After 10 career draws, UFC’s Shunichi Shimizu determined to bypass judges

SINGAPORE – Japanese bantamweight Shunichi Shimizu has one goal in mind for his UFC debut: finish his opponent. Of course, the never-leave-it-in-the-hands-of-the-judges mantra tends to earn a special place in the heart of a fighter who’s had no fewer than 10 draws in his professional career.

“I don’t want to leave it to the judges,” Shimizu told MMAjunkie through a translator. “I will either finish my opponent by knockout or submission.”

The 28-year-old Shimizu (28-8-10 MMA, 0-0 UFC) meets South Korean bantamweight Kyung Ho Kang (11-7 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in the opening main-card bout of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 34 event, which takes place at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre. The entire event streams live on UFC Fight Pass, the UFC’s new digital network, at 6:30 a.m. ET (3:30 a.m. PT).

At first glance, Shimizu’s bizarre career record might seem to be a mistake, but he fought for years under the ZST banner, which didn’t use judges’ scores and instead issued a draw result to any fight that did not feature a stoppage.

Shimizu paid the price for that early in his career, registering six draws in his first eight professional fights, amassing a bizarre mark of 1-1-6. But now nearly nine years into his MMA run, Shimizu has improved on that ability to finish an opponent, and he now boasts a five-fight winning streak and is 12-2-3 (with nine stoppages) in his past 17 appearances.

On Saturday, he’ll look to carry that success into the UFC’s octagon, but a candid Shimizu admits he’s been around long enough to know that’s no guarantee.

“To be honest, I’m having a lot of fun, but I’m not sure if I can translate that in the octagon,” Shimizu said. “I’m a little but worried about that.

“It’s an entirely different environment from Japan. I’m worried about the transition from Japan to the UFC.”

His opponent, Kang, finds himself in a tough spot, as well, and will certainly be fighting for his place on the UFC roster. He’s already dropped to decisions to UFC regulars Chico Camus and Alex Caceres, though the result against “Bruce Leeroy” was later changed when he failed a post-fight drug test.

Shimizu believes it’s going to be a stern test but one in which he can ultimately prevail.

“I’ve seen quite a bit of footage on Kang, and I see he is a strong, wrestling-based fighter,” Shimizu said. “I think it’s a tough match but also a good match.”

And so Shimizu makes his UFC debut with some 46 bouts’ worth of professional experience under his belt, but he realizes anything can happen once the opening bell rings. There is, of course, one way to guarantee his success, and that’s to ensure the judges have no say. It’s not an unfamiliar position, but Shimizu admits this is different than any other previous challenge.

“I realize the UFC is a big stage,” he said. “You never know what’s going to happen in the cage. We’re all just people. I guess making mistakes is my biggest concern.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 34, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.