Kawajiri

By FCF Staff

Tatsuya Kawajiri may not have blown through Dennis Siver yesterday at UFC Fight Night 69, but following his decision win over the featherweight, “Crusher’s” hoping to jump into the title shot mix.

Once again, Kawajiri turned to his wrestling and top game to work his way to a unanimous decision win over Siver. The lattter did not take much punishment in the fight, and did his best to keep the fight standing, but Kawajiri’s pressure won out.

The victory returned the Japanese fighter to the win column, after he was decisioned by Clay Guida last April, and will likely move Kawajiri up from his #15 ranking. Siver is currently ranked #12.

Following the win, here is some of what Kawajiri (34-8-2) had to say about the fight and his hopes for what’s next.

“I feel so good,” Kawajiri said. “I knew I was going to have to win the hard way; there is no easy way in the UFC so I always knew it was going to be a tough fight. I want to fight top five opponents – I’m ready for that.”

The 37 year-old Kawajiri is 8-2 now in his last 10 fights. The only other man to defeat the PRIDE vet since 2011 is Gilbert Melendez.