Russell Mizuguchi is ready for the biggest MMA fight of his life, a door-opening opportunity that could lead to a dream gig.
The Hilo fighter, out of BJ Penn’s Training and Fitness Center’s Boss MMA club, will battle for the X-1 49 World Events flyweight (125 pounds) title on Saturday at Neal Blaisdell Arena.
Standing in the way is Shojin Miki (3-1), out of Oahu, a 5-foot-9 telephone pole standing several inches over Mizuguchi (3-0), who knows there’s more at stake than just his undefeated record.
“X-1 is the biggest MMA organization in Hawaii, and Max Holloway and Shane Nelson won the X-1 world title and got into the UFC,” Mizuguchi said. “With that belt, it has a lot of pull. The thing about being undefeated is everybody wants to fight you in that game, and people want to see you go undefeated. It’s the best of both worlds.
“I feel if I keep doing what I’m doing somebody will come knocking. I feel that’s going to be my ticket (to the UFC). There’s hardly anybody (in Hawaii) that’s undefeated.”
Miki’s three wins came by submission, two first-round armbars and a third-round rear-naked choke. He’ll walk into someone’s front yard to take them down, an invitation for Mizuguchi to go to work.
Nicknamed “Da Muscle,” Mizuguchi is best known for his strength and cage pressure. During his 9-0 run as an amateur, it wasn’t an uncommon sight for him to lift an opponent in the air, bench press him and throw him on the ground.
Mizuguchi had four knockouts or TKOs as an amateur. As a pro, he has gone the three-round, five-minute distance each time, getting a unanimous decision, rear-naked choke, and a split-decision against Michael Nakagawa at X-1 48 last August.
“I’ve been watching Miki quite a while. We’ve been on the same cards in Hilo at Just Scrap,” Mizuguchi said. “He’s long, rangy, tall, and skinny. He throws good submissions. He’s real tough, and his cardio is pretty decent.
“My strength is my wrestling and constant pressure in the cage. I want to get him on the ground, control him and wear him out.”
Miki wants to do the same thing. They’ll open the door for each other. The question is: Who can turn the other guy into a pretzel first?
On the pro level, little mistakes (leave your neck open, an arm out, a guard down) are caught and capitalized on. In championship bouts, it’s five rounds and 25 minutes of long-distance warfare. It’ll be the first marathon for both.
“Alone in a fight, anybody can be dangerous, and anything can happen,” Mizuguchi said. “He has durability. He can go until the round and has a high finish rate. He has a lot of finishes on his record. That’s what makes him tough.”
Mizuguchi, 28, is in the National Guard, and his spare time is devoted to training with coaches Ross Ebanez, Shane Nelson, Troy Mandaloniz, and Chad Hao, all jiu-jitsu pretzel-making professors.
His daily schedule is uncompromising. At 5:30 a.m., Mizuguchi will go out for a run, work at 6 a.m. and finish at 2 p.m. After that, he’s training from 5:30 p.m. until darkness when the coqui frogs greet him at home. He takes Sundays as a day off.
More than anything, Mizuguchi, who’s always in an Inspire T-shirt, is looking forward to this coming Sunday as a day of relaxation and celebration.
“My mindset is strong and confident. I really think I’m a good match for his style,” he said. “I feel I can always go five rounds easy. I feel strong and healthy. It’s going to be a good night for me and a bad night for him.”