A highly decorated Japanese judoka, Satoshi Ishii is one of the most intriguing prospects in the heavyweight division. Ishii topped off a very successful judo career, which included medalling at the All-Japan Judo Championships and Asian Games, by winning a Gold Medal at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games and shortly thereafter announced his intentions in pursuing a career in mixed martial arts. Almost immediately he became one of the most coveted prospects in the sport, and despite having no professional fights to his name attracted the attention of the biggest MMA organizations in the world including the UFC. Although he was initially enamoured by the idea, and went as far as to publically express his desire to fight for the UFC, Ishii eventually agreed to a multi-fight contract with the Japanese based promotion Sengoku (World Victory Road).

Despite having absolutely no mixed martial arts training whatsoever (amateur or otherwise), Ishii appears to be taking his MMA career very seriously. He has already spent time training with some of the best camps in the world including American Top Team, in Brazil with the members of the Blackhouse camp, aswell as at Xtreme Couture and has also stated his desire to train with Fedor Emelianenko at some point. A gold medal winning judo player, there's no doubting Ishii's grappling, takedowns and clinch potential. However despite his obvious grappling prowess there are concerns about his size fighting at heavyweight, his ability to strike as well as a multitude of questions surrounding his overall MMA game. One of the most highly touted mixed martial arts prospects in recent memory, Ishii is expected to make his debut December 31st against Japanese veteran and fellow Olympic Gold Medalist Hidehiko Yoshida.