| 1 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 2 | |
| 3 | [[folder:Debuted in the Beginning of Hybrid Wrestling (1993)]] |
| 4 | !!!Cees Bezems |
| 5 | %%* TheApprentice: To Cor Hemmers. |
| 6 | * BullyingADragon: In his fight with Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki, Bezems showed his disregard for the norms by throwing illegal closed-fisted and elbow strikes during their fight. Funaki retaliated by holding his americana a bit more after he tapped, and even tried to relock it after the tap out, having to be restrained by the the referee. |
| 7 | * EarlyBirdCameo: His fight in Pancrase with Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki was this before fighting in RINGS. |
| 8 | %%* GuestFighter |
| 9 | * IKnowKarate: A Dutch champion and also knew UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}. |
| 10 | %%* {{Jobber}} |
| 11 | |
| 12 | !!!Soichi Hiroto |
| 13 | -->''"At that time, Pancrase’s first referee, Soichi Hiroto, came into it. He is now a trainer and has gone to Olympic Games. He was doing physical therapy on me and said to me that it would be good for us to start something new, but how would we really express to people that we are starting something new? I told him that a great match might do it or... he said “No, people will decide based on their first impression. If people see that it is something different from the first time they see it, then they will be interested and continue watching, but no one will pay it any attention if it requires explanation.”"'' |
| 14 | -->-- Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki |
| 15 | |
| 16 | * TheChessmaster: Is now a Pancrase Director of the Board. |
| 17 | * CombatReferee: What he is most known for. He was the first referee and is now the head referee of Pancrase. |
| 18 | * CoolTeacher: Serves as a Pancrase coach when outside of shows. |
| 19 | * HoldUpYourScore: Also served as a Pancrase judge. |
| 20 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: and UsefulNotes/{{Kendo}}. He was a sparring partner of Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki when he was in Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling and was also one of the people that introduced him to Koppō and was a top level instructor himself. |
| 21 | * TheMedic: A medic advisor for Pancrase. He was also reportedly a skilled acupuncturist. |
| 22 | * UrExample: The first Pancrase referee. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | !!!Kamisasa Isao |
| 25 | * TheMedic: Was the first ring doctor of Pancrase. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | !!!Tomoyuki Kanemaru |
| 28 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Passed the first Pancrase recruitment exam, but for some reason never debuted for the promotion and no other information about him exists. |
| 29 | |
| 30 | !!!James Matthews |
| 31 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/KenShamrock as part of the Lion's Den. |
| 32 | * {{Determinator}}: Had to be one to train under Wrestling/KenShamrock. |
| 33 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]] |
| 34 | * {{Jobber}}: Had 4 fights, all losses. |
| 35 | * LeotardOfPower: An amateur wrestling one. |
| 36 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: Pancrase spelt his name as James Mathews. |
| 37 | * TrainingFromHell: Went through one as expected of a Wrestling/KenShamrock / Lion's Den disciple. |
| 38 | |
| 39 | !!!Andre van den Oetelaar |
| 40 | -->''"Ok in this corner you see Andre van den Oetelaar. He went to the Olympics as a boxer. I trained with him too in boxing."'' |
| 41 | -->-- Creator/BasRutten |
| 42 | |
| 43 | * TheApprentice: To Cor Hemmers. |
| 44 | %%* GuestFighter |
| 45 | * IKnowKarate: A former pro boxing with a record of 15 wins and 10 losses and was an Olympic-level amateur boxer. He also trained in UsefulNotes/MuayThai and UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} at the Maeng-Ho Gym. |
| 46 | %%* {{Jobber}} |
| 47 | * LeotardOfPower: Wore an amateur wrestling one on occasion. |
| 48 | |
| 49 | !!!Takeya Oitate |
| 50 | -->''"Oitate used to be an English teacher. We thought we could really use someone who can communicate in English, and he became a candidate. We realized it was an important role."'' |
| 51 | -->-- Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki |
| 52 | |
| 53 | * CoolTeacher: Was a former English teacher. |
| 54 | * NonActionGuy: Was the Pancrase world operations manager. |
| 55 | |
| 56 | !!!Masami Ozaki |
| 57 | -->''"So, we continued like this until the start of Pancrase, like how do we even launch an organization? It was like, “Oh, we need a president!” and “But wait, we need to have a company before that!” I found a manga called The Manga Guide to How to Start a Corporation in a bookstore. I read it over and over and realized how complex it is to start a corporation. This was when (Masami) Ozaki came into this. He was the first president of Pancrase. I first went to ask for his advice with my manga. Then, he told us that there was no way that we could start an organization. So, I came up with a good idea which was to ask Ozaki to start a corporation for us. So it started like that. He was more like a friend who we were asking for advice as he was the president of an entertainment production company."'' |
| 58 | -->-- Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki |
| 59 | |
| 60 | * TheManBehindTheMan: Executive president of Pancrase at the beginning till 2008. |
| 61 | * NonActionGuy |
| 62 | |
| 63 | !!!Creator/BasRutten |
| 64 | |
| 65 | !!!Yasushi Sakamoto |
| 66 | -->''"There is a guy called (Yasushi) Sakamoto who is still in Pancrase now, but he was a salesman for a clothing company who used to come visit a lot of people we knew. He loved pro-wrestling and I remembered him saying “I will help you out if you need anything!” at dinner one time so I called him. I mentioned what he told us and he remembered it. So, I asked him to work with us, as we were starting an organization. I asked him to quit his job right away. He was like, “Yeah, I did say I will help, but…” but I told him that a man should not change his word and made him quit."'' |
| 67 | -->-- Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki |
| 68 | |
| 69 | * TheManBehindTheMan: Was the CEO of Pancrase from 2008 to 2010. |
| 70 | * NonActionGuy: Was a salesman for Pancrase since its beginnings. |
| 71 | |
| 72 | !!!Joop van de Ven |
| 73 | * EightiesHair: A mullet. |
| 74 | * TheApprentice: To Chris Dolman and Bert Kops Sr. |
| 75 | * GuestFighter |
| 76 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: Trained in this as well as Greco-Roman wrestling and UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} at the Sportcentrum Kops. |
| 77 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 78 | * StoutStrength |
| 79 | |
| 80 | !!!George Weingeroff |
| 81 | * EightiesHair: A mullet. |
| 82 | * CoolOldGuy: Was 41 when he competed in Pancrase. |
| 83 | * HandicappedBadass: He is legally blind. Makes you wonder why he agreed to do a sport with strikes in it. |
| 84 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: A Tennessee high school and college wrestling champion. He even brief trained with Wrestling/KenShamrock and his Lion’s Den for his sole Pancrase fight. |
| 85 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 86 | * LeotardOfPower: An amateur wrestling one. |
| 87 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: Pancrase spelt his name as Jeorge Weingroff. |
| 88 | * WrestlingFamily: The son of pro wrestling manager "Gentleman" Saul Weingeroff. |
| 89 | |
| 90 | !!!Vernon White |
| 91 | -->''"Yeah, I would have to say that Vernon was actually my first one that I had brought in and really started to work with and it took a long time for him to develop, but when he did man, he really did well."'' |
| 92 | -->-- Wrestling/KenShamrock |
| 93 | |
| 94 | -->''"As for Vernon, they were talking about how his name doesn’t sound strong. He was skinny, so we were like we should give him a strong middle name. The name Tiger was a big hit with everyone and we decided to go with it. That’s the origin of the name Vernon Tiger."'' |
| 95 | -->-- Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki |
| 96 | |
| 97 | -->''"What a pain in the ass! Tiresome."'' |
| 98 | -->-- Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba |
| 99 | |
| 100 | * ADayInTheLimelight: Despite his low level overall, he got a win over a banged Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki in the Neo-Blood Tournament and a pair of solid victories against the hardheaded Yoshiki Takahashi in the later parts of his Pancrase run. |
| 101 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/KenShamrock. |
| 102 | * ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Always wore black in Pancrase. |
| 103 | * CoolTeacher: Was a UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}} instructor before being recruited for the Lion’s Den. |
| 104 | * CurbStompBattle: His fight with Todd Medina for the King of the Cage Light Heavyweight Championship ended with him knocking out Medina in 9 seconds. |
| 105 | * DarkAndTroubledPast: Before he got into fighting, his mother and grandfather died within 2 weeks of each other and his girlfriend at the time tried to commit suicide. |
| 106 | * {{Determinator}}: Had to be one to train under Wrestling/KenShamrock. |
| 107 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}}: Trained in this before meeting Wrestling/KenShamrock. He is also said to have trained in Kajukenbo. |
| 108 | * {{Jobber}}: Mostly. |
| 109 | * MrFanservice: Once worked as a stripper and according to some of his Lion’s Den pals, he ReallyGotAround with the ladies. |
| 110 | * RedBaron: "Tiger". |
| 111 | * ScrewThisImOuttaHere: He briefly left the Lion's Den within the first year of his Pancrase career over some disagreement they had and trained at the Pancrase dojo in Japan for at least 2 months before being allowed back into the Lion's Den. |
| 112 | * StoneWall: At his best, he was this when it came to submission defense. Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba hilariously stated that his fight with Vernon was a pain in the ass because it took so long to put him away and his teammates even nicknamed him "[[EmbarrassingNickname The Worm]]" since he could get out of whatever positions they put him in when sparring. He was also the first person to survive a prime Mario Sperry without being submitted. |
| 113 | * TokenMinority: Was for a long time both the only black fighter that represented the Lion’s Den and the only black guy in Pancrase. |
| 114 | * TookALevelInBadass: His King of the Cage career where he was the first Light Heavyweight Champion of that promotion. He gave Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba a hard fight in Pride and held his own in the UsefulNotes/UltimateFightingChampionship against Ian Freeman and Chuck Liddell. |
| 115 | * TrainingFromHell: Went through one as expected of a Wrestling/KenShamrock / Lion's Den disciple. |
| 116 | * UrExample: The first Lion's Den disciple brought by Ken to fight in Pancrase. |
| 117 | * WorkedShoot: He was brought to Wrestling/WorldWrestlingEntertainment for a "No-Holds-Barred" exhibition with Wrestling/KenShamrock. |
| 118 | [[/folder]] |
| 119 | |
| 120 | [[folder:Debuted in The Year A King Is Crowned (1994)]] |
| 121 | !!!Scott Bessac |
| 122 | -->''"Back then, Ken didn't know any better and I certainly didn't know any better. I was just a fighter out on the streets. We did sparring with no pads. With just kempo gloves and no shin protection."'' |
| 123 | |
| 124 | * AlmightyJanitor: Was a tough guy with a reputation of being in quite a few street fights and hurting his opponents when asked to do so. He just wasn't a great fighter for Pancrase as one; he didn't really like the Pancrase style of fighting (not that he couldn't do it, see his fight with BJJ practitioner Larry Papadopoulos as an example) and two; Ken, Funaki, and Suzuki personally asked him not to hurt the guys he was facing too badly with a few exceptions like Larry Papadopoulos. |
| 125 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/KenShamrock as part of the Lion's Den. |
| 126 | * BallsOfSteel: In his UFC fight with David Hood, like his trainer Wrestling/KenShamrock against Wrestling/DanSevern, Hood tried low-blowing Bessac only to hurt his hand on Bessac's Thai metal cup. |
| 127 | * CoolTeacher: Was the trainer of the original Lion's Den gym when Ken was busy or unavailable. |
| 128 | * {{Determinator}}: Had to be one to train under Wrestling/KenShamrock. |
| 129 | * GameBreakingInjury: Got smashed in the head by a couple of gang bangers, and then got permanent brain damage which forced him to retire from fighting. |
| 130 | %%* {{Jobber}}: His role in the promotion. |
| 131 | * LeotardOfPower: An amateur wrestling one, to cover up his pudgy build. |
| 132 | * OpposingCombatPhilosophies: Prefered the No-Holds-Barred style of fighting versus the Pancrase style of fighting. |
| 133 | * RedBaron: "Firstborn Lion", "Ken's First Student". |
| 134 | * ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Got into an argument with Ken on how he was supposed to fight, Ken wanted him to be more of a submission seeker while Bessac preferred the stand up and ground-and-pound style of NHB fighting, Bessac finally got fed up and left the Lion's Den. |
| 135 | * StoutStrength: Was a bit pudgy, especially when compared to his fellow Lion's Den fighters. |
| 136 | * TerseTalker: In an interview he did, whenever he mentions someone asking him to do something his usual response was "Cool". |
| 137 | * TrainingFromHell: Went through one as expected of a Wrestling/KenShamrock / Lion's Den disciple. |
| 138 | * UnskilledButStrong: Was basically a street fighter before training with Wrestling/KenShamrock and his refusal to really learn wrestling and submissions did not make him a high level fighter. |
| 139 | * UrExample: Was the first disciple of Wrestling/KenShamrock's Lion's Den. |
| 140 | |
| 141 | !!!Todd Bjornethun |
| 142 | * TheApprentice: To Matt Hume. |
| 143 | * DoNotCallMePaul: Was introduced as Robert Bjornethun for some reason. |
| 144 | * GuestFighter |
| 145 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: An accomplished wrestler and trained in UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}. |
| 146 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 147 | * RedBaron: "The Pitbull". |
| 148 | |
| 149 | !!!Alex Cook |
| 150 | * TheApprentice: To Larry Papadopoulos. |
| 151 | * AwesomeAussie |
| 152 | * FragileSpeedster: Was one of the smallest gaijin to fight for Pancrase, especially when it was still an openweight promotion. He had a more even playing field in Shooto though. |
| 153 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu: A 1993 Southern Cross Cup Jiu Jitsu Heavyweight Tournament champion and trained at Spartan Gym. |
| 154 | * {{Jobber}}: In Pancrase, he had better success outside it. |
| 155 | * OvershadowedByAwesome: A good fighter, but he was thrown to fighters like Hayato Sakurai, Manabu Yamada, Wrestling/KenShamrock, and Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki. |
| 156 | |
| 157 | !!!Jason [=DeLucia=] |
| 158 | -->''"Jason is a great tactician, his fights are great from the standpoint of the arts."'' |
