the UFC to the very end.

“[In the hopes of getting the fight] I decided that the best thing to do was to continue appealing to Zuffa with my honest feelings toward Anderson and the rematch; that I wanted to fight him again more than anything," he says. "Even if they might not have understood the strength of my feelings at first, I felt they eventually would if I kept at it.”

In the cynical times in which we live, it is charming to see Okami’s optimism and confidence in his employers pay off after so long, even if it does mean he will be pitted against one of the pound-for-pound best champions in the world; a champion who has, until now, been mowing down title challenger after title challenger.

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