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[Sakara=Excitement]

- NO FLORIAN FIGHT YET, GOMI GUNNING FOR PENN- MMA WEEKLY - Mixed Martial Arts & UFC News, Photos, Rankings & more

UFC president Dana White, at Saturday night’s UFC 108 post-fight press conference, reaffirmed his company’s signing of highly touted Japanese lightweight Takanori Gomi. Contrary to speculation earlier in the day, he also stated that they don’t yet have the former No. 1 lightweight’s first fight in the Octagon mapped out.

ESPN’s MMA Live, of which top UFC lightweight Kenny Florian is a co-host, Tweeted on Saturday that “It looks like Gomi will fight Ken-Flo in his UFC debut!”

Never one to shy away from a challenging opponent, sources close to Florian’s camp, however, told MMAWeekly.com that while Florian would welcome a fight with Gomi, it has yet to be offered.

“I don’t think we’ve really thought about who Gomi will fight yet,” said White. “We just signed him. Obviously in that weight division, there’s a lot of great guys who we can line him up with.”

Gomi agrees. Recent training at American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Calif., the home of fighters such as Mike Swick, Cain Velasquez, Jon Fitch, and Josh Koscheck, has sparked the “Fireball Kid’s” competitive spirits. He’s not shy about saying he’s gunning for the top of the mountain... UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn.

“Starting with B.J. Penn, I feel that all the fighters are at a high level,” said Gomi.

“There's a lot to be learned from BJ's fighting spirit,” he added. “Obviously my only goal is to get to his level, and this will be a great challenge to me as a fighter, to see if I can remain as a top level fighter. And of course it would mean a lot of become the champion, but I'm not looking that far ahead. For me, right now, the goal is to become THE UFC fighter and to fight in front of the fans here.”

[willpunisher]

really awesome sign. should had been in the ufc every since ufc bought Pride.
curious to see him against guida and sherk.

[Malevolence]

Florian in his first UFC fight,talk about jumping in at the deep end,Florian is a star on the rise,whilst Gomis career seems to have reached something of a plateau (if not decline).
If it were to happen I reckon its a good fight for Ken-Flo,one hes capable of taking in impressive fashion.
Im a pretty big fan of Gomi but hes looked very lacklustre in the last 2-3 years,he certainly hasnt looked like the wrecking ball that took out Kawajiri,Pulver,Sakarai & Azerado in brutal fashion 4 or 5 years ago.
If Florian wins he goes right back into number 1 contender reckoning & if he loses it'll be the old "well,he is the Pride LW champion y'know" angle,no real harm done.Whereas if Gomi loses,well theres almost no point in fighting in the U.S,might as well head back to Japan & pick up bigger paydays for easier fights.
My pick for Gomis 1st fight would be Joe Daddy,less threat of a loss but still a credible win should he pull it off,then maybe think about Florian.

[Fedorlei Gomipierre]

Stylistically, Gomi's skillset poses so much trouble for Florian, who'll come in with a solid size advantage but other than that IMO, he'll get thrown around in the clinch and get dummied on the ground. His point striking game is beyond solid, but Gomi's game will be to nullify and suffocate him and if he's on his game, I seriously see Gomi pulling a guillotine or neckcrank after GNPing Florian against the cage for a round or two....

Although this ALL depends on if Gomi's legit in his committment. He's SO fucking talented and DANGEROUS, but really seems to check in and out of caring depending on his mood. We'll all see how GOOD Gomi cares to be in the UFC within the first half of his first round. He'll either come out flatter than FLAT or like a legitimate FIREBALL.

[TBEAR]

He should start with Guida or Sherk

Ken Flo is very deep water hope he can still swim

[Stacked]

IMO Gomi still has it. It's not the same thing with guys like Cro Cop and maybe Wandy (seeing how he does at mw). Gomi was just in this stage where he needed a new camp, and got a great one, and didn't train hard and over looked guys. A well trained Gomi will be a force to be reckoned with. He has the chin, power and wrestling to be successful in the ufc. I'm in favor of a rematch with Penn starting off to unify the belts even if he hasn't been as of impressive lately. But that's coming from a biased pride fan. I believe Gomi can become the best lw in the world again once Penn leaves the division again.

But fights with Kenny, Joe, Frankie, Nate, Diego and Sherk all interest me

[The_Mab69]

I think they should throw him in there with edgar first to gauge where he's at, also i kind of feel like frankie has sort of been over looked and he deserves a big fight for an opportunity to step up, he made sherk look stupid in that fight, whats happened to sean sherk he sucks now, i remember when he was the man

[TBEAR]

Originally Posted by The_Mab69

I think they should throw him in there with edgar first to gauge where he's at, also i kind of feel like frankie has sort of been over looked and he deserves a big fight for an opportunity to step up, he made sherk look stupid in that fight, whats happened to sean sherk he sucks now, i remember when he was the man

IMO Sherk got left behind the game. This is not wrestling. look at his prime and hughes prime almost the same timeline

Take someone like Hughes great wrestler but has subs and ok striking....now look at sherk can be out wrestled his striking his that short jab he throw has never been a real KO power guy has very small amount of subs
IMO sherk just got left behind

[deathloc]

dana had stated in his vblog that gomim wont get a immediate shot at penn as he will need to earn that shot and besides penn had already defeated gomi. dana said that and not i lol. okay well i agree the majority that gomi still has it and fights against sherk maynard and edgar would be terrific but id like to see his fight fight in ufc against stout that be class.

[KevoOnTheRadio]

I would rather see him in against Sherk first. Thats actually a fight I wouldn't have minded seeing 3 or 4 years ago. Gomi can get a win against a guy with name recognition, and a win for Sherk puts him right back up the ladder. Gomi has showed me nothing in the last year or so that would tell me he's in Ken-Flo's league.