There has perhaps never been a fighter more worthy of praise than Caol Uno. He brings everything to a fight that you could possibly want from a fighter. He is skilled in all facets of the sport, and he is a good showman before and after the fight. He respects the sport and he respects his opponents and this shows in the honest and forthcoming way that he carries himself. But most of all he respects and works for the fans. He is not content to go out and simply win the fight, but he does so in an exciting fashion. It is a debatable point I know, but Uno deserves to be considered among the most exciting fighters to ever compete.

For as much as I and others love Uno and what he brings to the sport it was considered a fact that his days of being able to beat top competition were at an end and his days of even being able to compete with top level guys were also nearing their end. It was sad to think that the man responsible for such fights as his epic 1999 Shooto showdown with Rumina Sato, and subsequent stellar fights with the likes of Din Thomas, BJ Penn (well, the second fight at least), Ivan Menjivar, and Yves Edwards was no longer going to be able to hang with the likes of those men. It was very sad to think that we would never see a fight the likes of Uno versus Joachim Hansen again, the fight of the year for 2005. But, that is the way that life goes, fighters get old and their careers begins to catch up to them. When it was announced that Uno would be matching up with Mitsuhiro Ishida in yesterday’s Dream event, it was a foregone conclusion that a top 5 lightweight in Ishida would have his way with the no longer what he once was Uno.

My head line for this article deals not with Uno, but with the dream that he has fulfilled for his fans. Ishida did not have his way with Uno, not at all. Instead it was the other way around. Uno stunned and hurt Ishida standing and then he dominated him on the ground en route to a submission victory in the second round. For one fight Uno showed us that he could be the old Uno, the man capable of being flashy and beating top competition. In doing that Uno proved all his naysayers wrong, and even his fans wrong. He showed us all that sometimes a dream can come true, and that for at least one night our hero can once again be held up to the highest levels in our eyes. This win doesn’t propel Uno back to the top of the lightweight division or anything like that, but what it does do is give a great fighter at least one more great moment in his career and his fans one more great moment to cling to before that career finally ends.