Very sad to hear about the death of MMA legend Kid Yamamoto who passed away last night of cancer. Yamamoto was a favorite of mine and he was only 41. I did hope he could beat it but it wasn't to be. Yamamoto was a legend of MMA who along with Urijah Faber was credited for being one of the first superstars in the lower classes and one of the best in the mid-2000s as he had it all in great wrestling, athleticism, explosiveness, & knockout power you don't see in fighters his size. I also respect him as he was one of those fighters who didn't care about size as he was a natural 135 pound bantamweight but fought as high as 155 pound lightweight. He won the K-1 HERO'S Middleweight (165.3 pounds) Grand Prix and his four second knockout over Kazuyuki Miyata is one of the greatest knockouts in history. While he did have some cans here and there, he still scored good wins over the likes of future Shooto Champion Hideki Kadowaki, Jeff Curran, Royler Gracie, Caol Uno, Genki Sudo, & Rani Yahya as well against future champions like Jadamba Narantungalag & Bibiano Fernandes early in their career and dominated future Strikeforce champion Josh Thomson before an accidentally groin shot from Thomson led the fight to a no contest. 13 years before the Conor McGregor/Floyd "Money" Mayweather boxing fight, Yamamoto's kickboxing fight with K-1 legend Masato drew over 34 million viewers on TV and help sell at least 35,000 fans to the Osaka Dome. It's sad his career didn't end on a good note as he was never the same after an ACL tear in 2008 and his DREAM & UFC runs failed all the while he never did that win in UFC. On the plus side, his legacy is secured even though he didn't reach his full potential. I can keep going on but I've went long enough. Godspeed to a legend taken way too soon.
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