| 159 | -->-- Jim Brown, UFC 1 commentator |
| 160 | |
| 161 | -->''"Watching Jason was like magic, it was almost beautiful, the transitions he would employ and the technical submissions, it is something that is lacking in today's MMA competitions."'' |
| 162 | -->-- Josh Barnett |
| 163 | |
| 164 | -->''"I really understand now that some are competitors and others artists. Competitors must win. Artists must make it exciting. Most fighters are one or the other, but some are a mix of both. I am predominantly an artist. That I have expressed my art in a competitive environment regardless, not caring about the outcome only about the art, is what I remember most. I am proud to have stood up and fought with one of the greatest competitors of my generation, Bas Rutten. Bas is a rare mix of artist and competitor. And experiences like Matt Hume and Royce were such educations as to subtleties. Wrestling in particular, where the emphasis is on base and balance, but to the untrained it looks brutal."'' |
| 165 | -->-- Jason [=DeLucia=] |
| 166 | |
| 167 | * AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Arguably to RINGS fighter Valentijn Overeem. |
| 168 | * ArchEnemy: Manabu Yamada and Creator/BasRutten. |
| 169 | * BornLucky: His greatest victory in MMA, an upset win over Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki, was actually fortuitous - Funaki had allowed him to leglock him to carry the match, but then he discovered he was too away from the ropes to take a rope escape and had to tap out. Ironically though, some of his biggest losses were due to him being unlucky by leg injuries in each of those fights, like in his rematches with Funaki and Royce Gracie. |
| 170 | * BullyingADragon: His third match with Creator/BasRutten had him claiming that Bas was hitting him in the face with closed fists and groin shots which cut Bas's payday, he left the match defeated and with a ruptured liver. |
| 171 | -->''"Tell them the truth, Jason, tell them the truth."'' |
| 172 | -->-- an annoyed Creator/BasRutten after receiving a red card |
| 173 | * CoolTeacher: Has his own gym, Pancrase Hybrid Budokan. He also was an instructor at Bellingham Kenpo Karate and the Satori Ryu school. |
| 174 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Of the big variety. Aside from outrageous claims in Sherdog and other MMA forums about how Japanese promoters tried to poison him or something, he once casted some kind of voodoo spell over Creator/BasRutten to make him lose (which naturally failed, though he claims it worked for Frank Shamrock instead). |
| 175 | * CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Despite the above, [=DeLucia=] was an incredibly dangerous fighter and could snatch wins against superior opponent thanks to his BJJ and shoot wrestling submissions, quickness and grace. He has legit victories about people like Yamada, Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki and Ikuhisa Minowa. |
| 176 | * EarlyBirdCameo: Before his MMA career, he was featured in a Gracie Challenge video in which he fought Royce Gracie as a kung fu representative. Funnily enough he was in the area originally to challenge Creator/StevenSeagal, but he wasn’t at his dojo and instead learned UsefulNotes/{{Aikido}} under Seagal’s senior student Matsuoka Haruo. |
| 177 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Kung Fu]]: 5 Animals Style. He also trained in Kenpo, UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu, UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}}, UsefulNotes/{{Karate}}, UsefulNotes/MuayThai, UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} and UsefulNotes/{{Aikido}} on which he made a instructional video series and trained under Matsuoka Haruo at Creator/StevenSeagal's Tenshin Dojo in Los Angeles. |
| 178 | * OpposingCombatPhilosophies: Notably hates ground-and-pound and actually preferred Pancrase's old rules to the modern rules as he believes the modern rules make fights lack art, technique, and safety. |
| 179 | * RedBaron: Subverted, he actually never had one, though Creator/BasRutten once referred to him as "The Artist", though that was for an interview where Bas didn't want to reference Jason directly. |
| 180 | * ScrewedByTheNetwork: Believes Pancrase stacked the deck against him whenever he was booked to face some of the top names, especially when its Creator/BasRutten. He also claims they screwed him out of a rematch with Joe Slick for UFC Japan 3. |
| 181 | * StartMyOwn: Created a style of UsefulNotes/{{Aikido}} he calls Aiki Kenpo. He was also a co-producer for an amateur MMA style called "Hybrid Fighting Arts". |
| 182 | * TrainingFromHell: Trained in the Lion's Den with Wrestling/KenShamrock. Downplayed as he was already an experienced fighter so he didn't have to go through the infamous initiation. |
| 183 | * UrExample: Won the first fight in UFC via the first rear naked choke. |
| 184 | * WorthyOpponent: Believes Chris Lytle to be his toughest opponent. |
| 185 | |
| 186 | !!!Christopher [=DeWeaver=] |
| 187 | -->''"It was much more impressive for a Japanese to be a 5'9" Japanese, beat a 6'6" gaijin. So if I had won, it'd be like "Well yeah, De Weaver's a giant." But if the Japanese won- now you've got this whole cultural, racial undertone of superiority and things like that. As soon as it went to the ground and I didn't know really how to defend heel hooks wearing wrestling boots- I mean it was kind of a relatively easy match. At that stage, I wasn't even really a quality blue belt for BJJ. But back then, it was very, very different. There was no internet, Website/YouTube, sharing videos. There were very few people who had ever fought in a MMA match. Now, it's really different. People have seen so much MMA but back then, it was really different. The thought of going into a match and getting really, really hurt and not knowing what could happen, or what your techniques could do or what theirs could do- it was pretty much unknown and uncharted territory."'' |
| 188 | |
| 189 | * TheApprentice: To Larry Papadopoulos. |
| 190 | * AwesomeAussie: Though he was originally from the US. |
| 191 | * CarpetOfVirility |
| 192 | * CoolTeacher: Runs a Pancrase affliated gym in Australia. |
| 193 | * TheGiant: Was 6ft 6 in his prime. |
| 194 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu: Trained at the Spartan gym. He also had training in Kyokushin UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} and UsefulNotes/MuayThai and was a nationally ranked kickboxer. |
| 195 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 196 | * StartMyOwn: Sort of, he promoted a few shows under the Pancrase banner in Australia. |
| 197 | |
| 198 | !!!Leon van Dijk |
| 199 | -->''"Yup, that’s the only training partner I had for about 85% of my fights, animal, all street fights I saw from him were “one punch” KO’s! Leon van Dijk!"'' |
| 200 | -->-- Creator/BasRutten |
| 201 | |
| 202 | -->''"I will never forget the night that Leon beat a member of the Nigerian mob to his knees on a Roppongi sidewalk, then apologized for it immediately afterward! Such a simultaneously scary and awesome guy."'' |
| 203 | -->-- Paul Lazenby |
| 204 | |
| 205 | * ADayInTheLimelight: Has a win over Evan Tanner. |
| 206 | * TheApprentice: To Creator/BasRutten and Toon Stelling. |
| 207 | * CoolTeacher: The head instructor of Creator/BasRutten’s Chikara Gym. He is now a trainer for Team Top Fighter, a MMA gym in Belgium. |
| 208 | * GameBreakingInjury: Was involved in a serious motorcycle accident that further damaged an already banged up knee, which effectively ended his fighting career. |
| 209 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/MuayThai: And barokai, a sort of mixed martial arts created in Holland by a Bas van Hout and Rob Houweling. |
| 210 | * {{Jobber}}: His role at the promotion. |
| 211 | |
| 212 | !!!Masaaki Hirahara |
| 213 | * CombatReferee: Pancrase’s third referee. |
| 214 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Disappeared from Pancrase after 1996. |
| 215 | |
| 216 | !!!Matt Hume |
| 217 | -->''"An aspiring fighter must first realise that there is nothing special about simply becoming a ‘fighter’. Find a MMA gym or a martial arts gym that teaches a specific element of overall MMA and enjoy learning and training without concern as to whether you are getting ‘fighter’ training."'' |
| 218 | |
| 219 | * AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: He is the Vice-president of operations for ONE FC and the head trainer of the American Martial Arts Center (AMC) Pankration. He was also the rule director and official trainer to both PRIDE Fighting Championships and DREAM. |
| 220 | * BadassFamily: His father was a Seattle police officer who trained in UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, boxing, and with Creator/BruceLee. |
| 221 | * BadassTeacher: More known as a trainer than a fighter, though not a bad fighter himself. He has trained guys like Demetrious Johnson, Bibiano Fernandes, Josh Barnett, Tim Boetsch, Wrestling/BobSapp, Chris Leben, Hayato Sakurai, Akira Shoji, Matt Brown, Rich Franklin, Mario Miranda, Caros Fodor, etc. |
| 222 | * ForWantOfANail: He lost his match against Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki when he accidentally tumbled into the ropes while Suzuki was leglocking him, which the referee interpreted as a rope escape, leading to his defeat by a lost point when the match was over. According to Hume, he was ScrewedByTheNetwork as Suzuki was the fan favourite. |
| 223 | * GuestFighter |
| 224 | * HeroKiller: He has a victory over Erik Paulson. |
| 225 | * IKnowKarate: Shito-Ryu, as well as UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, UsefulNotes/WingChun, UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}}, boxing, amateur and UsefulNotes/CatchWrestling, UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}, kempo, UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}, and UsefulNotes/MuayThai. |
| 226 | * OvershadowedByAwesome: Was a top fighter, but the fact that he was thrown to opponents like Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki, Wrestling/KenShamrock and Manabu Yamada did not help him to surface. |
| 227 | * RedBaron: "The Wizard". |
| 228 | * StartMyOwn: Created his own style of pankration and started developing it at the age of 19 in college. He also founded a MMA promotion called the United Full Contact Federation. |
| 229 | |
| 230 | !!!Frank Juarez/Shamrock |
| 231 | -->''"Fighting is art and there is nothing more beautiful than the painted canvas of just totally kicking someone's ass."'' |
| 232 | |
| 233 | * AnnoyingYoungerSibling: To Wrestling/KenShamrock, in a bitter real life way. |
| 234 | * BadassTeacher: Trained Maurice Smith in submission grappling and was a trainer at the Lion’s Den. He was a trainer for the American Kickboxing Academy, and had his own MMA school, Shamrock Martial Arts Academy in San Jose, California. He alo manages his own fight team, Team Shamrock, was chosen as a coach for the San Jose Razorclaws of the International Fight League, and was a coach on the reality series titled Fight Master: Bellator MMA. |
| 235 | * BullyingADragon: Was eye gouged by Allan Góes in their fight, so he caught him in a heel hook and broke his leg. (Góes didn't tap out, by the way.) |
| 236 | ** In his third fight with Creator/BasRutten, near the end of the fight Frank stuck his tongue out to Bas which led to Bas punching him in the face with a closed fist which got the fight restarted on the feet and a pay cut for Bas. Shortly after Frank could not continue the fight and lost. |
| 237 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: He has some weird thoughts at times, in his autobiography there was a time he read up on serial killers because he thought it made him feel better about his guilt about fighting and hurting people. Another example is that in his fight with Osamu Shibuya, he got tired and dehydrated and said that he hydrated himself in the middle of the fight by licking and drinking Shibuya’s sweat off his neck. |
| 238 | * CombatCommentator: Briefly acted as a consultant and commentator for the UFC and has also worked as one for Showtime Networks, Bellator MMA, Glory Kickboxing and Combate America's. |
| 239 | * CurbstompBattle: His anticipated battle against Cesar Gracie. |
| 240 | * DefeatMeansRespect: Befriended Wrestling/TsuyoshiKohsaka in RINGS after beating him in a match. |
| 241 | * {{Determinator}}: Had to be one to train under his brother. |
| 242 | * {{Engrish}}: The Pancrase Website/YouTube channel has his real name, Juarez, spelled as both "Waress" and "Wallace". |
| 243 | * TheFriendNobodyLikes: Among the early Lion’s Den guys apparently, except for maybe Jason [=DeLucia=]. |
| 244 | * HeroicBuild: Very noticeable in his Pancrase days. |
| 245 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: Has some experience from high school, he also studied Jeet Kune Do before his UFC debut and trained in UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} under Maurice Smith and shoot wrestling under his brother and Wrestling/TsuyoshiKohsaka. He is also a honorary seventh degree black belt in submission fighting awarded by Philip S. Porter. |
| 246 | * {{Keet}} |
| 247 | * MasterOfAll: Was called a complete MMA fighter because his striking and submission fighting were both great. He had the master kickboxer Smith and the shooter Kohsaka to help him to improve. |
| 248 | * PowerTrio: With Maurice Smith and Wrestling/TsuyoshiKohsaka. |
| 249 | * RealSongThemeTune: Used "The Boys Are Back In Town" by Thin Lizzy in Pancrase. |
| 250 | * RedBaron: "The Prototype", "The Legend". |
| 251 | * SadistTeacher: During his time at the Lion’s Den, while considered much softer than his brother’s methods of directly beating the crap out of whoever missed a session or showed up late, Frank would still make those guys work till they were puking their guts out, though thankfully he eventually grew out of such hard methods. |
| 252 | * StartMyOwn: Founded MMA promotions called [=ShootBox=] and Bushido. |
| 253 | * TrainingFromHell: Went through one as expected as his brother's/Lion's Den disciple. |
| 254 | * WorthyOpponent: States Enson Inoue was his toughest opponent. |
| 255 | |
| 256 | !!!Vitali Klitschko |
| 257 | * TheAce: In boxing, he was renowned for having exceptional ring dominance. With an 87% knockout percentage, he holds one of the highest knockout-to-fight ratios of any world champion in heavyweight boxing history, while also possessing a highly durable chin. His two losses came via a shoulder injury and a deep cut above his eye, both of which were recorded as stoppages rather than outright knockouts; in both fights he was leading on the judges' scorecards. |
| 258 | * TheApprentice: To Anatoliy Klimanov and Fritz Sdunek. |
| 259 | * AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Currently serves as Mayor of Kiev and head of the Kiev City State Administration, having held both offices since June 2014. He is also a former leader of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc and a former Member of the Ukrainian Parliament. |
| 260 | * BadassFamily: His father Vladimir Rodionovich Klitschko, was a Soviet Air Force major general and a Soviet military attaché in East Germany and was also one of the commanders in charge of cleaning up the effects of the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster in 1986. |
