*Rumor* Yushin Okami vs. Jason MacDonald

Dr.Chicago · 08-06-2007, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Rumor: Yushin Okami vs. Jason MacDonald

By Kris on 06 Aug 2007

Recent rumors indicate top middleweights Yushin Okami and Jason MacDonald will face off later this year. Although no specific event has been mentioned, UFC 77, which already features a middleweight title fight between Anderson Silva and Rich Franklin and a middleweight bout between Kalib Starnes and Alan Belcher, is a likely possibility.

Despite coming off of a unanimous decision loss to Rich Franklin, Okami remains a top middleweight contender in a weak division going 4-1 in his 5 career UFC fights. Okami defeated Belcher, Starnes, Rory Singer, and Mike Swick before falling to Franklin in the main event of UFC 72.

MacDonald debuted in late 2006 defeating Ed Herman at UFC: The Final Chapter by triangle choke. MacDonald defeated Chris Leben at UFC 66 by submission to earn a matchup with Franklin at UFC 68. MacDonald was mismatched in the fight losing by TKO following the second round after his corner called for a stop to the fight. MacDonald looked impressive in his return bout at UFC 72 defeating Rory Singer by TKO in the second round.

Although title shots are never guaranteed in the UFC this match pits two of the UFC’s current top middleweights against one another in a fight that will likely earn them a title shot against Franklin or Silva pending their UFC 77 bout. Martin Kampmann, another top middleweight who has yet to be defeated in the UFC, will not return from a knee injury until early-2008 removing him from the current list of contenders to challenge for the middleweight championship.

Source: Rumor: Yushin Okami vs. Jason MacDonald | UFC Daily

They are both tough matches for each other.. Both Big MW with great ground game and submissions.. But what happens if Rich wins against Silva? Immediate rematches?? Or Kampmann is gonna be thrown in the mix??

codkaz · 08-06-2007, 11:49 PM

I really like MacDonald, i was impressed with him from the get go, and i also think given a couple more fights before being thrown to the wolves, he would have had enough UFC experience to make a dent in the middle weight division

Jras0001 · 08-07-2007, 12:06 AM

I was impressed with MacDonald in his first two fights. Im not too sure though that he is strong or large enough to take on Okami. This fight might go the distance but I doubt it. If I remember correctly, MacDonald was slightly smaller than Franklin and Okami is just as big if not a bit bigger than Franklin. I think that size might play as big a role in this fight as it did in the Okami / Swick fight.

earvinarp · 08-07-2007, 12:32 AM

Nah... Okami will sit on MacDonald's head for 15 minutes.

Elder · 08-07-2007, 01:04 AM

Okami mounted his last two opponents and still couldn't finish them.
But then again, Jason MacDonald has a weak stand-up game.

I would lean toward Okami by sitting on MacDonald's head multiple times.

LinvilleGorge · 08-07-2007, 01:12 AM

I only see the winner of this fight getting a title shot if Silva beats Franklin again. Franklin has beaten both of these guys recently and I don't see there being much interest in seeing him fight either one of them again so soon - unless Okami actually wants to fight this time around. I Franklin beats Silva, I see the winner of this fight being Silva's first victim on the comeback trail. If Silva beats Franklin, the winner of this fight may get a shot at Silva and the belt.

Cacti45 · 08-07-2007, 01:17 AM

Okami should take this by TKO

Pitbull · 08-07-2007, 01:37 AM

I don't know how this fight is gonna go down.

Okami is more of a counter-puncher, and J-Mac isn't much of a puncher at all. His standup is pretty weak.

So I think its safe to assume, we won't be seeing much standup.

I don't know if J-Mac can take Okami down, and I don't know if Okami is willing to be aggressive and pursue the takedown himself.

My guess is the J-Mac will attempt a takedown, get reversed, with Okami ending up on top of him.

