Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Flyweights

6. Mamoru Yamaguchi

Unlike previous entries Urushitani and Kojima, I had actually heard of and even watched Yamaguchi's fights prior to making this list. I also think his inclusion here at sixth is utterly laughable. Perhaps if one is exceedingly generous, one could argue for 10th, but sixth, especially ahead of a fighter who was around in Shooto at that time, Jussier Formiga, and beat him head-to-head? Yamaguchi was an excellent striker with decent grappling chops, though his 0-1-2 record against Kojima betrays a weakness against especially good, if one-dimensional wrestlers. He is also 1-1 against fellow striker Urushitani, defeating him in 2003 but losing the rematch in 2007. Admittedly, Yamaguchi was awesome at defeating lesser Shooto foes. Trouble is, they were all fairly weak. Among his best wins are choking out a young Frank Baca and a decision over Yuki Shojo. Not exactly the accomplishments one associates with anyone on these divisional top 10 lists, let alone someone in sixth place.

Once Yamaguchi fought better opposition he was exposed, beginning with a one-sided loss to a very young Formiga who, again, is inexplicably behind him on this list. Yamaguchi was 34 years old for this fight, so while possibly slightly past his prime, not excessively so, and Formiga wasn't close to his best for this encounter, either. Hey, I love Japanese MMA too and used to follow the bantamweight and heavier weight classes throughout the 2000s, but let's be honest about the skill level of some of these guys.

Continue Reading » Number 5