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What's the story?
The untimely death of UFC fighter Norifumi Yamamoto, at age 41, has sent shockwaves throughout the MMA fraternity.
Through an Instagram post back on August 26th, he revealed that he was suffering from cancer and had been receiving treatment on the Pacific Island of Guam.
In case you didn't know...
Norifumi Yamamoto was a Japanese mixed martial artist and kickboxer who competed in the UFC's lightweight and featherweight divisions.
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Towards the end of his UFC career, he competed in the bantamweight division. Yamamoto stepped away from the octagon in 2007, to represent Japan in wrestling at the 2007 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
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The heart of the matter
Yamamoto was to follow in the footsteps of his father, Ikuei Yamamoto, who had represented Japan in the games back in 1972. As a kid, he was sent by his father to train with Olympic silver medalist, Townsend Saunders, in wrestling.
In an unfortunate event during the Olympics, he dislocated his arm during a bout with Kenji Inoue, when an arm-whipped takedown was performed on him. This incident forced him out of competition, and his dreams of winning an Olympic gold medal were shattered.
Yamamoto then returned back to the Octagon but was never the same fighter. He ended up winning only one of his last seven fights. His first fight after returning to the UFC in 2011, was against Demetrious Johnson.
He lost this fight via decision. Yamamoto last competed in the Octagon back in 2015. His last fight was against Roman Salazar at UFC 184. The bout ended in a no contest after an accidental eye poke left his opponent unable to compete.
Norifumi Yamamoto was a famous celebrity in Japan with a number of major commercial endorsements. Some of his achievements include being the Hero's lightweight champion, in a tournament where he beat big names in the sport such as Royler Gracie and Genki Sudo, by knockout.
He is also famously known for his astonishing four-second knockout win, via flying knee, against wrestler-Kazuyuki Miyata.
What's next?
The MMA will direly miss the ever so charismatic nature and fighting style of Norifumi Yamamoto. Here are some of MMA's pros, as well as the president of the UFC, Dana White, reacting to this unfortunate incident.