| 261 | * BashBrothers: His brother is Wladimir Klitschko, a former unified world heavyweight champion. From 2006 until 2015, Vitali and Wladimir dominated heavyweight boxing, a period typically known as the "Klitschko Era" of the division. |
| 262 | * BoxingBattler |
| 263 | * GeniusBruiser: Was the first professional boxing world champion to hold a [=PhD=] degree. |
| 264 | * TheGiant: Is 6ft 7. |
| 265 | * GuestFighter: Had only one match in Pancrase in a UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} bout against Ryūshi Yanagisawa. |
| 266 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Boxing]]: Is a three-time world heavyweight champion, the second-longest-reigning WBC heavyweight champion of all time, has the fifth-longest combined world championship reign in history at 2,735 days, the third-longest individual WBC heavyweight title streak of all time at 9 consecutive defenses, and the fourth-longest combined title streak in the modern heavyweight history at 15 title bouts and is the only heavyweight boxer to have reigned as world champion in three different decades. He also trained in UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} and UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} and was a kickboxing world champion six times (four times in professionals and twice in amateurs). |
| 267 | * RedBaron: "Dr. Ironfist". |
| 268 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: Vitali or Vitaly? |
| 269 | * StoneWall: Along with Oliver [=McCall=], he is also the only world heavyweight champion to have never been knocked down in any fight. |
| 270 | |
| 271 | !!!Frank Lobman |
| 272 | * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Was beaten by Peter Aerts 3 times. |
| 273 | * TheApprentice: To Lucien Carbin. |
| 274 | * BashBrothers: His brother Hedwig Lobman is a Kyokushin karateka fighter and instructor. |
| 275 | * CoolOldGuy: Was about 40 when he fought in Pancrase. |
| 276 | * DefeatMeansRespect: Inverted as he won his UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} bout with Wrestling/KenShamrock, but respected Ken's gameness and the fact that Ken actually managed to break Lobman's nose during the bout. |
| 277 | * DefeatingTheUndefeatable: His first UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} bout with Peter Aerts was the first time he lost. |
| 278 | * {{Determinator}}: He beat Wrestling/KenShamrock with a broken nose. |
| 279 | * GuestFighter: Had only one match in Pancrase in a UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} bout against Wrestling/KenShamrock. |
| 280 | * HeroKiller: Defeated guys like Wrestling/KenShamrock and Creator/BasRutten in UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}. |
| 281 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/MuayThai: And was a five time the European UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} champion. |
| 282 | * {{Jerkass}}: Has been in and even trained for a championship bout in jail. |
| 283 | * RedBaron: "The Animal", "The King of Kick". |
| 284 | * ScaryBlackMan: He is a black Dutch-Surinamese with a 90% knockout rate in about 100 UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} bouts. |
| 285 | |
| 286 | !!!Hiromi Okamoto |
| 287 | * CombatReferee: Pancrase's second referee. |
| 288 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: As well as UsefulNotes/{{Kendo}} |
| 289 | |
| 290 | !!!Remco Pardoel |
| 291 | -->''"I started with Judo when I was 4, than Taekwon-do at the age of 7. When I reached 11 years I also started with (tradional) Jiu Jitsu. After that I also did some (Thai) Boxing as training. Because I love competition I got in contact with Jiu Jitsu as a sport (fighting system). For me it was like a natural move from Judo and Taekwon-do, it was an all in one concept. I won some tournaments from the day i started competing in this style, and in 1993 there was the first World Championships in Denmark. Here I met some people of the Brazilian Team. In this team there where some aces like Fabio Gurgel, Fernando Yamasaki, Sylvio Behring and one of the coaches where Romero ‘Jacare’ Cavalcanti. I heard about BJJ and read some articles in different magazines, You need to consider that there was in that period of time no google or youtube like these days , so getting information or techniques was not that easy hahahha. To get back on the Brazilian team, I asked if they where interested of visiting my hometown and do some classes / seminars. They said yes and almost the complete team came over to our home and we had a crazy and great week. At that moment the seed of BJJ was planted in Europe."'' |
| 292 | |
| 293 | * TheApprentice: To his father Louis Pardoel. He also trained in BJJ under Fabio Gurgel, Romero "Jacare" Cavalcanti, Fernando Yamasaki, Flavio Behring, and Vinicius "Draculino" Magalhaes. |
| 294 | * BadassFamily: His father Louis Pardoel was a Dutch martial arts pioneer, who helped introduce arts like in Shotokan UsefulNotes/{{Karate}}, UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}}, and Japanese Jiu-jitsu to the Netherlands, and notably achieved a 9th dan black belt in Taekwondo, the first non-Asian European to achieve such a rank. He also helped create the Judo Bond Netherlands together with Anton Geesink and Jon Bluming and also founded the Taekwondo Bond Netherlands and ran his own dojo, Sport School Oss (SSO) Pardoel. |
| 295 | * CoolTeacher: Was a trainer at his father’s dojo. He also founded and is the head coach of Satsang BJJ Rotterdam. |
| 296 | * EarlyBirdCameo: Made it to the semifinals of UFC 2 before being beaten by Royce Gracie. |
| 297 | * GlassCannon: Lacked stamina and never really learned have to take a hit. |
| 298 | * GuestFighter: Had only one fight in Pancrase and Shooto each. |
| 299 | * HiddenDepths: He also works as a DJ. |
| 300 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: A black belt and champion in UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}}, Japanese and UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu and also trained a bit in UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} with Gerard Gordeau and even a little UsefulNotes/MuayThai. He also trained and was a World Champion in German Jujitsu (a hybrid martial art mainly based on Judo, Karate, and UsefulNotes/{{Aikido}}, before additional arts were added in 2000). |
| 301 | * ItsPersonal: Claims Alberto Cerra León was his reason to enter UFC 2 as he was a silat stylist and in Europe the guys from pencak silat and UsefulNotes/WingChun were badmouthing all other styles at the time by saying and writing that they were invincible. |
| 302 | * MightyGlacier: Big and strong, but slow. |
| 303 | * OhCrap: Tapped out of fear (and exhaustion) when Marco Ruas managed to achieve mount position on him in their UFC 7 fight. |
| 304 | * RedBaron: "Grizzly", "De Beer" ("The Bear"), "The Avalanche". |
| 305 | * StoutStrength: A hefty guy. |
| 306 | * UrExample: One of the first men from the Netherlands to learn BJJ and helped introduce it and Shooto to The Netherlands, was the first Dutchman to compete in the first BJJ mundials and was the first European in the ADCC. He was also the first World Champion in German Jujitsu. |
| 307 | * TheWorfEffect: He lost to Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki, who is very limited in striking skills, by ''KO''. |
| 308 | |
| 309 | !!!Larry Papadopoulos |
| 310 | -->''"Larry had done the point style jiu-jitsu matches. He was a black belt in Australian jiu-jitsu, and Australian jiu-jitsu is different than BJJ, obviously. It's very well rounded as far as self defense, throwing, minimal ground work- more like old judo ground work. So he had a good overall background and was a good athlete, and we were the older... we were in our late 20’s, early 30’s at the time."'' |
| 311 | -->-- Christopher [=DeWeaver=] |
| 312 | |
| 313 | -->''"Larry is a quiet achiever. He's a very accomplished Greco wrestler, good Jiu Jitsu fighter, and he was ranked number one in the world in Shooto for a long time."'' |
| 314 | -->-- John Donehue |
| 315 | |
| 316 | * TheApprentice: To John Donehue. |
| 317 | * ArchEnemy / TheWorfEffect: During a talent scouting in Australia hosted by Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki. Larry got the better of Suzuki during a rolling session. Enraged, Suzuki warned Scott Bessac before his fight with Larry and specifically told Bessac to hurt him with Bessac obliging and breaking Larry's ribs. Suzuki and Larry eventually fought. Suzuki, putting his King of Pancrase on the line their eventual matchup with Suzuki victorious via guillotine from half guard. Both men put hostility aside as both embraced after the match. |
| 318 | * AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Formerly owned Spartan Gym, where the some of the first Australian MMA fighters trained at and was the head fighter. |
| 319 | * AwesomeAussie |
| 320 | * {{Bouncer}}: Co-owned a security firm that frequently worked with night clubs. |
| 321 | * CarpetOfVirility |
| 322 | * CoolTeacher: Founded Boxing Works where he teaches MMA, boxing, Japanese and UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu. |
| 323 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu: One of Pancrase's first BJJ fighters, trained at the Extreme Jiu-Jitsu & Grappling school, is a black belt and was a 3 time Australian jiu jitsu tournament champion and competed in the 2003 ADCC under 99kg catergory. Also a 4th degree black belt graded in the Koshinryu JuJutsu school and trained in UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, UsefulNotes/{{Aikido}}, boxing and Greco-Roman wrestling. |
| 324 | * RedBaron: "Papa-San". |
| 325 | * TheQuisling: Left Pancrase for Shooto. |
| 326 | * StartMyOwn: Hosted Shooto Australia events for both Amateur and Pro Shooto. |
| 327 | * UrExample: Introduced Shooto to Australia. |
| 328 | |
| 329 | !!!Thomas Puckett |
| 330 | -->''"To Whom It May Concern, If someone claims to have been trained by Wrestling/KarlGotch, the first thing you need to know is that Karl would not show anyone techniques until they could "pay" him with the exercises. Karl wanted effort... and the truth is he rarely got it. I met Gotch in the fall of 1993. I spent about eight hours a day with him everyday six-seven days a week until I left Tampa for good in mid-1995. After my initial fight in Japan in March of 94, I came back and had to leave Tampa briefly because of illness around early May of that year. I returned to Tampa about 8 weeks later to resume training until May of 95. Karl's wife died soon after. I kept in touch with Karl weekly on the phone and continued to visit until his passing last year. Talking to a wrestling great did not mean that he trained you. Talking about wrestling on the phone does not constitute training time. Training for any kind of wrestling takes years to develop world class skill. Training is working with sparring partners under the watchful eye of an expert who can correct your mistakes and show you the right way to do things. It takes years to learn the skills before you could be qualified to pass to them on to the next generation. No one that respected Gotch or the sport of UsefulNotes/CatchWrestling would dare to presume that a couple of months in the presence of a legend would qualify them to teach as his representative. To truly honor the man, the student would take years perfecting the skills he learned by drilling AND COMPETING before he would try to do his mentor justice. The only people that Karl legitimately spent time teaching and conditioning for UsefulNotes/CatchWrestling were the Japanese fighters like Fujiwara, Suzuki, Funaki and the rest of the young boys attached to the old UWF. They are the only ones who could say that Karl consistently spent time on the mat with them. No one that he talked to or went to a gym with him a time or two, myself included was given his blessing to instruct or write book about catch except for Fujiwara. HE HAD NO LIVE IN STUDENTS in the 15 years I knew him. There was no such thing as "Gotch wrestling". For Karl, the throws, suplexes, controls and the ground game were just wrestling. Karl always hoped that pure Catch would come around again in his lifetime. I believe from our conversations that he had hoped PANCRASE would have evolved into a forum for that. But as the American NHB scene evolved the Japanese product moved more toward the striking side of things to be competitive instead of developing the great grappling product that it already had. He always spoke highly of the old UWF match between Suzuki and Funaki. It is my opinion that this was the kind of product he respected and felt the world would want to see. But what do I know. The name of Gotch, when it came to wrestling and conditioning was synonymous with excellence. An exacting standard, rarely met, and if you really did know the man, you would know how much he hated pretenders. And a pretender you would be if you thought that a few months training qualified you to speak for a legend or use his name without his consent. At least, have the balls to make your own way, without having Gotch's name emblazoned on everything you do. Signed, The Guy Busting His A** in the Conditioning for Combat Sports DVD."'' |
| 331 | -->-- Thomas Puckett on what a true student of Wrestling/KarlGotch should be like. |
| 332 | |
| 333 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/KarlGotch. |
| 334 | * EarlyBirdCameo: Was the guy showing off the exercises on the first tape of Wrestling/KarlGotch's Conditioning for Combat Sports videos. |
| 335 | * IncompletelyTrained: Wrestling/KarlGotch states that he lost interest in training people when his wife died, which just so happened to be when he was training Puckett. |
| 336 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/WingChun: Also trained in boxing, UsefulNotes/MuayThai, and a bit of UsefulNotes/CatchWrestling. |
| 337 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 338 | |
| 339 | !!!Richard Saar |
| 340 | -->''"We expressed interest, started it... we've had people go up. I think Richard Saar was the first one who is almost in some ways a sacrificial lamb. We had our schedule as far as who was going up in what order. And Richard went up and Larry cornered him."'' |
| 341 | -->-- Christopher [=DeWeaver=] |
| 342 | |
| 343 | * TheApprentice: To Larry Papadopoulos. |
| 344 | * AwesomeAussie |
| 345 | * BashBrothers: Has a brother named Alex who also trained at the Spartan gym but never fought in MMA. |
| 346 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu: Trained at the Spartan gym. |
| 347 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 348 | |
| 349 | !!!Gregory Smit |
| 350 | -->''"There was one guy by the name of Greg Smit, and Greg Smit was the first Australian to actually fight in Pancrase. And while we all had a BJJ flavor/Thai boxing flavor to what we were doing, Greg actually trained and went to Florida to train with Gotch. And so he actually had the real leg lock, ankle lock, wrestling, ride style. Even though he wasn't that athletic, he was a bit... not as coordinated and athletic as the other guys- he actually had very solid fundamentals in regards to the Gotch system."'' |
