Bellator 237: Goiti Yamauchi faced adversity before he even stepped in the cage

SAITAMA, Japan – Goiti Yamauchi faced adversity before he even stepped into the cage at Bellator 237.

Judging by the Japan-born fighter’s performance, you wouldn’t be able to tell pre-fight struggles existed. Longtime Bellator fighter Yamauchi (25-4 MMA, 11-3 BMMA) made quick of former UFC fighter Daron Cruickshank, submitting “The Detroit Superstar” by rear-naked choke at 3:11 of Round 1.

However, he lead-up to the fight was rough, Yamauchi alleged post-fight. The Brazil-based lightweight said he experienced illness at the least ideal time.

“I’ve been through a lot of bad situations,” Yamauchi told MMA Junkie. “At the end of the day, we won the fight. This is the most important thing.

“I got sick. I got really, really sick three weeks ago and couldn’t do any kind of training since then. More than two weeks, I couldn’t exercise. I couldn’t manage my diet. It was pretty tough.”

On the heels of illness, Yamauchi missed the lightweight limit by 1.8 pounds. As a result, Yamauchi was forced to forfeit 20 percent of his purse to Cruickshank (22-13 MMA, 0-1 BMMA). Despite what some may think, Yamauchi said the effort to make the weight was there.

“There’s no excuse to not make the weight,” Yamauchi said. “God is my witness. My family, all of my partners, they saw what happened. I was very disappointed because I didn’t make the weight, but I know what I’ve been through. It wasn’t so bad because I knew if it was any other fighter under my skin, they wouldn’t do the half of what I did.”

Bellator 237, the promotion’s debut in Japan, took place Saturday (Sunday locally) at Saitama Super Arena. The main card aired on Paramount and streamed on DAZN.

Check out Yamauchi’s full Bellator 237 post-fight scrum in the video above.