Gomi has become the main figure behind the PRIDE Bushido series since he left SHOOTO in 2004. Since that moment Gomi has become something like an icon among Japanese and foreign fans alike by basically dismantling every single opponent he has faced inside PRIDE.
He now holds a record of 9-0 inside Bushido and everything points to him being untouchable at the moment. Looking to become the first ever Japanese PRIDE champion, Gomi has an appointment on New Year’s Eve when he faces another Japanese star in Sakurai.
I would like to focus on another Japanese fighter that, until last week, was ranked by some as the No. 1 155-pound fighter in the world.
Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures), better know as the “Crusher,” made his SHOOTO debut back in 2000 as a young fighter with great promise coming from the amateur tournament circuit. He was quickly placed against another newcomer at the time in Takumi Nakayama (Pictures). What happened next is history, as the young Kawajiri struggled with Nakayama to lose by rear-naked choke.
From here Kawajiri knew he wasn’t ready to become a complete fighter yet, so he took one year off from SHOOTO to rebuild himself technically and physically. When he decided to comeback Kawajiri literally left a path of bodies in his wake as he quickly moved to the top.
He was an unstoppable rising star coming from a rural prefecture next to Tokyo where, in Kawajiri own words, “there is nothing else to do beside train.” Along with fellow friends and SHOOTO fighters from the Ibaraki area, Kawajiri founded what we know today as Team Tops, where the only objective was to become the best at what they do — and as it turned out, that was destroy their opponents.
With “Mach” Sakurai like his spiritual leader and main role model the young Kawajiri packed a 7-0-1 record since that fateful debut against Takumi. Everything was rolling for the young rookie until he met Brazilian fighter Vitor Ribeiro (Pictures) in 2002.
At the time, as he remains today, “Shaolin” was one of the best lightweight fighters in the world, and he taught Kawajiri an expensive jiu-jitsu seminar on his way to winning a unanimous decision.
Like the first time he lost to Nakayama back in 2000, Kawajiri took another break from competition, determined not to make the same mistakes. When he came back to rematch Nakayama in 2003 little did anyone know that Kawajiri was not the same fighter as before. This time he learned from all the mistakes he made against Ribeiro and improved himself in all areas.
This “new and improved” Kawajiri, like the first time, gathered more victories — seven in total with the only setback coming in a draw against Caol Uno (Pictures). From here Kawajiri was ready to take another shot at “Shaolin,” this time with a SHOOTO title on the line.
Kawajiri systematically dismantled his Brazilian opponent, who until that moment was undefeated, with a series of strikes to force a stoppage. He was now the new SHOOTO welterweight champion.
Now instead of sitting down on his glory and enjoying the success of becoming champion, Kawajiri did what other popular SHOOTO champions did before him and he asked the SHOOTO commission to let him fight outside the organization in order to show the world the strength of SHOOTO fighters.
This dream became true when Kawajiri made his debut in PRIDE Bushido against Korean fighter Kim In Seok (Pictures) and later against Brazilian grappler Luiz Firmino (Pictures).
Like any other kid trying to prove himself Kawajiri made clear to everyone the only reason he was in PRIDE was to face the golden boy Takanori Gomi (Pictures). While other fighters tried to stay away from the top fighters in order to build experience, especially inside a new organization with new rules, Kawajiri took the short route and decided to face the stronger fighter right away.
What Kawajiri didn’t know was that he wasn’t ready to take on someone like Gomi. While he managed to hang in there the first couple of minutes it was evident as time passed that the skill level between these two was very different.
As Kawajiri threw wild haymakers, Gomi was on the other side picking his shots and wearing the “Crusher” down. When Kawajiri decided to shoot for takedowns Gomi answered with sprawls. Kawajiri’s heart didn’t let him quit, but it was obvious the cause was lost.
Kawajiri described better than anyone else during his post-fight interview what really happen through the fight. “I don’t remember the fight much,” he said, “but know I have a purpose to rematch Gomi.”
The same way he did the first time against Nakayama and like the second time he did versus Ribeiro, it’s time for change. Kawajiri told the press backstage he wishes to take a break from fighting. I guess somehow Kawajiri feels the cycle is complete and he knows now what he needs to do in order to once again become a top fighter and rematch Gomi.