Who’s the Real HERO for Ya?

Mr. Ham and Mr. Schults, thank you very much for your kind letters about my prediction on the PRIDE GP. Yeah, I almost had a perfect déjà vu at Saitama Super Arena on August 28.

Did you guys watch that show? Wasn’t it great? But it’s so two weeks ago. Yeah, we MMA fans are hungry for new information and here we are following HER0’s show on Wednesday. So let’s go over some of my thoughts.

Where should I start? OK, let’s start with Japanese MMA superstar, former SHOOTO champion, UFC veteran … Caol Uno (Pictures). Now, guys! Close your eyes, put your face down on the desk. Nobody sees you, so be honest: Raise your hand if you are big fan of Caol Uno (Pictures). Raise your hand if you feel Uno is very exciting fighter. Thank you for cooperation.

C’mon guys, now tell us, which parts of his fight game are you attracted to watching? His defense against his opponent’s submission attempt? His footwork? His cardio? Yes, I agree. Those are great skills of his. But are they something we look forward to seeing in MMA event?

I’ve watched Uno for some time now and recently I noticed I don’t have the heartbeat I used to for his fights. What made me like this? I found the answer some while ago and it became clear recently. You know what I feel? Uno fights not to lose. Guys, the man is so good both on the ground and standing — as I wrote above, his footwork the is best in the business — but the guy can’t finish a fight.

Don’t you tell me Uno submitted Serkan Yilmaz (Pictures) or Chandet Sorpantrey (Pictures). I know most of the people who read this column are hardcore fans and had no fun watching Uno-Serkan or Uno-Sorpantrey. Those match-ups were a joke for the former SHOOTO champion.

Now, his HERO’s fights looked awesome. I have to agree with that. But, it was because Uno’s opponents worked hard. “Kid” Yamamoto and Hideo Tokoro (Pictures) worked their butts off to conquer their fights against Uno.

First of all, they’re both much smaller than Uno. Tokoro is just amazing how he attempts submissions on this joint or that joint. He even goes for some submission that everybody thinks like, “man you don’t make it.” But if he goes, people expect some action in there.

Norifumi Yamamoto (Pictures). This lil’ guy goes for broke. He just had a knockout loss in K-1 MAX a few months ago but he still prefers to engage the stand-up against heavier and bigger guys like Uno, more than work on the ground — even though his background is wrestling.

And what is Kid’s weapon on his feet? His unorthodox right-handed southpaw style and vicious power in his right knuckle. Uno is much bigger than both “Kid” and Tokoro and still couldn’t finish the fight. Can you get my point?

Let me make this easy. “Kid” or Tokoro try to fight in black or white, very clear, win or lose. But from Uno — maybe this is just me — what I see is his first priority is not to lose. Winning comes second. Needless to say, knockout or submission wins seem like his last choice.

Maybe that’s the right option for his fight career. Winning is very important for professional fighters but every time when I hit this kind of wall the guy whose name always come up in my mind is Rumina Sato (Pictures), the most tragic guy in MMA History.

Sometimes he wins, sometimes he loses. But every time he has this “go for broke” attitude, he loses his fight. And that’s kind of a common thing for him. He’s not an undefeated fighter. but people still love him. Why? Because, he wants to label himself as either a “winner” or “loser.” But in the process, he shows off everything he can. Try this. Try that. Neck to leg. Almost no moves are repeated in his fights.

Now what is important? Is a “W” the only thing? Three years ago, when I just started working for Sherdog in Huntington Beach, California, I asked my boss (none other than Jeff Sherwood) over and over, “Why doesn’t the UFC use Uno more often?”

“Because Uno is not exciting!“ he answered.

And that was the first time Jeff said something without smiling while wearing a dead serious face. I guess I was telling the same thing to my boys Stephen Martinez and Jason Nowe at Ariake Coliseum. Don’t get me wrong, Uno’s technique level is one of the best in MMA. But what we want more from him is to finish the fight. That’s all. What else I can look for?

Here’s something else for you. As Jason Nowe reported, HERO’s supervisor Mr. Akira Maeda offered a bitter comment about Genki Sudo (Pictures)’s fighting style. Jason tossed the question to you guys, and you got the answer? I kinda have my own answer. But let’s go over how Genki fought last night.

This is what I saw in Genki’s semifinal fight: 80 percent of time Genki ran away from Hiroyuki Takaya (Pictures)’s pressure. Genki ate Takaya’s punch and he got a huge bump on his forehead. Then in the very last minute of the fight, Genki caught Takaya in triangle and tapped him out.

Yes, I wrote he was running away. He almost showed his back to his opponent and tried to keep the distance. In other words he was trying to play his game of running around the ring — it almost looked like he was running away from a molester.

If Sudo wins his next fight, the HERO’s 154-pound tournament finals versus “Kid” Yamamoto, scheduled to be held on New Years Eve, he’ll be the first champion of a HERO’s tournament. But if he wins with the same strategy as last night, I’ll be very disappointed because that means we won’t see boom and bang.

Now here’s a question for you: If Sudo wins like this, is he the real champion or not? A win is a win. Champ is the champ. But I may have a hard time respecting him as a champ.

Do we want just a champ from the tournament? Is that all we want? Just to find out who wears the belt at the end of the show? No! What I look for is the HERO — a hero who can be a champ because a champ is not always a hero. That’s all I gotta say.