Josh Thomson Vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri Inked For New Year’s Eve In Japan

Josh Thomson

Josh Thomson wrote recently on his Facebook page that he woke up one morning, and just decided he wanted to fight soon. It looks like the former Strikeforce lightweight champion will get the chance as he has been inked to fight Tatsuya Kawajiri in Japan on the Dynamite!! New Year’s Eve card.

The bout was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by Strikeforce officials on Tuesday, who stated the fight is definitely happening. MMAFighting.com originally reported the bout.

Thomson (18-3) comes into the year-end show on a two-fight win streak, including his last bout in which he slipped by former top Dream fighter Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante. The American Kickboxing Academy lightweight is in line to get a third fight against current lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, but it looks like those plans will be sidelined for now.

A perennial Top 10 fighter throughout his career, Kawajiri (26-6-2) first made a name for himself in Japan fighting under the Shooto banner, before making a splash in Pride Fighting Championships. Kawajiri was a top lightweight for the promotion until they were bought out by Zuffa a few years ago.

Since that time, Kawajiri has been fighting for Dream and climbing up the lightweight ranks there. He comes off a devastating loss to face Thomson later this month, after being submitted by Dream champion Shinya Aoki in his last fight.

Kawajiri was caught in an Achilles lock that appeared to cause some major damage, but the Japanese fighter has bounced back strong, looking to erase the memory of that fight with a win over Thomson.

The lightweights will battle in a fight that could undoubtedly hold implications in both the Dream and Strikeforce 155-pound divisions.