Yushin Okami, one of the higher profile releases from recent years in the UFC, is back with the promotion. The UFC announced the news during the UFC Fight Night 116 broadcast from Pittsburgh Saturday evening following a report by The MMA Kings. Okami will step into the main event of UFC Japan (UFC Fight Night 117) next week; the event goes down September 23 in Saitama, Japan. Okami will face Ovince St. Preux on the card, replacing Shogun Rua.
Okami (34–10) fought in the UFC from 2006 to 2013 before being released by the promotion. During that span, he challenged middleweight great Anderson Silva for the title during the height of The Spider’s heyday. Despite being on a 3-1 run at the time, Okami was released by the UFC after a single loss to Jacare Souza at UFC Fight Night 28, a move that shocked fans and pundits alike.
Okami then moved to the World Series of Fighting, where, after winning his debut, he suffered back-to-back losses to David Branch (for the promotion’s middleweight title) and Jon Fitch (at welterweight). He rebounded nicely, however, and is currently on a four-fight win streak, with his most recent victory coming by decision against Andre Lobato at PFL 2.
Shogun’s reason for withdrawing is reportedly a knee injury, an issue that has plagued him throughout his career.
