Takanori Gomi dropped off the lightweight face of the earth after Pride FC was vanquished.  Hanging in limbo for a year, he then signed with Sengoku and fought on their first show, amassing a fairly disappointing 2-2 record in the promotion with a questionable decision loss to Russian Sergey Golyaev and by tapping out to submission whiz Satoru Kitaoka. Although he was victorious in his return to the Shooto organization, the exhilerating gogoplata secured by Nick Diaz in Pride's last outing seemed to deflate Gomi's reputation and roll, in addition to the UFC reestablishing their lightweight division after closing it down years before, the latter paving the way for the Japanese lightweight scene to dominate the market almost by default.  Gomi was scheduled for his first appearance in Affliction, but the promotion was wiped clean off the MMA screen by Josh Barnett's tainted drug test results. It seems his resolve remains unshattered as he provides a very bold statement from a somewhat contradictory demeanor of calm modesty.  Speaking with Fighters Only, he shares thoughts about his maturity and expectations of being a new father, and declares that he is still the #1 lightweight in the world.  Some choice excerpts from the interview:

EP: It is some time since you last fought. Do you believe you may have difficultly on your way back to the ring?No, I’m stronger than ever. I’m more experienced and after Affliction’s demise I decided not to create further expectations. When I do return to fighting I’ll be all set.   EP: Where do you expect to fight, in USA or Japan?I’ve no worries with that at this time. What really matters is, I feel good to return. I don’t have much expectation on where or when I’ll fight. It’s going to be decided nicely. EP: How about that message you sent to Dana White? That was after Nakamura’s fight. I believed I’d fight for UFC but some terms avoided me to fight at that time. I regret having said that. EP: Do you still think you’re the number one MMA lightweight fighter? Of course. I don’t see any fighter over me in this weight class. I think nobody has reached my best but there are great fighters able to get where I got, for sure.

  As a staunch supporter of Gomi's status atop the worldwide lightweight division in years past, his apparent state of oblivion towards many currently ranked 155'ers is a tad perplexing.  Although Gomi may still be the most accomplished lightweight with the most impressive overall resume, his stature has plummeted in the last year, making him nearly irrelevant in current rankings. Full interview at Fighters Only.

           

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