Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Japanese Fighters

6. Tatsuya Kawajiri

The longtime great lightweight finishes sixth here. It's easy to see why Kawajiri had such fantastic longevity. He was big and strong for a lightweight of the 2000s, an excellent wrestler, and gradually became a good boxer. Additionally, he was consistently smart and tough, and always came into his fights in great shape, ready to go the full distance. And yet, he always lacked that little bit to make it to the very top. After losing his pro debut by submission and drawing his second outing, Kawajiri won seven straight fights in Shooto before running into their top fighter, and arguably the best lightweight in the world back then, Vitor Ribeiro, losing by decision. Kawajiri only took motivation from this, beginning another long unbeaten streak, one that saw him enter the divisional elite. He started by gaining revenge over Takumi Nakayama, who had defeated him in his pro debut, knocking him out in the first round in the rematch, and then decisioned Yves Edwards, then a top lightweight. After a draw with Caol Uno, Kawajiri avenged his only other MMA loss, knocking out Ribeiro in the second round. He then entered PRIDE and began his tenure going 2-0, including a win over talented Brazilian Luiz Firmino. Many thought Kawajiri might be the best lightweight in the world, and all eyes were on his showdown against rival Takanori Gomi at Pride Bushido 9. However, it would be Gomi coming out on top via rear-naked choke, cementing his claim as the best lightweight in the world then. Kawajiri then won a quick disqualification over Joachim Hansen, scored quick finishes of and Chris Brennan and knocked out the very tough Per Eklund in a little over four minutes. This set up another showdown against one of the best lightweights in the world, Gilbert Melendez, at Pride Shockwave 2006. Yet again, Kawajiri was just a little bit lacking in both the grappling and striking against the very best, losing a competitive but clear decision. This was highlighted again when, after beating a few fighters, most significant of which was Luiz Firmino, Kawajiri was knocked out by another top lightweight in Eddie Alvarez in 2008.

Over the next few years, Kawajiri scored some big wins, decisions over Kazunori Yokota and Gesias Calvacante and Josh Thomson, a knockout of Sean Soriano and a submission of Joachim Hansen, but they were punctuated with losses to Shinya Aoki via brutal Achilles Lock and a second loss to Melendez in 2011, this one far less competitive. Kawajiri continued being a good fighter for many years afterwards, even stringing together some wins in UFC's featherweight division, including Denis Siver, but he was no longer great. Still, there is a lot to be said for longevity and having been a Top 5 lightweight for as long as he was.

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