So the other day, I was watching old MMA clips and stumbled upon Megumi Fujii highlights. Man, that lady was nasty with armbars and leg locks! Got me thinking – how’d someone like her stack up against today’s girls in the cage? Grabbed my notebook and went down the rabbit hole.
Digging Up Her Old Fights
First thing I did was pull up Fujii’s classic fights on YouTube. Just let ’em play while scribbling notes:
- Watched her choke out that Russian girl in like 90 seconds flat
- Noticed how she’d pull guard immediately – nobody does that now!
- Seriously though, her ground transitions were smooth as butter
The Modern Matchup Test
Started mentally pitching Fujii against current champs:
- Weili Zhang matchup gave me headaches – Fujii’s jiu-jitsu vs Weili’s bombs
- Tried visualizing her against Valentina… nah, the speed gap feels brutal now
- Only matchup that felt winnable was against grapplers like Mackenzie Dern
Kept flipping through my old PRIDE DVDs while thinking. Man, rules were different back then! No elbows allowed, soccer kicks legal – whole different game.
Reality Check Time
After like three hours of this, I realized something big:
- Today’s girls train everything – Fujii mostly relied on her wizard-level ground game
- Modern strength/conditioning programs? Game changer
- Her signature moves? Everyone studies that stuff now like textbooks
Shut my laptop feeling kinda bummed. Fujii was a pioneer no doubt – 22 straight wins ain’t no joke. But sports evolve. I remember trying old-school moves in sparring last month and getting my butt kicked. Same principle.
Final verdict? In her prime against today’s killers? Don’t think she cracks top five. Still mad respect though – you see armbars today? That’s Fujii DNA right there.