| 351 | -->-- Christopher [=DeWeaver=] |
| 352 | |
| 353 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/KarlGotch, but that didn't prevent him from having a 2-11 career record. |
| 354 | * AwesomeAussie: The first Australian in Pancrase. |
| 355 | * ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Wore green shin guards and short green trunks with yellow stripes on the sides, [[KangaroosRepresentAustralia with a black symbol of a kangaroo on them]]. |
| 356 | * CoolTeacher: Taught at the Spartan Gym on occasion. |
| 357 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: An Australian champion before he met Wrestling/KarlGotch. |
| 358 | * IncompletelyTrained: Like Thomas Puckett. |
| 359 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 360 | * NiceGuy: Seemed to be the happiest dude in Pancrase, even if he got his ass kicked. Guy Mezger quotes him as a "guy so nice that my mother could beat him." So nice that he would greet and high five fans after a grueling bout. |
| 361 | * RugbyIsSlaughter: Played it in his scholastic years. |
| 362 | |
| 363 | !!!Toon Stelling |
| 364 | -->''"There was a guy called Toon Stelling and he was in some martial art. It was an art with striking, throws and submissions. He was a fight champion. Dolman wanted to introduce him. He was about our body size as well."'' |
| 365 | -->-- Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki |
| 366 | |
| 367 | * TheApprentice: To Chris Dolman, Willem Ruska, Bas van Hout and Rob Houweling. |
| 368 | * CombatPragmatist: Deconstructed, he was winning his fight with against Yusuke Fuke, before he soccer kicked him, leading to him loss by disqualification. He also eye gouged Katsuomi Inagaki in their fight. |
| 369 | * CoolTeacher: Has his own gym, the Healthclub Heijenoord. |
| 370 | * GuestFighter |
| 371 | * IKnowKarate: A 6th dan black belt in Kyokushin and also trained in Wado UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} in which he is 2nd Dan black belt. He is a 6 time Dutch Champion, won an European Champion in London in 1982 and World Champion in 1984. He is also a 1st dan black belt in UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, and also knows UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}, UsefulNotes/KravMaga and was one of the first people to learn Barokai (a Dutch mixed martial art full-contact mix between UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, boxing and UsefulNotes/{{Karate}}). |
| 372 | |
| 373 | !!!Scott Sullivan |
| 374 | -->''"Can you love your neighbor as yourself, and at the same time knee him in the face as hard as you can?"'' |
| 375 | |
| 376 | * TheApprentice: To Ike Stafford. |
| 377 | * BadassTeacher: Has his own MMA gym and has made several instructional videos. |
| 378 | * CoolTeacher: He homeschools his 8 children. |
| 379 | * GeniusBruiser: He holds a doctorate in philosophy from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, TX. |
| 380 | * GuestFighter |
| 381 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/MuayThai: A national heavyweight champion, he also trained in and won national titles in shootboxing. He also trained in UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu under Rickson and Relson Gracie, Carlos and John Machado, Mario Roberto and later became a BJJ black belt under Anibal Braga. |
| 382 | * {{Jobber}}: Had 2 fights in Pancrase, both he lost. |
| 383 | * RealMenLoveJesus: Was born an evangelical Christian though he later became a Catholic, he was featured in the MMA documentary; "Fight Church" and his website in dedicated to Christian apologetics. |
| 384 | * RedBaron: "Bam Bam". |
| 385 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: His surname in Pancrase was written as "Sollivan". |
| 386 | [[/folder]] |
| 387 | |
| 388 | [[folder:Debuted in The Eyes of the Beast Year (1995)]] |
| 389 | !!!Allan Góes |
| 390 | -->''"I have a duty to support my family. When I get into the ring, I think about my family. And I fight at the risk of my life. I am prepared to endure pain."'' |
| 391 | |
| 392 | * TheApprentice: To Carlson Gracie. |
| 393 | * BadassTeacher: Teaches at his own gym, Allan Góes Martial Arts with his own style of jiu-jitsu. |
| 394 | * BullyingADragon: Frank Shamrock claims Góes eye gouged him in their fight, so he caught him in a heel hook and broke his leg. (Goes didn't tap out, by the way.) |
| 395 | * CombatPragmatist: In their match, Góes refused to release the hold when Frank utilized a rope escape as by Pancrase's rules, and he gained a yellow card from the referee, and the aforementioned eye gouge as claimed by Frank Shamrock. He also cheated a lot in his matches in Extreme Challenge 3 and 4. After the fight against Dan Henderson in which he [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown illegally kicked a downed]] Henderson, he seemed to have gotten better after those fights. |
| 396 | * {{Determinator}}: As stated above he did not tap out even though his leg was injured. |
| 397 | * GuestFighter: Made his MMA debut in Pancrase, but for only one match. |
| 398 | * GoForTheEye: Frank Shamrock claims Góes did this to him in their match. |
| 399 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu: Started at the age of 7, received his black belt from Carlson Gracie and is now a 6th dan black belt. He is also a black belt in UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} and is said to have been trained in UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} and UsefulNotes/{{Capoeira}}. |
| 400 | * TheWorfEffect: Lost to Mark Coleman in less than 2 minutes. |
| 401 | |
| 402 | !!!Takafumi Ito |
| 403 | * ADayInTheLimelight: Won the inaugural Neo-Blood Tournament in 1995, beating Pancrase original Ryushi Yanagisawa in the finals. |
| 404 | * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: He was never able to get pass Jason [=DeLucia=], Kiuma Kunioku, and Keiichiro Yamamiya, who beat him 3 times each. |
| 405 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki and Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki. |
| 406 | * AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Became the head of [=PANCRASEism=] gym in 2004 after Kiuma Kunioku left. He resigned himself in 2008 and left the gym in the hands of Koji Oishi. |
| 407 | * BrattyHalfPint |
| 408 | * ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Wore red trunks with a solid blue or yellow stripe on the sides. |
| 409 | * CoolTeacher: He is an instructor at Pancrase Gold's Gym Shonan. |
| 410 | * DeathGlare: Is known to sport these during match introductions. |
| 411 | * HeterosexualLifePartners: With pro wrestler Wrestling/IkutoHidaka and even won the NWA International Lightweight Tag Team Championship together. |
| 412 | * TheIdiotFromOsaka: Is from the region. |
| 413 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: Before his time in Pancrase. He later trained in UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} and even competed in the All Japan Kickboxing Federation. |
| 414 | * {{Jobber}}: From 1995 to 1997 following a loss to Frank Shamrock. |
| 415 | * OvershadowedByAwesome: Despite being the first guy to come out of the Pancrase dojo system as a pro, he is one of the least notable native Pancrase fighters since he could never get past the top names. |
| 416 | * RedBaron: "The Prince of Pancrase". |
| 417 | * UrExample: Was the first Pancrase Dojo graduate (he actually was part of the second entrance exam in 1994 instead of the first one in 1993). |
| 418 | * WrestlerInAllOfUs: Trained in pro wrestling under Masanobu Kurisu, a former assistant to Wrestling/AntonioInoki at his own wrestling school. |
| 419 | |
| 420 | !!!Kenji Kosuge |
| 421 | * CombatReferee: Debuted as a Pancrase referee in 1995. |
| 422 | * HoldUpYourScore: Is also now a judge for Pancrase and its longest serving one. |
| 423 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: As well as amateur wrestling. |
| 424 | * TheMedic: He also runs a health clinic. |
| 425 | * RedBaron: "Mr. Health Care". |
| 426 | |
| 427 | !!!Jeff Masajiri |
| 428 | -->''"Jeff, yeah- he's a Sheriff here in Sacramento County where I live, and I talk to him every now and then, and he trained with Ken quite a bit. Jeff and I trained a lot together; he was a cool guy. He was one of them guys you could beat up and he'd take it. He was a good guy."'' |
| 429 | -->-- Scott Bessac |
| 430 | |
| 431 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/KenShamrock as part of the Lion's Den. |
| 432 | * {{Determinator}}: Had to be one to train under Wrestling/KenShamrock. |
| 433 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Boxing]]: And some form of kung fu. |
| 434 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 435 | * NiceGuy: Look at the quote above. |
| 436 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: His surname was spelled as Massagli by Pancrase. |
| 437 | * TrainingFromHell: Went through one as expected of a Wrestling/KenShamrock / Lion's Den disciple. |
| 438 | |
| 439 | !!!Todd Medina |
| 440 | * TheApprentice: To Ken Gabrielson and Carlson Gracie. |
| 441 | * CoolTeacher: Has his own MMA school, Todd Medina's Freestyle Fight School. |
| 442 | * EarlyBirdCameo: Made his MMA debut in UFC 5. |
| 443 | * GuestFighter |
| 444 | * IKnowKarate: As well as Jeet Kune Do, boxing, savate, UsefulNotes/MuayThai and was a 2 time Michoacan heavyweight UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} champion and of course UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu |
| 445 | * RedBaron: "El Tiburon" ("The Shark"). |
| 446 | |
| 447 | !!!Guy Mezger |
| 448 | -->''"You think you've got it tough, kid? When I fought they didn't have rules! No rules and no weight classes. You guys are wimps today!"'' |
| 449 | |
| 450 | * TheApprentice: Subverted. He was a part of Wrestling/KenShamrock's Lion's Den, but he lived and trained in his own gym, and had been brought by Shamrock precisely because he was already a skilled fighter. |
| 451 | * ArchEnemy: Tito Ortiz in UFC. |
| 452 | * AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Is the president of HDNet Fights. |
| 453 | * BadassBystander: In December 2011, he was involved in an altercation in Dallas in front of a sporting goods store where a man was physically abusing a woman. He stepped in to assist the woman by fighting the man, who attacked Mezger with a knife. The attacker was on parole and afterwards needed medical attention for multiple facial bone and arm bone fractures. Mezger's hand was cut in the fight, but thankfully it was surgically repaired and he fully recovered. |
| 454 | * CombatCommentator: He has commentated for Creator/ChuckNorris' full contact, team-based martial arts competition, the World Combat League, and for Japanese MMA organization DREAM. |
| 455 | * CoolTeacher: Owns Guy Mezger's Combat Sports Club where he trains people in boxing, UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} and MMA. He also owns a consulting company, CS Consulting, that works with both Federal and State law enforcement agencies on re-vamping their defensive tactics training. |
| 456 | * DeathOfAThousandCuts: Enjoyed a calculated, surgically precise striking, but he lacked KO power overall. |
| 457 | * {{Determinator}}: Had to be one to train under Wrestling/KenShamrock. |
| 458 | * EarlyBirdCameo: Made his MMA debut at UFC 4 in an alternate match against Jason Fairn. |
| 459 | * EverythingIsBigInTexas: A Texan from Dallas. |
| 460 | * GeniusBruiser: In 2011 he earned a [=PhD=] in Holistic Health and formed a partnership with a doctor's group called Optimal Health Specialists. |
| 461 | * GracefulLoser: He lost to Wanderlei Silva in a fight that many, including Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba thought should have been a no contest because Silva headbutted Mezger which was illegal. Mezger said he didn't really care about the result (as he was visibly being picked apart before the headbutt) but would have liked a rematch. |
| 462 | * IKnowKarate: A 6th dan in Kyokushin and a 1993 and 1994 World Full-Contact UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} Champion. He also trained in Tang Soo Do and USefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}} under a Chung Do Kwan affiliated school, boxing, UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} under Vince Tamura, wrestling under Willie Thompson, UsefulNotes/MuayThai and UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} under Billy "Jack" Jackson, in which he won a U.S. Heavyweight Title before subsequently winning the WKC World Heavyweight Championship in June 1995. |
| 463 | * RedBaron: "The Sandman", "Kochaku Daio" ("The Great King of Stalemates"), "Nankōfuraku no Shishi" ("The Impregnable Lion"). |
| 464 | * ScrewedByTheNetwork: He has quite a few moments of this happening, Pride was not good to him. |
| 465 | ** He agreed to fight Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba on two weeks notice and had a broken foot going into the fight with a condition that the fight would not go into overtime. The fight mostly consisted of Mezger keeping control by stopping Sakuraba's takedown attempts while landing strikes, and ended with Mezger expecting it to go to the judges, but Pride officials wanted the fight to go to overtime, clearly to give Sakuraba another chance to win the fight. An argument ensued and Mezger was ordered out of the ring and back to the locker room by his corner man, Wrestling/KenShamrock, who was livid at the decision. Later that night, the president of Pride FC made a public apology to Mezger at the Tokyo Dome for the miscommunication. |
| 466 | ** His fight with Wanderlei Silva where Silva ended the fight with an illegal headbutt and punching combination. |
| 467 | ** His fights with Ricardo Arona, Akira Shoji and Antônio Rogério Nogueira ended in controversial split decision victories for Mezger's opponents. |
| 468 | * StartMyOwn: Started up a MMA promotion called World Pankration Championships that only ran 2 shows. |
| 469 | * TookALevelInBadass: The guy was just in a different level every time he returned to fight. He went from drawing with Ryushi Yanagisawa to looking Ricardo Arona face to face. |
| 470 | * TrainingFromHell: Went through one as expected of a Wrestling/KenShamrock / Lion's Den disciple. |
| 471 | * WearingAFlagOnYourHead: Or on his trunks in his fight with Ricardo Arona. |
| 472 | * WorfHadTheFlu: Was sick before his rematch with Tito Ortiz but fought anyway, a decision that he regretted after the fight. This resulted in Ortiz handling Mezger and won the bout at the 9:55 mark by referee stoppage. |
| 473 | |
| 474 | !!!Samī Nakamura |
| 475 | * CombatReferee: Was the referee for the UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} match between Manabu Yamada and Maurice Smith. |
| 476 | |
| 477 | !!!John Renfroe |
| 478 | * TheApprentice: To Maurice Smith. |
| 479 | * GuestFighter |
| 480 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}: Trained at KJP Kickboxing Gym. |
| 481 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 482 | |
| 483 | !!!Osami Shibuya |
| 484 | -->''"Shibuya is an all round fighter and has fought some big names in his time."'' |
| 485 | -->-- Ian Freeman |
| 486 | |
