‘Kid’ Yamamoto Signs with UFC, Debuts Against Demetrious Johnson at UFC 126
Japanese standout Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto has signed with the UFC and will drop to bantamweight to make his Octagon debut against fellow newcomer Demetrious Johnson at UFC 126, MMA Weekly reports.
Yamamoto won 14-straight from 2002 through 2007 while fighting primarily with K-1, earning wins over the likes of Caol Uno, Jeff Curran, Genki Sudo, Kazuyuki Miyata, Rani Yahya, and current DREAM champ Bibiano Fernandes.
“Kid” suffered losses to Joe Warren and Masanori Kanehara in DREAM last year following a year-and-a-half layoff, but rebounded in May with a first-round knockout of Federico Lopez at DREAM 14.
Johnson (8-1) moves to the UFC after going 2-1 in the WEC, dropping his debut to Brad Pickett before bouncing back with wins over Nick Pace and Damacio Page.
The Feb. 5 UFC 126 fight card in Las Vegas is headlined by middleweight champ Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort and also features Rich Franklin vs. Forrest Griffin and Jon Jones vs. Ryan Bader.
Tweet This
Share on Facebook
Digg This
Save to delicious
Stumble it
RSS Feed
