Yushin Okami talks to MMAplanet.jp about his loss this past weekend to Chael Sonnen and isn't feeling too good about it:
“It was a complete, utter defeat. Reflecting on the fight, I have thoughts like, `I should have done this, I should have done that,’ but they are indications that my ability as a fighter proved insufficient. Sonnen was tough. When I stuffed the first takedown, I found myself in the clinch position which is normally my domain; however, I was surprised to be scooped up from underneath and thrown on the mat when I tried to fire off a knee from the position. He was more powerful than I imagined, and left me confounded as to what I should do next, and he kept up with his offense. I have never experienced anything like this before. For this fight, I had the best training possible, so I am disappointed about this loss. At the same time, I think I saw the limitation of the environment in which I find myself in (in terms of training). In Japan, I inevitably face a shortage of training partners and I often find myself on the offensive during training. Though I try to improve and diversify my training routine, I probably hit the ceiling at some point. I have the option of uprooting myself and training overseas… if I continue to train in Japan, I feel that I will end up becoming complacent, so I want to go back to square one and challenge myself. I feel that there is a need for me to train with training partners who are bigger than me. In order to win in UFC, I have trained to not be taken down and end up on the bottom on the ground; I thought I had the right approach, but I had not thought about what I would do if I did end up in a disadvantageous position. I was lax in my approach. Losing my passport (NOTE: He lost his passport right before he flew out of Japan and arrived in LA a day later than was originally scheduled to) ? It had no bearing on the fight. With all that said, I am very glad that I got to fight a tough fighter like Chael Sonnen. I am disappointed because I have never experienced a loss like this — it is up to me use this as a learning experience, so I would like to carefully ruminate how I can improve and implement (what I learned) in my fights.”