| 487 | -->''"This guy was Funaki’s protege, his training partner, he trained a lot with him. Very strong as you can see, he’s got a solid build also, so he’s not just a lot of technique, he’s got some great strength also."'' |
| 488 | -->-- Creator/BasRutten |
| 489 | |
| 490 | * ADayInTheLimelight: Got a win over Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki by a knee injury. |
| 491 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki and Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki. |
| 492 | * BoringButPractical: He wasn’t the most exciting fighter Pancrase produced, he was more conservative in his approach and preferred controlling his opponents to take them to the judges rather than submit them or knock them out. |
| 493 | * CoolTeacher: Is now a MMA instructor at Shinwa Sports Academy. |
| 494 | * CripplingOverspecialization: Was never a striker, instead relying on his grappling for most of his career. |
| 495 | * {{Determinator}}: A tough guy and hard to put away. |
| 496 | * HeAlsoDid: Along with Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki, he has provided motion capture for VideoGame/{{Tekken}} character King. |
| 497 | * HeroicBuild: Did UsefulNotes/{{Bodybuilding}} and even did a few competitions. |
| 498 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: Trained with Caol Uno in the same high school. |
| 499 | * PowerTrio: Was a part of the "Hybrid Sanjushi" ("The Three Hybrid Musketeers") along with Yuki Kondo and Kiuma Kunioku. Among them, Shibuya was called "Karada no Shibuya" ("Shibuya of the Health") due to his famed conditioning. Ironically, Frank Shamrock went to say he believed Shibuya indulged in steroids during his time in Pancrase. |
| 500 | %%* RedBaron: "Predator". |
| 501 | * StoneWall: Was a good defensive grappler. Unfortunately he was not a great offensive grappler nor a striker and it shows in his record with ''52'' of his fights going to the judges made up of 15 wins, 20 losses and a record of '''17''' draws. |
| 502 | |
| 503 | !!!Harout Terzyan |
| 504 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/GeneLebell and Gokor Chivichyan. Gokor considers Harout to be his strongest, most technical and ready-made athlete/student he has trained. |
| 505 | * CoolTeacher: Has trained, taught, coached/instructed many top professional UFC fighters such as Tito Ortiz, Rico Rodriguez, etc. |
| 506 | * GuestFighter: Had only one fight in Pancrase. |
| 507 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: As well as UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu, full-contact UsefulNotes/{{Karate}}, and UsefulNotes/CatchWrestling. He is also a black belt in the Hayastan Fighting System at the Hayastan MMA academy. |
| 508 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: Pancrase wrote his first name as Arutyun. UFC Fight Pass lists him as Harout Terzina. |
| 509 | [[/folder]] |
| 510 | |
| 511 | [[folder:Debuted in The Truth Year (1996)]] |
| 512 | !!!Wes Gassaway |
| 513 | -->''"Wes was a weight class above me, but he had no submission ability at all. I knew I could get him down and submit him without any real difficulty. But I found myself getting tired after about 2 minutes. Gassaway was super-strong, much stronger than I expected. He hit me a couple of times in the head and it really rang my bell."'' |
| 514 | -->-- Frank Shamrock |
| 515 | |
| 516 | * BashBrothers: His brother Brian is also a MMA fighter. |
| 517 | * GuestFighter |
| 518 | * IKnowKarate: As well as boxing, wrestling, UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}}, UsefulNotes/MuayThai, kempo, UsefulNotes/{{Aikido}}, kajukenbo, and UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu. |
| 519 | * RedBaron: "Lobo". |
| 520 | * ScaryBlackMan |
| 521 | * UnskilledButStrong: When it came to grappling. |
| 522 | |
| 523 | !!!Satoshi Hasegawa |
| 524 | * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: To fellow dojo graduate and friend Keiichiro Yamamiya. He lost to Yamamiya in the finals of the 1997 Neo-Blood Tournament and in the first round of the 1996 Neo-Blood tournament a year before. |
| 525 | * ArchEnemy: Ikuhisa Minowa. |
| 526 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki and later to Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki. |
| 527 | * BrattyHalfPint: A notably standoffish kind. He would also showboat in fights. |
| 528 | * CharacterDeath / DownerEnding: Fell from the balcony of his third story apartment on March 1st, 1999 at the young age of 22. The following Pancrase show, Breakthrough 3 was dedicated to his memory with a ten-bell salute. |
| 529 | * ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Wore white trunks and white shin guards. |
| 530 | * DavidVersusGoliath: Against Semmy Schilt. |
| 531 | ** ADayInTheLimelight |
| 532 | * {{Determinator}} |
| 533 | * HatesBeingTouched: Has blew off gestures from Guy Mezger and Jason Delucia. |
| 534 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Judo]]: As well as amateur wrestling. He trained for MMA at Pancrase Yokohama Dojo. |
| 535 | * NotSoStoic: Was usually a calm and collected fighter. Would become stubbornly aggressive out of frustration or danger when facing a larger opponent. |
| 536 | * TenderTears: Seemed to be on the verge of tears after a match he loses. His fight with Alex Andrade reduced him to a crying mess. |
| 537 | |
| 538 | !!!Jong Wang Kim |
| 539 | -->''"Kim wasn't a particularly good fighter. He was slow, he was chinny, he got tired very quickly and he was addicted to kicks that had no hope of landing or doing damage. But he was persistent, he never stopped coming back, and if you underestimated him he could squeeze your head off in seconds. For a man with very little inborn athletic talent, he fought for seventeen years and made it to 13-23, and not a single fight went to decision, win or lose. Jong Wang Kim knew what he was about and he did it as hard as he could."'' |
| 540 | -->-- A profile of Jong Wang Kim from a VideoGame/FireProWrestling user [=CarlCX=] from https://steamcommunity.com. |
| 541 | |
| 542 | * EightiesHair: A mullet that he tied in a short ponytail when he first appeared, though he cut it short not long afterwards. |
| 543 | * ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Wore red or white trunks with red shin guards. |
| 544 | * CoolTeacher: Has his own MMA school. It was originally a Pancrase afflicted dojo called Pancrase Kim Dojo. |
| 545 | * GlassCannon: Both in defense and stamina. |
| 546 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: A 3rd dan black belt and a UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}} 3rd dan black belt. He also trained with CMA Korea. |
| 547 | * {{Jobber}}: Mostly in Pancrase, though he did better outside it. |
| 548 | * MightyGlacier: Slow and got tired easily, but was tough. |
| 549 | * RedBaron: "Hanryū Majin" ("Korean Devil"). |
| 550 | * StoutStrength: A super heavyweight. |
| 551 | * UrExample: The first Korean MMA fighter. |
| 552 | * WrestlerInAllOfUs: Has wrestled for New Korea Pro Wrestling Association. |
| 553 | |
| 554 | |
| 555 | !!!Yuki Kondo |
| 556 | -->''"[[DeclarationOfProtection I want to protect Funaki-san and his legacy.]]"'' |
| 557 | |
| 558 | * TheAce: The next one after Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki. He was good in grappling, had a sharp striking, and over all, was young and spirited. |
| 559 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki. |
| 560 | * BloodKnight: Has fought in over 100 MMA fights and still fighting. |
| 561 | * BlueIsHeroic: Is known for wearing blue shorts in most of his fights, one of his [[RedBaron Red Barons]] even reflects this. |
| 562 | * ChallengeSeeker: Faced people like Wanderlei Silva and Igor Vovchanchyn in PRIDE, challenged both Wrestling/NaoyaOgawa and Rickson Gracie (to avenge Funaki), and also wanted a matches with Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba and Wrestling/KiyoshiTamura. |
| 563 | * DistaffCounterpart: Female fighter Yuuki Kondo, due to [[NervesOfSteel her calmness when fighting]]. Her maiden name is actually Kubota, she went by Kondo due to her marriage to Purebred Kyoto representative Tetsuya Kondo. |
| 564 | * DoNotCallMePaul: His real first name is apparently just Yū. |
| 565 | * EarlyBirdCameo: He was actually at the first Pancrase recruitment exam in 1993, but didn’t pass. |
| 566 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Shorinji Kempo]]: A 2nd dan black belt and also yoga, which he adopted after seeing Funaki doing the same to understand Rickson's condition. |
| 567 | * KidHero: Comparatively to the founders at least; Kondo was Pancrase's hottest new blood, and proven himself by beating established names left and right. |
| 568 | * LoonyFan: Of Funaki, though unlike Wrestling/WataruSakata, he intends to be taken seriously. |
| 569 | * NervesOfSteel: Is noted to be very calm in fights. |
| 570 | * OneHitKill: Was good with high kicks, and got some instant victories by kick to the head. |
| 571 | * PassingTheTorch: He received it from Funaki but like Wrestling/KiyoshiTamura and Wrestling/TsuyoshiKohsaka to Wrestling/AkiraMaeda he was just not at Funaki's level in popularity. |
| 572 | * PowerTrio: Was a part of the "Hybrid Sanjushi" ("The Three Hybrid Musketeers") along with Kiuma Kunioku and Osami Shibuya. Among them, Kondo was called "Kokoro no Kondo" ("Kondo of the Heart") due to his spirit and tenacity. |
| 573 | * PromotedFanBoy: Was a big fan of Funaki before training under him. |
| 574 | * RedBaron: "Fudo Shin" ("Firm Spirit"), "Nippon no Seimitsu Machinegun" ("Japan's Precision Machine Gun"), "Eien no Blue" ("Eternal Blue"), "Yukisora". |
| 575 | * SignatureMove: Is known for a certain technique called "bowling" in Japan. It basically features him being at top sprawl position and [[GoodOldFisticuffs raining punches to his opponent's head from there]]. |
| 576 | * UndyingLoyalty: To Pancrase, from his debut to the present as he is still fighting for the promotion. |
| 577 | * TheWorfEffect: Lost to Tito Ortiz in UFC in under two minutes and by cobra clutch. Also to quite a few of the lesser known fighters on this list. |
| 578 | |
| 579 | !!!Jack [=McLaughlin=] |
| 580 | * TheApprentice: To Mark Burnham and Kevin "Huunjin" Cullen. |
| 581 | * CarpetOfVirility |
| 582 | * CoolTeacher: He ran martial arts classes at his local YMCA in Piqua, Ohio. |
| 583 | * EarlyBirdCameo: Made his MMA debut in UFC 6. |
| 584 | * GuestFighter: Had only one fight in Pancrase. |
| 585 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Aikido}}: Trained at U.S.A. Aikido and Niwa Dojo. He also trained in kempo and later learned UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu. |
| 586 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 587 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: [=McLaughlin=] or [=McGlaughlin=]? |
| 588 | |
| 589 | !!!Semmy Schilt |
| 590 | -->''"Semmy Schilt in Mixed Martial Arts was a mess, to say the least. Pancrase was a promotion filled with smaller Japanese fighters who would be lucky to make the six foot mark if they were wearing risers, which against other Japanese fighters was fine, but Pancrase in the early days was a lot like the wild west. Semmy stands at six-foot eleven-and-a-half inches. Put a pair of boots on Semmy and he is an easy seven feet tall. If you know Schilt from his later work in K-1 only you are missing out on a fighter who was tall and incredibly lean; think of modern day UFC Heavyweight Stefan Struve, only with more muscle and more coordination. Schilt's background is in UsefulNotes/{{Karate}}, so to say that stand up fighting was always his strength would be an understatement, but he still had a good ground game, relative to the time, too. This is the fighter that smaller Japanese fighters were being put up against, a guy that modern UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} demigods like Badr Hari still can't figure out the formula to soundly defeating Schilt."'' |
| 591 | -->-- Dave Walsh, Liverkick.com blogger. |
| 592 | |
| 593 | * AlliterativeName |
| 594 | * AlternateCompanyEquivalent: To RINGS fighter Tariel Bitsadze. |
| 595 | * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Was beaten by Josh Barnett twice in MMA and beaten three times (though he has won against him once) by Peter Aerts in UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}. He also never got to avenge losses to Ryushi Yanagisawa and Satoshi Hasegawa. |
| 596 | * TheApprentice: To Jon Bluming, Dave Jonkers, and Takeshi Azuma. |
| 597 | * BadassFamily: Both his parents were Kyokushin practitioners. |
| 598 | * ColossusClimb: He was so tall and lanky that he was able to reach the ropes from anywhere in the ring and impede his opponents to get into his striking guard with his long arms. |
| 599 | * CurbStompBattle: Was on the receiving end of one in his Pancrase bout with Ryushi Yanagisawa, where Semmy tapped out in less than a minute to a toehold. |
| 600 | * DavidVersusGoliath: Was Goliath to almost everyone he faced in Pancrase. |
| 601 | * TheGiant: With 6 feet 11 inches and 300 pounds, he was the biggest hybrid wrestler ever. |
| 602 | * HeroKiller: Beat Manabu Yamada in his debut, and has victories over Osami Shibuya, Kazuo Takahashi, Takaku Fuke, Katsuomi Inagaki, Guy Mezger, Jason Godsey, Yuki Kondo (though he lost their first 3 fights), Takafumi Ito, Ikuhisa Minowa, Yoshihisa Yamamoto, Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki, Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki (though he lost their first 2 fights), Bob Schrijber, Pete Williams, Akira Shoji, Masaaki Satake, and Wrestling/YoshihiroTakayama in MMA. |
| 603 | * IKnowKarate: First started with Kyokushin, before switching to Ashihara UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} and is a 6th dan black belt and later learned Daido-Juku Kudo and is also a black belt in that. He eventually become a UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} champion and one of the most dominant K-1 stars. |
| 604 | * MightyGlacier: A slow but precise hard hitter. |
| 605 | * RedBaron: "Zettai Oja" ("The Absolute King"), "Nankofuraku no Saikyo Oja" ("The Impregnable World's Strongest King"), "Saikyō Kyoshinhei" ("The Strongest Giant Soldier"), "Kyodai Kakutō Robo" ("The Giant Fighting Robot"), and in English, "Hightower", "Skyscraper", “The Dutch Destroyer”. |
| 606 | * PuzzleBoss: As mentioned above, he posed a challenge to the Pancrase fighter due to his size and body shape. |
| 607 | * TheRival: To Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki and Yuki Kondo. He had a trilogy of fights with both of them and only won after losing the first 2 fights to both of them. |
| 608 | * TheWorfEffect: By Gilbert Yvel in a RINGS event. Also his losses to Ryushi Yanagisawa and Satoshi Hasegawa |
| 609 | * UnstoppableForceMeetsImmovableObject: His RINGS bout with Gilbert Yvel and maybe his PRIDE bouts with Fedor Emelianenko, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Sergei Kharitonov. |
| 610 | |
| 611 | !!!August Smisl |
| 612 | * CharlesAtlasSuperpower: A former German Champion, third at the European Championships and two-time world champion in arm wrestling. |
| 613 | * CoolTeacher: Operates a gym in Bremen. |
| 614 | * GuestFighter: Had only one fight in Pancrase. |
| 615 | * HiddenDepths: Is a trained electrician. |
