Yushin Okami heading home for next fight with bout at UFC 144

Fresh off a devastating defeat to Anderson Silva in Brazil at UFC 134, Japanese middleweight Yushin Okami will now get a shot to pick up a victory in front of his own hometown crowd as he has agreed to face Tim Boetsch when the UFC heads to Japan in 2012 for UFC 144.

The UFC revealed the February 26 fight earlier today.

The 30-year old Okami is 26-6 in his career with wins inside the Octagon against Alan Belcher, Evan Tanner, Mike Swick, Mark Munoz, and Nate Marquardt. His strike-based stoppage to Silva was the first time he’d been finished in eight years meaning Boestch will certainly have his hands full in Saitama Super Arena.

UFC President Says Okami is Best Fighter to Ever Come Out of Japan

However, Boestch is no stranger to finishing his foes off with six TKOs and five submissions in fourteen total victories. “The Barbarian” is 2-0 since dropping to middleweight with his most recent outing featuring a Unanimous Decision over Nick Ring at UFC 135.

Okami is the second Japanese fighter named to the UFC 144 lineup, as Yoshihiro Akiyama was recently announced to be facing Jake Shields on the card. The event will be headlined by Frankie Edgar defending his lightweight belt against former WEC champion Ben Henderson.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC