Ishii and Baroni Workout: Pics

Satoshi Ishii; Photo courtesy of MMAJunkie

Olympic gold medalist Judoka Satoshi Ishii (0-0 MMA) has been working out withe many MMA legends as he prepares to make his professional debut. He spent time with American Top Team in Florida and now is working out with UFC veteran Phil Baroni (13-11 MMA, 3-5 UFC).

Ishii is signed to the Japanese promotion World Victory Road, which runs the Sengoku event. Whether Ishii’s skills will translate to MMA has been a topic of great debate, and Ishii will hardly be the first Olympic Judo champion to step into the ring, as he will follow former Olympic champ and countryman Hidehiko Yoshia (8-7-1 MMA), but will look to have more success. It is my personal opinion that Ishii’s style of Judo (which resembles Greco-Roman wrestling in many ways) will be more conducive to MMA than Yoshida’s. Also, Ishii already holds a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which has contributed a great deal to his mat work.

For the pics, check out MMAJunkie, who has exclusive rights to them. It’s great stuff.