| 616 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: A 2nd dan black belt and an Austrian national champion. He was also on the Austrian Judo Olympic team in 1992, but could not participate in the Olympic Games due to injury. |
| 617 | * RedBaron: "Gustl". |
| 618 | * WrestlerInAllOfUs: Trained by Catch Wrestling Association founder Otto Wanz. |
| 619 | |
| 620 | !!!Oleg Taktarov |
| 621 | -->''"Yeah, he had actually qualified for the tournament and he needed to get prepared for that event. Guy asked me if he could come and train with me because he knew I could really work with him and get him prepared because I was getting prepared for my fight, so I brought him up and I worked with him, I trained him and I worked, trying to get him ready, it was hard because Oleg had this mentality, and it was hard to get him to understand that the idea is not to get hit, to try and keep moving and position yourself so you can get in a good position to finish the fight. It was almost like he didn’t care if he got hit, and that he would wear somebody down and then submit them. But I couldn’t get him to break that mentality, to just defend himself a little better than that. He took such a beating in a lot of his fights."'' |
| 622 | -->-- Wrestling/KenShamrock on training with Oleg for UFC 6. |
| 623 | |
| 624 | -->''"Yeah. We trained everyday. I liked Oleg. Oleg was cool, he was fun. He had a lot of skill. Thank God I was a lot stronger than Oleg so he never submitted me, but he had a lot of technique."'' |
| 625 | -->-- Scott Bessac |
| 626 | |
| 627 | * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: The only person he lost to twice was Wrestling/DanSevern. |
| 628 | * TheApprentice: To Vitaly Karlovich Mikhailov in sambo and judo. |
| 629 | * BadassFamily: His father Nikolai was a former soldier and boxer. |
| 630 | * BadassTeacher: A master of sport in both UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} and UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} and was a special defense instructor in his army service. He also has several sambo instructional videos. |
| 631 | * CombatCommentator: He tried at the M-1 - Russia vs. Europe event, but he was criticized for using too lengthy comments not related to the fights themselves and never did it again (though according to Oleg, he wasn’t being paid for his appearance and decided to fool around on the commentary booth to get back at the promoters). |
| 632 | * {{Determinator}}: He had a lot of heart and took a lot of punishment in his most notable UFC fights. He also fought in UFC 5 with a knee injury. |
| 633 | ** While filming a scene in Film/{{Predators}} he hit his face on a steadicam and was bleeding, but continued filming because the blood added to the effect of the scene. |
| 634 | * GameBreakingInjury: Went to fight Renzo Gracie with a broken hand, which caused his defeat when the pain impeded him from locking a leglock. |
| 635 | * GuestFighter: Had only one match in Pancrase. |
| 636 | * HeAlsoDid: He wanted to be an actor since he was a kid, which was the real reason he came to the USA in the first place, he trained at the famous Playhouse West acting school for about 7 years along with competing in MMA. He has acted in films and television in Russia and America since 1997, most notably as Nikolai in Film/{{Predators}} and even has voice acting to his name in VideoGame/Battlefield3 as Dmitri "Dima" Mayakovsky. |
| 637 | * HiddenDepths: Was a successful businessman in Russia from 1990 to 1994 and even ran his own company at the time. |
| 638 | * HuskyRusskie: The first Russian MMA fighter in the UFC and Pancrase. |
| 639 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: A master of sport in sambo, along with a two-time world champion (possibly - there is controversy about the latter claim). Also a 3rd dan and master of sport in UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} and a black belt in Japanese jiu-jitsu, and added boxing later in his career and even faced Creator/DolphLundgren in a celebrity boxing match and won via split decision. |
| 640 | * ILetYouWin: Claims that he let his second fight with Marco Ruas to be a draw in order to secure a third fight, which never came to fruition. Whether he would have won the bout had he tried full force is another question. |
| 641 | * InkSuitActor: In VideoGame/Battlefield3 as Dmitri "Dima" Mayakovsky. |
| 642 | * LightningBruiser: He was known for using a variety of rarely seen, acrobatic UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} takedowns. |
| 643 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong: He was not really known for his strength, but more for his grappling skills and how tough he was. |
| 644 | * NiceGuy: Before his first UFC tournament, competitors were interviewed pulling macho faces and growling, whilst boasting how they were going to win the event and destroy their opponents. By contrast, Oleg coolly said he was from Gorky, Russia, and smiled an infectious smile at the cameras. |
| 645 | * NervesOfSteel: Known for being exceptionally calm during fights. |
| 646 | * OffScreenMomentOfAwesome: During his army service, he felt pains from his stomach and reported it to his superior who just brushed him off. Oleg then had the balls to go AWOL and look for a hospital. The doctor had to remove his appendix and said he would have been dead if he arrived 15 minutes later. |
| 647 | * RedBaron: "The Russian Bear", "Senritsu no Sambo Tekunishan" ("Sambo Technician of Horror"), "The X-Factor" in his first appearance for the UFC. |
| 648 | * ScrewedByTheNetwork: |
| 649 | ** He was going to debut in the very first UFC events, but Rorion Gracie deemed him "unfit" after he had Taktarov roll with him and Pedro Sauer. Art Davie would later find out that Rorion had rejected Oleg not for being too bad, but for being too good, and thus possibly dangerous for Royce Gracie. |
| 650 | ** He left UFC because, according to him, they didn't want to promote him for being a Russian and thus a bad guy for the audience. |
| 651 | ** He also got screwed in his Pancrase fight with Ryushi Yanagisawa and lost the fight on points due to having dinner with Wrestling/AntonioInoki the night before his fight, with the promoters believing that Inoki had bought him off them. They then discovered that he wasn’t bought off and tried to apologize, but Oleg did a ScrewThisImOuttaHere for the screwjob. |
| 652 | * StoneWall: He was almost impossible to submit. Wrestling/KenShamrock of all people ditched trying to submit him and tried to knock him out instead. He failed which resulted in a draw. This strategy by Ken was mostly because they were friends and Ken didn't want to injure him because he wanted to eventually bring him to Pancrase, but this still speaks greatly of Oleg's toughness. |
| 653 | * TrainingFromHell: When he first came to America he trained with Wrestling/GeneLebell and Gokor Chivichyan. Later he trained at the Lion's Den with Wrestling/KenShamrock and only with Ken, they had battles behind closed doors and nobody was allowed to watch them. |
| 654 | * TheWorfEffect: Was defeated by knockout by Renzo Gracie with an upkick in just over a minute with no grappling action. He also knoucked out in Pride 1 by Gary Goodridge, though Oleg says he only lost because Gary was on steroids at the time. |
| 655 | * WorthyOpponent: Marco Ruas. |
| 656 | |
| 657 | !!!Yoshinori Umeki |
| 658 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki and Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki. |
| 659 | * BadassTeacher: He's the head trainer of Pancrase's official gym, P's Lab Tokyo. |
| 660 | * UsefulNotes/{{Bodybuilding}}: Does it and has even published books on the subject. |
| 661 | * CombatReferee: Debuted as a Pancrase referee in 1996. He has also worked for Raiden Championship at their chief referee and other promotions like HERO'S, DEEP, ZST, All Japan Kickboxing Federation, New Japan’s ULTIMATE CRUSH event, Love Impact, GCM Cross Section, among others. |
| 662 | * EarlyBirdCameo: Passed the first Pancrase recruitment exam in 1993. |
| 663 | * GameBreakingInjury: Originally wanted to be a Pancrase fighter, but in 1995, he suffered a head injury and had to abandon his fight career. He did however have a fight under the old point rules in ZST in 2007, which he won. |
| 664 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Shoot Wrestling]]: A proud Pancrase trainee. He also has a blue belt in UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu. |
| 665 | * RedBaron: "Chiba". |
| 666 | |
| 667 | !!!Pete Williams |
| 668 | * ADayInTheLimelight: Won the [=SuperBrawl=] 2 Heavyweight Tournament. |
| 669 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/KenShamrock as part of the Lion's Den. |
| 670 | * {{Determinator}}: Had to be one to train under Wrestling/KenShamrock. |
| 671 | * EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether: He was friends in highschool with fellow Lion's Den member Jerry Bolander, in fact he became a member a month after Bolander. |
| 672 | * HeroKiller: Defeated Mark Coleman by KO by head kick. |
| 673 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: Was in the same wrestling team as Jerry Bolander. |
| 674 | * RedBaron: "El Duro" ("The Tough One"). |
| 675 | * SignatureMove: He favourite submission is the kneebar. |
| 676 | * TrainingFromHell: Went through one as expected of a Wrestling/KenShamrock / Lion's Den disciple. |
| 677 | |
| 678 | !!!KEI Yamamiya |
| 679 | -->''"He beat guys like, Denis Kang, Chris Lytle, Nate Marquardt, Chael Sonnen — he was always flying under the radar."'' |
| 680 | -->-- Creator/BasRutten |
| 681 | |
| 682 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki as part of Pancrase Tokyo Dojo, and Sanae Kikuta at Grabaka. |
| 683 | * CoolTeacher: Head trainer of Shonan Spirits Sports Gym. He was also an instructor in UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}, grappling, and MMA for Grabaka. |
| 684 | * {{Cosplay}}: Likes to perform what he calls "puroresu cosplay" from time to time. In other words, he comes to the ring dressed as [[Wrestling/SatoruSayama Tiger Mask]], Wrestling/MitsuharuMisawa and even Creator/HardGay, the latter under the name of "Razor Ramon KEI". |
| 685 | * FanBoy: Is a fan of Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock band and often uses Southern songs as entrance songs. |
| 686 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: A regional champion. He also trained in UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} and joined the All Japan Kickboxing Federation, participated in K - 1 's Japanese warrior training project "K - 1 JAPAN TRYOUT" and passed the exam, and trained under Ernesto Hoost for Team Hoost. |
| 687 | * KindheartedCatLover: He keeps a cat he calls Michio and often appears on his blog. |
| 688 | * RedBaron: "Grabaka no Moken" ("Grabaka's Savage Dog"). |
| 689 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: He writes the first part of his ring name as "KEI" and not "Kei". His real name is Keiichiro, by the way. |
| 690 | * UrExample: The first Light Heavyweight King of Pancrase. |
| 691 | * WrestlerInAllOfUs: Has wrestled for the Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling. |
| 692 | [[/folder]] |
| 693 | |
| 694 | [[folder:Debuted in The Alive Year (1997)]] |
| 695 | !!!Alex Andrade |
| 696 | -->''"An early Ken Shamrock protege, Andrade was one of the first students to try out for the Lion's Dean and one of their early success stories, a mix of the forceful Shamrock grappling style and the kicking-focused striking game of recent team addition Maurice Smith, and in the world of mid-90s MMA that well-roundedness was a major benefit for a heavyweight fighter, leading to victories in both Pancrase and the World Pankration Championships and an invitation to UFC 26, where he would be betrayed...by his feet. Before the adoption of the unified rules of mixed martial arts in 2001 (or 2009, but that's a long story) the standards for what you could do and wear during a fight were only vaguely established. When Alex Andrade came to UFC 26 to fight Brazilian legend Amaury Bitetti, he wore wrestling shoes--legal at the time--and was warned by Big John [=McCarthy=] that he could wear the shoes, or he could throw kicks, but not both. Andrade dominated Bitetti, and was well on his way to victory, but he couldn't stop kicking him in the head--and after his third kick, [=McCarthy=] made good on his word and disqualified him. He would never be invited back to the UFC. He'd follow his mentor to Pride a year later, showing up at Pride 18 to challenge Murilo "Ninja" Rua, but lost a decision and not a particularly close one. That was the end of his prime--he retired from MMA, unable to justify the career. He'd be coaxed out of retirement in 2007 by the mainstream MMA boom, and actually put together a three-fight winning streak--and then, in the strangest rerun I've ever seen, got invited to a bigger show only to lose by DQ when he wouldn't stop kneeing Krzysztof Soszynski in the groin. Sometimes you can't stop. He'd show up for a couple fights in the just-started Bellator, back when it was a weekly show that only aired on ESPN's Spanish-language affiliate ESPN Deportes, but retired after one more regional fight--he was 35, his prime was over, and he was a realist about his prospects. He ended his career at a respectable 9-5, and even though he didn't notch any huge victories for himself, he helped train some of the future champions of the sport. There are far worse fates."'' |
| 697 | -->-- A profile of Andrade from a VideoGame/FireProWrestling user [=CarlCX=] from https://steamcommunity.com |
| 698 | |
| 699 | * AlliterativeName |
| 700 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/KenShamrock and Guy Mezger. |
| 701 | * CombatPragmatist: While more out of not being used to the ruleset than intentionally dirty, in his UFC 26 fight, he was disqualified because he would not stop kicking Amaury Bitetti despite the rules stating he could not kick while wearing his wrestling shoes. He also lost by DQ at Ring of Combat 18 because he wouldn't stop [[GroinAttack kneeing Krzysztof Soszynski in the groin]], though he claims at the time he was clinching Soszynski and couldn't see where his knees were going. |
| 702 | * CoolTeacher: Became a trainer at Guy Mezger's MMA school when he retired. |
| 703 | * {{Determinator}}: Had to be one to train at the Lion's Den. |
| 704 | * EverythingIsBigInTexas: A Texan from Dallas. |
| 705 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}: A Texas kickboxing heavyweight champion and also trained in boxing. He trained at the Lion's Den for MMA. |
| 706 | * PutOnTheBus: After his Pride 18 fight with Murilo "Ninja" Rua, he sort of drop off the map. |
| 707 | ** TheBusCameBack: Made a comeback after 6 years of inactivity in 2007. |
| 708 | * RedBaron: "El Toro" ("The Bull"). |
| 709 | * TrainingFromHell: Went through one as expected of a Wrestling/KenShamrock / Lion's Den disciple. |
| 710 | |
| 711 | !!!Omar Bouiche |
| 712 | --> ''"Many have said that Suzuki was on the decline when he met me. That talking didn't start until I beat him."'' |
| 713 | |
| 714 | * ADayInTheLimelight: A win over a broken-down Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki and then beaten by Yoshiki Takahashi. |
