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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Longtime Japanese featherweight star Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto made his bantamweight debut in the middle of 2010, and now sits poised to make his UFC debut next month at UFC 126.
But while the 33-year-old is entering a talent rich division inside the Octagon for the first time against Demetrious Johnson, he doesn't believe he's got much of a challenge in the weight class.
And when he says there aren't any fighters at his level, he means the entire division from top to bottom. When asked about division Champion Dominick Cruz, he said "[He's] nothing special... not at all. I'll bring him down."
Kid needs to get past a very tough and scrappy young fighter in Johnson, but if he does, there's a definite possibility he'll be on a fast track toward a title shot in the organization. He'll need to win a couple of fights, but if he believes he's a level above everyone else at 135 lbs., he's going to get an opportunity to prove that.
Penick's Analysis: Yamamoto had troubles with injuries that kept him out of action for all of 2008, and when he returned and lost to Joe Warren, who had one career fight prior to that meeting, the talk of his decline in the sport began. When he followed that up with a disappointing decision loss in his next fight, that talk of declination continued to gain steam. His win over Federico Lopez last year was a positive step, but he brings with him a lot of questions into his UFC debut, and he's got to get past a very tough test in Johnson. If he doesn't think Johnson's on his level and takes him lightly, he could be in for a rude awakening in his first ever fight in the U.S.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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