"Well, to be fair, not every good LW is in the GP, and it's not as if guys like Miyata, Black Mamba, and Buscape are world-beaters. "
Yes but JZ, Aoki, Alvarez, Ishida, Hansen, Kawajiri, and Uno all are.
I didn't say every good LW is in the GP, but you can be sure there is no Japanese fighter outside of the GP that is better than the ones in the GP.
Unless the talk of Uno being out of the GP is true and Strikeforce manage to get him.
"I didn't say every good LW is in the GP, but you can be sure there is no Japanese fighter outside of the GP that is better than the ones in the GP."
Not totally true. The best Japanese LWs (Aoki, Ishida, Kawajiri) are in the GP but after that there are some Shooto and Pancrase guys that are arguably up there.
Skill wise maybe they are up there but recognition, ranking wise they aren't.
Well, Mitsuoka just beat Hansen so I'm not sure how valid that claim is.