Takanori Gomi, a former 155-pound champion and widely considered the most dominant lightweight fighter to ever compete for PRIDE Fighting Championship, is not even good enough to be ranked among today's top 15 in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Mixed martial arts (MMA) ... she is a cruel mistress.
Gomi (35-10, 1 NC) is now 4-5 inside the Octagon, following a technical knockout loss to undefeated division standout Myles Jury at the UFC Fight Night 52 event on Fight Pass (results), which took place on Sat. (Sept. 20, 2014) inside Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
"The Fireball Kid" reacts to the loss during the post-fight press conference (watch it):
"His striking was very effective, he had a very good strategy. I'm very sorry for my performance. I'm glad I had this fight with Myles. He's a good fighter and he deserved that win tonight. Right now, I just need to sit down and contemplate the fight. It's my 36th birthday in a few days and I'm going to relax and take some time to think about my future."
Hear what Jury had to say about his big win here.
Gomi ruled the international circuit for nearly a decade, compiling an incredible 29-3 record in PRIDE and Shooto, among other promotions. But perhaps his most memorable PRIDE fight was against Nick Diaz in 2007, when he was submitted by gogoplata, only to have the loss overturned when Diaz failed his post-fight drug test.
It has been a rocky road for the Japanese "Fireball" ever since.
If and when he does come back, perhaps the promotion can use more discretion in its matchmaking, and leave the top 10 fighters to face off against ... other top 10 fighters.
Just a thought.