My guess would be Okami by decision, and if he comes out aggressive possibly a GNP TKO.

duke09 · 08-07-2007, 01:55 AM

i think that macdonald is somewhat of a walking contradiction in a fairly weak division. he was brought in to make short fuse look good, beats him, then beaks off a bit, then beats leben and is thrown to franklin. i have no doubt that he could make a serious dent in the divisision, but i wonder how much him losing to rich could impact him.

i think he may have been a upstart that was intended to make rich look good after a beat down from silva.

okami could have won the franklin fight, imo, if only he hadnt slept through the first 2 rounds. he dominated the 3rd, but started about 10 minutes too late. i suspect rich will lose to silva again, so this rumoured fight between okami and macdonald could be very important in terms of title implications, but i am not sure that either man could offer much challenge to silva, and as mentioned, if rich beats silva, he has beaten these two great fighters already.

so, enter kampman. i think he is likley a bit smaller than franklin, but is likley close to size as silva. he has already shown his great chin and survival instincts against mcfrdries, and i suspect he will be a wild card in the MW division and his stock will rise significantly once rich loses. if rich loses to silva again, i would expect silva and kampman if kampman is physically able, and rich and marquardt, a fight that i would love to see.

however, if rich loses and okami wins, i expect to see okami fight silva next, but again, i expect silva to finish off okami. as mentioned, okami has had his last 2 opponents hurt in a big way and couldnt finish, and he is a counter puncher. with silva's deadly strikes, counter punching aint such a good idea.

after all is said and done, silva will reign as champ forever, macdonald will become a nhl announcer, and rich will start doing commercials for child's literacy and plastic surgeons.

RebLMunkE · 08-07-2007, 02:56 AM

Okami by complete one sided beat down.....

BCguy · 08-07-2007, 03:04 AM

As much as i like "the athlete" , i see a 2nd round TKO win for Okami. Imo Jason is not ready for this.

I heart LNP · 08-07-2007, 07:08 AM

Okami will be too strong for MacDonald and will dominate for the entire fight and get a TKO in round one.

FightFan76 · 08-07-2007, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jras0001

I was impressed with MacDonald in his first two fights. Im not too sure though that he is strong or large enough to take on Okami. This fight might go the distance but I doubt it. If I remember correctly, MacDonald was slightly smaller than Franklin and Okami is just as big if not a bit bigger than Franklin. I think that size might play as big a role in this fight as it did in the Okami / Swick fight.

I agree; Okami will just be too big and strong for McDonald.

Corey · 08-07-2007, 05:00 PM

This seems like a logical battle, as both lost to Rich Franklin recently, it is only right to see who next behind him for title contention.

HaVoK · 08-07-2007, 05:40 PM

I see this being a great ground-war. With the outcome either being Okamy by decision or MacDonald by submission.

H@mmerM@n · 08-07-2007, 06:11 PM

This should be a good fight but in the end I see Okami coming out on top,he's just so strong he bullys everyone around he faces with the exception of Rich

Corey · 08-07-2007, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H@mmerM@n

This should be a good fight but in the end I see Okami coming out on top,he's just so strong he bullys everyone around he faces with the exception of Rich

But will okami be able to bully macdonald? Macdonald is a big middleweight with quick submissions, he could be a tough matchup for okami. I'm leaning towards macdonald with the upset.

Kurtis636 · 08-08-2007, 04:37 AM

Hey, Dana! Sign Denis Kang and now that Filho has won the WEC title he's a viable option for an instant title shot as well. If Dan Henderson isn't going to fight at MW then those are really your only other legit contenders to put up against Silva after the Franklin rematch. If Franklin wins you've got a lot of possibilities to work with, if he loses then the MW scene starts to resemble the HW scene a few years ago.

Personally I'm hoping Franklin wins it, and maybe he will, but Silva looked pretty impressive against Marquardt so we shall see. If Rich loses Dana's going to need to shell out some $Texas.

PghPens71 · 08-08-2007, 09:16 AM

AWESOME. Bring this fight on.

CounterPuncher · 08-08-2007, 07:52 PM

I think Okami has the better chance of winning, however I'm going to go with Macdonald by submission for the upset.