Rumors surfaced this week regarding a potential deal in the works to bring the PRIDE lightweight champion in Takanori Gomi to the UFC. The rumor mill churned with news that Frankie Edgar had been offered a fight with Gomi, but Gomi declined the offer. Multiple conspiracy theorists and entire forum communities are on the case. The fact is that the deal probably never happened and the fight was never offered to Edgar.
Edgar's management fired a disheartening shot to MMA fans on the UG forum after the rumor had hit the 'Net (link is to Sherdog post from the UG post, too lazy to find the original UG post):
Not true he was never offered that fight, we heard a rumor that the ufc was trying to put it together but as of today frank does not have an opp for april 3rd. And the ufc never offered him a fight with gomi.
Other than the fact that his management team has horrible writing abilities, it looks like Edgar was never offered the fight, and the Gomi rumor is a complete waste of time. We do know that the UFC is most likely talking to Gomi, and we all saw the pictures of Gomi at UFC 79. In my personal opinion, Takanori Gomi should ship out to Japan and earn a living there until he improves some significant pieces of his skillset.
Why the hate?
First and foremost, my opinion of Gomi relies on the simple fact that his losses have been to better grapplers. BJ Penn ran the most surprising clinic of skill from Gomi's back that we have seen when pitting two of the world's top class athletes against one another at any given time. At no point in the fight was Gomi in a position to ever win, and he was on the defensive for nearly the entire fight. Marcus Aurelio showed us that a great BJJ ground game can also defeat the "Fireball Kid", and grappling tournament footage has shown that Gomi's back is still the place to be if you get into a battle with him. Matt Serra's win over Gomi showed much of the same style that Penn used on him in an actual MMA fight.
Sean Sherk, Frankie Edgar, and nearly any good, talented grappler or wrestler that can utilize the cage effectively has a shot at beating Gomi. Gomi has some good wrestling and some powerful hands, but I think the UFC may be a bit much for a man who can make millions in Japan in sponsorships and purses. Gomi has, however, defeated some top notch wrestlers in Japan such as Ishida and Kawajiri, both very tough fighters. Ishida recently destroyed Melendez in the first round of their matchup at Yarennoka with some impressive wrestling. Gomi would have a good chance against some of the UFC fighters mentioned above, but I believe it'd be a tough task.
The bottom line is that I would be very surprised if he signed with the UFC, but if he wants to prove he's the best lightweight in the world, it's the place to be. It obviously would show that he wants to fight the best in the world, even at the expense of losing out on some money that he could have made in his home country. It may bring the dog out in Takanori Gomi and cause him to really take his ground game more seriously and evolve his ground skills to be dangerous. We should all give some respect to Gomi if he takes the plunge to be a UFC lightweight fighter and try to prove to us that he's willing to make the sacrifices that we've heard about in the past regarding the UFC contract situation. Fedor's situation and the criticism he has received because he didn't take a deal that would help solidify his legacy is exactly why a Gomi deal would be unbelievable.