Michihiro Omigawa: The Fall and Rise..... The Fletch
Blog/'HelloJapan' collab | MMA-Japan.com - Japanese Mixed Martial
Arts News
Article by Daniel Fletcher, video by Stuart "Hello Japan"
Jones
No Cat No Life.
Not something many forum posters would expect to hear from me, but
Ce la vie. It’s the famous tag line attributed to one of Japan’s
and the world’s premier featherweights, Michihiro Omigawa.
On paper, Omigawa enjoyed perhaps the biggest reversal in fortunes
ever seen in Mixed Martial Arts – barring Ken Shamrock whose port
to starboard was in the opposite direction. Known for being an
inconsistent lightweight in the UFC, Omigawa initially competed in
America, earning a 4 wins, 7 losses ledger. Hardly the statistics
of a champion. Omigawa duly slunk home in obscurity, and signed for
World Victory Road’s rising org Sengoku as a featherweight. And
under the glare of the Rising Sun, his stock rose with meteoric
force, as an 8 wins 1 loss resume launched him into the consensus
top 3 world rankings, at least of those media outlets uninterested
in pandering to Zuffa LLC.
I did say ‘on paper’. My intense bias must shine forth momentarily,
so indulge me. Omigawa’s famous 8-1 streak at featherweight is
tarnished with the nature of the two biggest wins in it; the
Sengoku Featherweight Grand Prix semi-final against Marlon Sandro,
and the subsequent bout with Shooto king Hatsu Hioki. These two men
make up two of my personal top three 145lbs fighters, along with
Sandro’s teammate and sparring partner Jose Aldo Jr. While the
semi-final was admittedly close (though I feel 60-40 is an accurate
ratio in favour of Sandro) the Hioki fight was a consensus robbery.
Perhaps the best grappler in the sport, Hioki also boasts a very
competent stand-up game, with good kicks and dextrous boxing. He
used all to comfortably outpoint Omigawa, only to be screwed over
in a way J-MMA usually reserves for foreigners. I’m surprised Hioki
didn’t get out his passport and wave it in the faces of the judges.
“I’m fucking Japanese, kids. Give me my win!”
But regardless, there can be no denying that Omigawa is one of the
most improved fighters of all time. After the Sandro fight, he drew
Masanori Kanehara in the final, and dropped a split-decision – his
only official loss in his featherweight rise up the ranks. He ended
the Sandro fight with a submission attempt and some Ground’n’Pound,
and either evaded or rode the heavy punches of the Brazilian. His
Grand Prix final opponent wilted and was knocked unconscious by the
same hands, 38seconds into his title defence against Sandro
following the tournament. Omigawa used his boxing savvy to slip and
evade the monstrous blows, and returned fire, landing often. After
defecting from World Victory Road to Dream, he beat Hiroyuki Takaya
in a battle of Featherweight Grand Prix finalists – a win that
looks more impressive now given that Takaya rebounded with wins
over Hellboy Hansen and then Bibiano Fernandez to claim the Dream
title. Omigawa iced him. Close fights with Sandro and Hioki, and an
otherwise 6-1 resume at 145lbs including a stoppage win over Takaya
cannot be ignored. Omigawa is elite. He consistently displays
strong boxing and an iron chin, to go along with his judo base and
athleticism.
Omigawa fought in Dream, but despite beating the current Dream
champion Hiroyuki Takaya via knockout, he never seemed to find his
niche. He spent the run up to Dynamite calling out Lightweight
champ Shinya Aoki, and was ostensibly frustrated with his handling
by FEG. He was snapped up by the UFC, and while wrestler Chad
Mendes managed to mete out a losing return to America for the
Judoka, Omigawa showed his durability and doggedness, recovering
from a second round knockdown to survive the fight. His judo base
enabled him to throw off some of the takedown attempts, but he
succumbed to enough of them to lose a handsome points decision. No
ties to Yoshida could help him there.
I had said all along it was Japanophilic fantasy to rank Omigawa as
the #2 or #3 featherweight in the world, at the expense of Sandro
and Hioki. Paper wins over the pair disguise very thinly that the
champions of Pancrase, and Sengoku and Shooto respectively, are the
crème de la crème of Japan. But he is without question one of the
very best, no doubt heading that category just behind the elite
three, along with his conqueror Mendes, his former victim Takaya
the Dream titlist, Bibiano Fernandez and perhaps Manny Gamburyan
and Mike Thomas Brown. No doubt Miyata is rising through the ranks
too, and Diego Nunes is hot on the heels of the elite.
One thing is for sure – the featherweight division is STACKED, both
in world MMA and especially in Japan… and Omigawa is a very
interesting component of the top end of the division. On his day,
the FWGP finalist will cause anyone problems, and one hopes for
rematches with Hioki and Sandro, not to mention a potential dream
fight with Aldo while the pair ply their trade in America.
Look for Omigawa to become a solid addition to the USMMA
featherweight scene, once he finds his feet across the Pacific. He
lost his return, but reversals of fortune are old hat to the boy by
now. He can come good.
Here is my Team Takeover ally’s highlight of Michihiro Omigawa.
Copyright of Stuart Jones, a.k.a HelloJapan. Enjoy it, you filthy
swine.
YouTube - Michihiro
Omigawa - Highlight [HELLO JAPAN]