| 715 | * TheApprentice: Of Creator/BasRutten and Marco Ruas at the Beverly Hills Jiu-Jitsu Club. He also trained under Carlson Gracie, Marcus "Conan" and Marcelo Silveira, Erik Paulson, Bart Vale, Wrestling/KenShamrock, Nikolai Malmkvist, Paolo Roberto, Chago Rodriguez Segura, Paul Doumbia, Martin Lidberg, Keith Ronald Kernspecht, and Emin Koztepe. |
| 716 | * CoolTeacher: Started his own Pancrase affiliated gym in Stockholm, Sweden. He also once ran a UsefulNotes/WingChun club with Patrik Gavelin. |
| 717 | * GameBreakingInjury: Retired from fighting after a serious leg injury. |
| 718 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu: And also trained in boxing, UsefulNotes/MuayThai, UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}}, UsefulNotes/WingChun, Greco-Roman wrestling, UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}, Filipino kali, shootfighting, and is a Stockholm UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} champion. |
| 719 | * OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: He once beat a BJJ black belt in a grappling match in a tryout for Rickson Gracie's gym, for some reason he still didn't get selected, though Rickson did ask him if he wanted to set up a BJJ school in Sweden, to which Omar politely declined as he was more interested in shootfighting at the time. |
| 720 | * UrExample: One of the first Swedish MMA fighters and brought shootfighting to Sweden with help from August Wallen. |
| 721 | * VitriolicBestBuds: With the aforementioned August Wallen as they got into a conflict about how to promote shootfighting in Sweden. They are now friends after a few years of bitter resentment. |
| 722 | |
| 723 | !!!Chris Chalmers |
| 724 | * AlliterativeName |
| 725 | * TheApprentice: To John Will. |
| 726 | * AwesomeAussie |
| 727 | * GuestFighter |
| 728 | * IKnowKarate: Kyokushin UsefulNotes/{{Karate}}, as well as UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}, UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu and shootfighting. |
| 729 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 730 | |
| 731 | !!!Haygar Chin |
| 732 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/KenShamrock. |
| 733 | * {{Determinator}}: Had to be one to train at the Lion's Den. |
| 734 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Kung Fu]]: 5 Animals Kung Fu and was a classmate of Jason [=DeLucia=] and also has a background in UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}. He later trained at the Lion's Den after Jason invited him. |
| 735 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 736 | * TrainingFromHell: Went through one as expected of a Wrestling/KenShamrock / Lion's Den disciple. |
| 737 | |
| 738 | !!!Brian Gassaway |
| 739 | * TheApprentice: To Rick Sollo and Mark Dellagrotte. |
| 740 | * BashBrothers: His brother Wes is also a MMA fighter. |
| 741 | * CoolTeacher: Is a UsefulNotes/MuayThai trainer for Chicago MMA. |
| 742 | * GuestFighter |
| 743 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/MuayThai: Trained at the Aiki Training Hall and Sityodtong USA, he also trained in Shidokan UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} and is an American national champion, boxing, UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, kajukenbo, and UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu. |
| 744 | * RedBaron: "Mandingo". |
| 745 | * ScaryBlackMan |
| 746 | |
| 747 | !!!Jason Godsey |
| 748 | * TheApprentice: To Joe Pazandak. |
| 749 | * AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Head fighter of Integrated Fighting Academy. |
| 750 | * CoolTeacher: Was an elementary and high school science teacher. |
| 751 | * GuestFighter |
| 752 | * HeroKiller: Made quite a stir with his wins over Yoshiki Takahashi and then current King of Pancrase at the time, Yuki Kondo. |
| 753 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: An accomplished wrestler, Golden Gloves champion boxer, learned hapkido, UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}, UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu, and a bit of UsefulNotes/CatchWrestling. |
| 754 | * MightyGlacier |
| 755 | * RedBaron: "The Indianaderthal". |
| 756 | |
| 757 | !!!Les Johnston |
| 758 | * TheApprentice: To John Will. |
| 759 | * AwesomeAussie |
| 760 | * GuestFighter |
| 761 | * IKnowKarate: As well as UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu and shootfighting. |
| 762 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 763 | |
| 764 | !!!Kosei Kubota |
| 765 | * AlliterativeName |
| 766 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki at the Pancrase Yokohama Dojo. |
| 767 | * ColourCodedForYourConvenience: His signature color is a light or Sky blue. Wore purple trunks and shin guards in a few 1998 matches. |
| 768 | * CoolTeacher: Is an instructor at Sakaguchi Dojo. |
| 769 | * GlassCannon: Later in his career compared to his fellow Pancrase dojo compatriots. Most of his losses are by first round KO. |
| 770 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: A 2nd dan black belt. He also trained at the Sakaguchi Dojo. |
| 771 | * {{Jobber}}: From the mid-2000's onward and never recovered from his bad losing record. |
| 772 | * ManlyTears: Was known for this after fights. He did so after KO'ing Eiji Ishikawa. |
| 773 | * OddFriendship: With Yukio Sakaguchi. |
| 774 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: His name is also listed as "Kousei Kubota". |
| 775 | |
| 776 | !!!Paul Lazenby |
| 777 | -->''"In 1996, while still trying to find a way to reach the big time as a pro wrestler, I met an agent named Phyllis Lee at a show I was on in Detroit. She told me that she wasn’t booking wrestlers, but was looking for real fighters to compete in Pancrase. She was surprised that I’d even heard of the group, much less knew all the names of its fighters, and she asked if I had any interest in applying to fight there. I had always wanted to see Japan, it was a huge goal of mine, so I lied and told her that I had combat sports experience (I had absolutely none, not even a local martial arts tournament or high school wrestling meet). I filled up the application form she gave me with lies, not ever expecting that Pancrase would actually accept me, but a month later I got a call from Phyllis telling me to pack my bags."'' |
| 778 | |
| 779 | * AscendedFanBoy: A fan of the UWF and its offshoots before he competed for Pancrase. |
| 780 | * AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Is the Vice President of the Mixed Martial Arts Association Of British Columbia. |
| 781 | * BraidsOfAction: Had a braided ponytail when he was in Pancrase. |
| 782 | * {{Bouncer}}: Prior to Wrestling and MMA. Started the website/book "When We Were Bouncers". |
| 783 | * CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Competed in powerlifting and strongman competitions and winning multiple regional titles. |
| 784 | * CoolTeacher: Is now an instructor at Franco UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} and Pankration. |
| 785 | * CowardlyLion: Was visibly bricking it when he first fought in Pancrase as he had no experience in fighting at all, but even so he kept coming back for more. |
| 786 | * FakeUltimateHero: Downplayed, he basically lied his way into Pancrase, though like most gaijin he was brought in to be fodder for their native fighters. He doesn’t regret the experience however. |
| 787 | * HeAlsoDid: Is now an actor and StuntDouble (once doubled for Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin), did motion capture (for Marcus Fenix of in one of the VideoGame/GearsOfWar games) and is the stunt coordinator for the “EA Sports UFC” and “EA Sports MMA” video games. |
| 788 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}: Along with being trained in UsefulNotes/MuayThai, UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, Japanese jiu-jitsu, boxing, UsefulNotes/CatchWrestling, jeet kune do, and also trained for MMA with the original Pancrase dojo and briefly at the Lion’s Den. |
| 789 | * {{Jobber}}: His role in Pancrase. |
| 790 | * NoodleIncident: He once deliberately farted on Creator/StevenSeagal. |
| 791 | * PowerTrio: With Wrestling/LanceStorm and Wrestling/ChrisJericho. |
| 792 | * RedBaron: "The Mauler". |
| 793 | * UnskilledButStrong: When he first came to Pancrase, he only had his pro wrestling and powerlifting background and a bit of Japanese jiu-jitsu training. He started learning martial arts seriously after his time in Pancrase. |
| 794 | * UrExample: The first superheavyweight fighter in history to hold Canadian titles in amateur MMA and Muay Thai at the same time. |
| 795 | * WrestlerInAllOfUs: Trained at the Hart Dungeon. He also put Ryūshi Yanagisawa in a standing side headlock for a while in his Pancrase debut. |
| 796 | * WrestlingFamily: Was the husband of the late Marianna Komlos aka “Mrs. Cleavage”. |
| 797 | |
| 798 | !!!John Lober |
| 799 | -->''"He was known as John "The Machine" Lober because he had a reputation for being able to take a tremendous beating and just keep plowing forward like some kind of robot. He could keep going."'' |
| 800 | -->-- Frank Shamrock |
| 801 | |
| 802 | * TheApprentice: To BJJ dirty dozen member, Ken Gabrielson. |
| 803 | * AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: The head fighter of Team Machine. |
| 804 | * {{Bouncer}}: Was one before his fighting career. |
| 805 | * {{Determinator}}: Grew up fighting as a kid to keep himself out of prison. His bout versus Ryushi Yangisawa resulted in his ankle being snapped from a toe hold applied too long. Lober doesn't react to the pain in any way, instead shooting a puzzled look at the referee. Ryushi is visibly shaken and apologizes tearfully to Lober and his corner-man, Frank Shamrock. |
| 806 | * GuestFighter |
| 807 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu: A black belt, he also trained in jeet kune do and boxing. |
| 808 | * RedBaron: "The Machine". |
| 809 | |
| 810 | !!!Ikuhisa Minowa |
| 811 | -->''"I'm normally Ikuhisa Minowa. When I get in the ring, I become closer to a super human."'' |
| 812 | -->-- Minowaman to the Japanese press before his fight with Wrestling/GiantSilva. |
| 813 | |
| 814 | -->''"Fighting was the only true way to express myself, my spirit."'' |
| 815 | -->-- Ikuhisa Minowa |
| 816 | |
| 817 | * EightiesHair: Grew his hair into a mullet in the prime of his career. |
| 818 | * ADayInTheLimelight: His highest accomplishments in Pancrase were winning the 1999 Neo Blood Tournament and making it to the finals of the tournament to crown the first Light Heavyweight King of Pancrase against KEI Yamamiya. |
| 819 | ** Technically, his only major achievement outside of Pancrase was wining the DREAM Super Hulk Grand Prix Tournament. |
| 820 | * ArchEnemy: Satoshi Hasegawa and Phil Baroni. |
| 821 | ** [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter Hasegawa had beaten him a total of 3 times before Minowa won the their fourth bout by an armbar.]] |
| 822 | * AscendedFanBoy: A huge fan of Manga/{{Kinnikuman}}. He would randomly start talking about it in his interviews and based a lot of his personal style and training on it (which explains a lot really). He even got to wrestle against his hero at the Kinniku Mania 2009 live action show. |
| 823 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki, Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki, Hidekatsu Morooka, Murilo Bustamante, and Wrestling/SatoruSayama. |
| 824 | * BloodKnight: Loves to fight and has been in over 100 MMA fights. |
| 825 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: On November 16, 2006, he gave lectures at Kanto Gakuin University and Kanazawa Hakkei Campus, where he gave lectures titled as "Real", "New", "Cutting Edge", "Superhuman", "Gene Complete Body", "Extraterrestrial Revolution", and "Heaven". |
| 826 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: His ways of training are creatively quirky to say the least. They include chasing airplanes, for instance. |
| 827 | * ColourCodedForYourConvenience: His signature colour is red. |
| 828 | * CoolTeacher: He has his own gym, Kuma Gym. |
| 829 | * DavidVersusGoliath: The guy just has a mad love for those matchups and won most of them. |
| 830 | * {{Determinator}}: Suffered from asthma in childhood. |
| 831 | * EarlyBirdCameo: First fought in the 1996 Lumax Cup in a losing effort against Yuzo Tateishi. He also was part of Ryuma Go’s Samurai Project dojo for a brief time from 1996 to January of 1997 after he failed his first attempt at the Pancrase entrance exams. |
| 832 | * DistaffCounterpart: Female boxer Chaoz Minowa is a big fan of his and uses the nickname Minowaman on her official blog. They just coincidently share the same surname. |
| 833 | * HeAlsoDid: He competed in a Daido Juku match against Susumu Yamasaki at The Wars 5. |
| 834 | * ICanStillFight: In his fight with Sanae Kikuta, at the end of fight where they are separated after Minowa is discovered with a cut on head after getting ground-and-pounded by Sanae, he stands back up and tries to kick Sanae in the face… before collapsing from exhaustion and blood loss, losing the fight by TKO. |
| 835 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: A 2nd dan black belt before his start in Pancrase. He later trained at CMA Makoto Gym and the Pancrase Tokyo and Yokohama gyms during his time in Pancrase and later trained with Brazilian Top Team. He also trained in Seikendo and once did an exhibition bout with Sayama himself. |
| 836 | * InsistentTerminology: His name is not Ikuhisa Minowa, but "Minowaman", and he is not a fighter, but a "real pro wrestler". |
| 837 | * {{Jobber}}: Between 1996 to 1998. |
| 838 | * LegacyCharacter: He is the fifth Manga/TigerMask. |
| 839 | * PintSizedPowerhouse: A short man at 5ft 9 and 91kg in his prime, who once threw the 350 pound giant Zuluzinho when he had his back. |
| 840 | * RealSongThemeTune: "One Minute In Heaven" by Sunbeam. |
| 841 | * RedBaron: "Sekai Saikyō Chōjin" ("World’s Strongest Superman"), "Honno no Real Puroresura" ("The Real Pro Wrestler of the Instict"), "The Punk". Brazilians also called him "Mystery of the Orient" when he fought a few fights in Brazil when training with Brazilian Top Team and he got the name "Gyaku Yunyū Senshi FROM Brazil" (Reimported Warrior From Brazil") when he returned to Japan. |
| 842 | * ReligiousBruiser: Sort of, maybe, it’s hard to properly explain, but since 2005 he has proclaimed he is in pursuit of a never-ending "heaven". He says that there is a "Super Heaven" and an "Ultra Heaven". Interestingly he said that he had reached "Super Heaven" in his fight with Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba. |
| 843 | * ScreamingWarrior: Has a habit of shouting during the interval between rounds in his fights. He usually shouts out "Manga/{{Kinnikuman}}!", "[[{{Catchphrase}} Ore ga puroresurāda!]]" ("I'm a professional wrestler!"), or "Yōsorō!" (a ShoutOut to the song “Captain of the Ship” by Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi). |
| 844 | * TechnicianVersusPerformer: A firm performer, as he can get the most exciting fights out of anyone, even [[BoringButPractical Sanae Kikuta]]. |
| 845 | * TookALevelInBadass: His early career in Pancrase from 1996 to 1998 was mostly filled with losses. He has improved greatly since then after getting personal training from Suzuki and Funaki. |
