It is being reported that the Japanese Judo gold medalist and star, Satoshi Ishii, has put his UFC negotiations on hold in order to entertain offers from other USA based MMA promotions, including Affliction.
As many may remember, Ishii was a special guest of UFC president Dana White at UFC 92 and was also seen in Dana’s video blog behind the scenes at UFC 94. Ishii also appeared at Sengoku 7 wearing a UFC shirt. After reportedly turning down as much as a $6 million dollar contract to fight in Japan, it was thought that the UFC contract was a done deal.
“And the most important news, Ishii is putting contract negotiations with the UFC on hold for now. As a professional he wants to hear the talk of various organizations. He especially mentioned Affliction and mentioned both Fedor and Sylvia. However, he said that right now the UFC is still the first candidate.”
Ishii has recently canceled the lease to his apartment in Japan in order to move to the United States in order to train at the American Top Team camp in Florida as well as at Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s training facility. Whether or not this is just a negotiating ploy remains to be seen, but many think that Affliction would love to sign and steal away the UFC’s heavyweight recruit.