Bellator 162's Goiti Yamauchi not letting youth get in the way of title aspirations

Goiti Yamauchi may be young – he’ll turn 24 in January. But he’s not ready to let youth stand in the way of his goal of getting a Bellator belt wrapped around his waist.

On Friday, Yamauchi (19-3 MMA, 5-2 BMMA) will take what he hopes is the next step on that path – and he’ll do it at a new weight class. Yamauchi is moving up to lightweight from his longtime featherweight home, and he’ll take on Ryan Couture (10-4 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) to open the main card of Bellator 162, which takes place at FedEx Forum in Memphis. The main card will air on Spike following prelims on MMAjunkie.

Yamauchi, born in Japan and raised in Brazil, said the weight cuts to get to featherweight were taking too big of a toll on him. In his second fight for the promotion against Saul Almeida at Bellator 109, Yamauchi came in at a hefty 152.3 pounds. Since then, he hasn’t missed weight – but that doesn’t mean it’s been easy getting down to 146.

“I am moving up in weight because I didn’t feel comfortable,” Yamauchi told MMAjunkie. “I felt I couldn’t give my best. I’m a lightweight who used to fight as a featherweight. I was cutting too much weight, and it was a great detriment to my performance. My physical attributes were in the dumps. I didn’t have enough strength and speed. Lightweight is my weight class – it always was.

“Now I’m much heavier than when I entered Bellator. This will be my weight class going forward. I’m not happy. I’ve been in Bellator for three years now. But I have great goals. I know I am young, but I can be the champion of this organization or any other.”

Yamauchi had won five of six for Bellator through the end of 2015, and 14 of 16 overall. Included in that mix was a three-fight winning streak, including a pair of submissions. (Check out the highlights of his rear-naked choke of Isao Kobayashi in the video above.)

Then he ran into Bubba Jenkins in March at Bellator 151 and dropped a unanimous decision. It was just the third loss of his career, all by decision.

He said the result was something he had to put behind him and focus on learning from, rather than stewing over it.

“I’m a man who doesn’t like to make excuses,” Yamauchi said. “If my opponents were better than me on a specific night, and the judges agreed, even if my team and I don’t, then they did their job. It’s up to me to fix that. I have to correct something in my game, and to evolve. My losses were great lessons.”

Couture is coming off a loss, as well – his first for Bellator. Like Yamauchi, he’s been on the sidelines for most of the year. After Patricky Freire knocked him out with one punch in January and snapped his streak of four straight rear-naked choke wins, he’s likely to be itching for a win just like Yamauchi.

But Couture’s famous pedigree (his father is UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture) isn’t something Yamauchi is giving any thought to. In fact, regardless of Couture’s resume, which includes seven Strikeforce fights and a pair of UFC bouts, Yamauchi said he’s ready to do something spectacular.

“Ryan, to me, is just another opponent,” he said. “I have much respect for what his family has done for our sport. But (Friday), I’ll be there to destroy him. That’s how our sport is. Losing doesn’t cross my mind. If he trains in a great academy, with great training partners, then I can hardly wait to see what he brings to our fight.

“Ryan will give me some kind of opening in the fight, and I will take full advantage. I don’t like to give predictions, but I know that I will win in a manner that’s very convincing and dominant.”

And all that leads to what Yamauchi has set out for his ultimate goal – but a goal he hopes he can achieve sooner rather than later.

“Any fighter’s goal is to be champion. But I want much more than that. I’m young. I have far to go. I’m confident that no man will be able to stop me from reaching my goals. My time is arriving. I’m a young man who is going to give a lot of work, and beat everyone in my weight class.

“The Brazilian phenom is back. I’m stronger and more focused than ever to be victorious. Goiti will be the champion.”

For more on Bellator 162, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.