Takanori Gomi Crushes Tyson Griffin at UFC on Versus 2, Spurns "Japan is Dead" Talk

The main story we've been hearing for the bulk of 2010 in relation to anything in Japan is how Japan is dead. Well, it might not be dead yet, but it will be dead, and all of the main stars who fought in Japan and are stars in Japan, well, they aren't as good as their American counterparts and probably can't hang against the elite of the UFC. With one crushing right hook at UFC on Versus 2, Takanori Gomi declared war on this school of thought and showed he isn't ready to be considered "done" yet.

Many experts were asking about Gomi's future in MMA after tonight, the forgone conclusion being that the very tough Tyson Griffin, a man who has never ate canvas in his career, would dismantle and further expose the explosive fighter known as the Fireball Kid. Gomi put forth what many considered a poor showing against former two-time contender for the UFC Lightweight Championship, Kenny Florian, and the talk about being past his prime and needing to retire was deafening. 

Gomi really hadn't looked all that impressive in years, not since the PRIDE Bushido days. The loss to Nick Diaz really sort of sent his career and public opinion spiraling down and down and down to the point where even the most hardcore fans had lost faith in him. Outside of just Gomi, the recent shut-out pitched by Gil Melendez against DREAM Lightweight Champion Shinya Aoki really caused many to doubt Japan's relevance in the modern world of MMA. So of course when Aoki destroys top contender Tatsuya Kawajiri, the consensus wasn't that Aoki was training harder and had a superior game plan, but instead that Kawajiri wasn't as good as we thought he was. In a way, Japan has been poisoned, and a lot of it has to do with Takanori Gomi.

I know that sounds ridiculous, but to those who don't remember, Gomi was unstoppable for quite a while and was picking apart top contenders left and right in dominating fashion. His career in the past few years has suffered from a lot of postmortem quarterbacking and not looking at where the fighters he beat were then as opposed to now. Chuck Liddell suffers a very similar fate, the irony of course being that both fighters have very similar reputations and were both on top during the same period. 

Many feared for what would happen to Gomi going into tonight's fight, and just about everybody was proven wrong when Gomi's right hand connected flush on the jaw and Griffin hit the canvas. Gomi pounced but it wasn't even necessary, as Griffin was out of it and Gomi had just shocked the world. This win for Gomi serves as a beacon of hope and validation that not everything related to Japan is dead and maybe, just maybe the naysayers will have to take a step back and re-evaluate what we all think about Japanese MMA.

SBN coverage of UFC on Versus 2: Jones vs. Matyushenko