| 846 | * UnnecessaryCombatRoll: Regularly uses a forward roll to close in on his opponents for [[RollingAttack leg locks or takedowns]]. Being Minowa, he somehow makes it work without losing his balance or dexterity. |
| 847 | * VictoryPose: After winning matches, he performs what is now called Standing Real Fist, in which he pumps an arm up toward the audience. |
| 848 | * WearingAFlagOnYourHead: Or rather on his back. His entrances feature him wearing the Japanese flag as a cape. |
| 849 | ** In his fight with Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba, he wore the flag on his trunks. |
| 850 | * WrestlerInAllOfUs: He used things like dropkicks, spinebusters, piledrivers, Death Valley Drivers (or Bombs as the Japanese prefer) in his MMA fights. |
| 851 | |
| 852 | !!!David Moore |
| 853 | * TheApprentice: To John Will. |
| 854 | * AwesomeAussie |
| 855 | * GuestFighter |
| 856 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu: A 1999 Australian national UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu Champion. He also trained in John Will's style of shootfighting. |
| 857 | * IWasBeatenByAGirl: Played with, he was introduced to John Will’s school by a female student he was trying to flirt with. He playfully asked her to punch him in the gut, which she did and floored him. |
| 858 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 859 | |
| 860 | !!!Serge Narsisyan |
| 861 | * TheApprentice: To Christian Derval, the first French BJJ black belt under Flavio Behring. |
| 862 | * FrenchJerk: From Marseille, France and was the first French fighter in Pancrase. |
| 863 | * GuestFighter: Had only one fight in Pancrase. |
| 864 | * IKnowKarate: As well as UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} and is a 1989 I.S.K.A. European champion, UsefulNotes/{{Aikido}}, UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}, and UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu at Le Cercle Tissier. |
| 865 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 866 | |
| 867 | !!!Jagjit Singh |
| 868 | * GuestFighter: Had only one fight in Pancrase. |
| 869 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: An Indian national champion. |
| 870 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 871 | * UrExample: The first Indian MMA fighter. |
| 872 | |
| 873 | !!!Joel Sutton |
| 874 | * TheApprentice: To Dean Economos and Christopher Caile. |
| 875 | * CoolTeacher: Became a UsefulNotes/KravMaga instructor after retiring from MMA. |
| 876 | * EarlyBirdCameo: Made his MMA debut at UFC 6. |
| 877 | * GuestFighter: Had only fight in Pancrase. |
| 878 | * IKnowKarate: As well as Praying Mantis Kung Fu at Kung Fu USA. He also claims to have trained in UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu and even took part in the first ADCC championships and after his MMA career learned UsefulNotes/KravMaga. |
| 879 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 880 | * OddFriendship: Played host to Kazuo Takahashi for Takahashi's UFC debut, who returned the favour by inviting Sutton to Pancrase. |
| 881 | |
| 882 | !!!Tra Telligman |
| 883 | -->''"His punch was powerful, of course, but more important than that, he never gave up and fought until the end with confidence that he would win."'' |
| 884 | -->-- Guy Mezger |
| 885 | |
| 886 | * ADayInTheLimelight: Was the [=SuperBrawl=] 1 Heavyweight Tournament winner. |
| 887 | * AlliterativeName |
| 888 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/KenShamrock as part of the Lion's Den. |
| 889 | * {{Determinator}}: Had to be one to train under Wrestling/KenShamrock. |
| 890 | * GeniusBruiser: Has a Bachelor of Business Degree from University of North Texas. |
| 891 | * HandicappedBadass: He was in a car accident when he was only one and a half years old, and as a result, he is missing his right pectoral and also his right lung, leaving a deep recess in his chest. The accident also crushed his ribs and he has lived with the deformity ever since. |
| 892 | * HeroKiller: Caused one the biggest upsets in the sport's history with a victory over Igor Vovchanchyn while filling in for Wrestling/KenShamrock who dropped out due to neck injuries. |
| 893 | * HiddenDepths: Owns TRACON, a masonry and stone business. |
| 894 | * IKnowKarate: Began training when he was 8 years old and then began boxing until he was 15. He then began training in jiu-jitsu, participated in a full-contact UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} contest when he was in high school and also did UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}. |
| 895 | * RedBaron: "Trauma". |
| 896 | * TrainingFromHell: Went through one as expected of a Wrestling/KenShamrock / Lion's Den disciple. |
| 897 | |
| 898 | !!!Paul Varelans |
| 899 | -->''"As far as we know, Paul Varelans is the only professional mixed martial artist to represent the art of trap fighting — whatever that is."'' |
| 900 | -->-- Varelans' profile from the book; The MMA Encyclopedia. |
| 901 | |
| 902 | * BerserkButton: Being called a {{Jobber}} supposedly. |
| 903 | * BornLucky: People see his victory over Dick Vrij as this. |
| 904 | * {{Bouncer}}: Was one before and during his fighting career. |
| 905 | * BullyingADragon: He once got a weird idea to bite Creator/BasRutten's back. Bas's response was to slap on a Kimura and throw him through a window. |
| 906 | * {{Defictionalization}}: There is a kempo/korean & chinese martial arts guy named Troy Burchett who is an International MMA Association board member, that named his style of MMA as [=TrapFighting=] and is the President of International [=TrapFighting=] Federation. |
| 907 | * TheGiant: 6ft 8 and over 300 pounds. |
| 908 | * GlassCannon: Had poor stamina and defense, but a lot of strength. |
| 909 | * GroinAttack: Used it against Joop Kasteel in RINGS. |
| 910 | * GuestFighter: He fought in Pancrase and Kingdom only once and in RINGS for a few fights. |
| 911 | * HeroKiller: Despite his poor record, he does have legitimate wins over Mark Hall by submission and BJJ black belt Joe Moreira by decision. |
| 912 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: Was a successful high school wrestler in Fairbanks, Alaska and was also part of the San Jose State University boxing club. He also trained at Javier Mendez’s American Kickboxing Academy. |
| 913 | * InsistentTerminology: He refers to his fighting style as "trap fighting". |
| 914 | * {{Jobber}}: Mostly, though it is a BerserkButton for him as he supposedly became irrational and tore up the Wrestling/{{ECW}} locker room when Missy Hyatt told him that she did not "blow jobbers". |
| 915 | * LeotardOfPower: An amateur wrestling one. Wore this if he couldn't fight with a shirt on. |
| 916 | * ManBitesMan: He was on the receiving end of this by some guy who was trying to get into the club Paul was a bouncer for. |
| 917 | ** He also did this to Creator/BasRutten's back for some reason. |
| 918 | * MightyGlacier: Big and strong, but slow. |
| 919 | * RedBaron: "The Polar Bear". |
| 920 | * StoutStrength: He’s not called The Polar Bear for nothing. |
| 921 | * UnskilledButStrong: He was basically a bigger than average street fighter with a little training in wrestling and boxing, though being the big guy he is, if he hits you it was certainly going to hurt. |
| 922 | * UrExample: He is actually the first American to beat a BJJ black belt in MMA, by win a decision against Joe Moreira. |
| 923 | * WorkedShoot: His pro wrestling match with {{Wrestling/Tazz}}. |
| 924 | [[/folder]] |
| 925 | |
| 926 | [[folder:Debuted in The Advance Year (1998)]] |
| 927 | !!!Daisuke Ishii |
| 928 | * AscendedFanboy: Was interested in mixed martial arts after watching a videotape of UFC 2, which influenced him to join Pancrase. |
| 929 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki. |
| 930 | * ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Wore red or black trunks with red and black two tone shin guards. |
| 931 | * CoolTeacher: Was a boxing trainer at Hayato Sakurai's Mach Dojo and had released an MMA instructional DVD. |
| 932 | * CurbStompBattle: His bout against Masutatsu Yano. |
| 933 | * DeathGlare: |
| 934 | * DelinquentHair: Sported a blonde mohawk later in his career. |
| 935 | * {{Determinator}} |
| 936 | * FlippingTheBird: Paraded around the ring and flipped the double bird after defeating Masatatsu Yano. |
| 937 | * GameBreakingInjury: Took a two to three year hiatus from fighting in 2002 due to a traumatic brain injury. |
| 938 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Boxing]]: A former pro boxer. |
| 939 | * OddFriendship: With Alex Stiebling. Whom he trained with during his head injury recovery before his second MMA run. |
| 940 | |
| 941 | !!!Justin [=McCully=] |
| 942 | * TheApprentice: To Tito Ortiz as part of Team Punishment. He also trained under Allan Goes and Gokor Chivichyan. |
| 943 | * BadassFamily: His brother Sean [=McCully=] is also a MMA fighter. |
| 944 | * CoolTeacher: Was a MMA coach for the New Japan L.A. Dojo. |
| 945 | * GuestFighter |
| 946 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}: And boxing, UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}} UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} and UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu. |
| 947 | * RedBaron: "The [=Nsane1=]", "The Guy With Long Hair" when he was Tito Ortiz’s cornerman. |
| 948 | * WrestlerInAllOfUs: Was a wrestler on the independent circuit under the name Justin Sane. He is also good friends with Wrestling/RobVanDam. |
| 949 | |
| 950 | !!!Brian Rainey |
| 951 | * ADayInTheLimelight: Was the 1998 Extreme Combat Challenge lightweight champion, which is how he got invited to Pancrase. |
| 952 | * GuestFighter |
| 953 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}}: As well as boxing, UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, and amateur wrestling. |
| 954 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 955 | |
| 956 | !!!Tony Rojo |
| 957 | * GuestFighter |
| 958 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/MuayThai: As well as boxing, wrestling, UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}, UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu, and was a 1997 North American Shootfighting Champion. |
| 959 | |
| 960 | !!!Ryan Stout |
| 961 | -->''"One day I got a call from Phyllis Lee, my then-manager, who told me that she had this kid named Ryan Stout and she wanted me to show him the ropes. She said he was a good athlete who had some jiu-jitsu training, but warned me that he was also real innocent — young kid, clean-cut, never been laid, never been drunk, you know the type. I had no idea why she thought it was safe to send a kid like that to me, but I told her to send him on by... When Phyllis heard about what happened, she couldn’t believe it — she sent me this poor little never-had-a-drink, never-been-f—ed kid, and a half-hour later he’s gettin’ drunk, laid, and fightin’ for money in a back alley! (laughs) She gimme a virgin and I give her back a hellcat — but back then, that’s what you got when you trained with the Iron Bear!"'' |
| 962 | -->-- Gary Myers |
| 963 | |
| 964 | * TheApprentice: To Jason Godsey and Gary Myers. |
| 965 | * GuestFighter |
| 966 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/MuayThai: As well as Tang Soo Do, wrestling, UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu, UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, boxing, and a bit of UsefulNotes/CatchWrestling. He trained for MMA at Integrated Fighting Academy. |
| 967 | * RedBaron: "Baki". |
| 968 | |
| 969 | !!!Daisuke Watanabe |
| 970 | * ADayInTheLimelight: A 2000 Neo-Blood tournament and Neo Fight heavyweight tournament runner-up. |
| 971 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki. |
| 972 | * AttackAttackAttack: Tried this in his fight with Sanae Kikuta. It just exhausted him enough for Kikuta to submit him with a side arm-triangle choke in around 2 minutes. |
| 973 | * CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Had a background in weight lifting. |
| 974 | * ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Neon yellow trunks and shin guards. |
| 975 | * CoolTeacher: A trainer at P's Lab Yokohama and now a trainer at Pancrase Gold's Gym Shonan. |
| 976 | * DyeHard: Dyed his hair blond. |
| 977 | * FanBoy: A big fan of Music/TheMisfits. He used their songs as his entrance themes and wore a Misfits shirt as a part of his entrance. |
| 978 | * {{Jobber}}: Had a eight fight losing streak in his first year in Pancrase. |
| 979 | * RealSongThemeTune: "Crimson Ghost" by Misfits. Later changed it to "Kong at the Gates" in 2000. |
| 980 | * TookALevelInBadass: From being extremely inexperienced and making rookie mistakes compiling an eight fight losing streak in his first year as a Pancrase rookie. Watanabe had improved greatly from being a poor fighter with a 2-14 record to retiring with a 19-30 record in 2013 to become a coach at P's LAB in Yokohama. |
| 981 | * UnrelatedBrothers: Has no relation to Kengo. |
| 982 | |
| 983 | !!!Kengo Watanabe |
| 984 | -->''"My opponent, it was told that he could be, he was going to be an easy opponent for me because this was a warmup match for me, for my next UFC fight in October, which didn’t go through but I didn’t know that at the time. What they didn’t tell me was that they were training this guy for one and a half years to fight me. And I heard things like he knocked down Funaki in training and Guy Mezger came to me and says "Bas this guy is no joke"."'' |
| 985 | -->-- Creator/BasRutten |
| 986 | |
| 987 | * AttackAttackAttack: His strategy against Creator/BasRutten. Unfortunately for him, Bas did the same, and was way more effective. |
| 988 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki. |
| 989 | * BadassOnPaper: A huge rugby star, he was advertised as the next big thing in Japanese MMA, and they even leaked the info that he knocked out Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki cold in a sparring. However, he never came to be as great as they said. |
| 990 | * DefeatMeansFriendship: After his loss to Bas Rutten, he went to train with him for 3 months at the Beverly Hills Jiu Jitsu Club. |
| 991 | * DyeHard: Had dyed blonde hair in his fight with Bas Rutten. |
| 992 | * HiddenDepths: He is now a manager for Wrestling/AkiraMaeda. He also worked for WWE's Japan branch in its merchandise department. |
| 993 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Boxing]]: As well as UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}. |
| 994 | * OnlyOneName: Was introduced in Pancrase as KENGO. |
| 995 | * RugbyIsSlaughter: A former pro rugby star. |
| 996 | * UnrelatedBrothers: Has no relation to Daisuke. |
| 997 | * UnskilledButStrong: Was not the most technical fighter Pancrase produced (he has only 2 wins by submission in his career), but he was biggest trainee from the original system at 6ft 4, with the strength to match. |
| 998 | * UseYourHead: Used headbutts in his Pankration rules fight with John Lober. |
| 999 | [[/folder]] |
| 1000 | |
| 1001 | [[folder:Debuted in The Breakthrough Year (1999)]] |
| 1002 | !!!John Alessio |
| 1003 | -->''"John Alessio is one of the longest-tenured gatekeepers in the sport. A career lightweight and welterweight, Alessio--a lifelong grappler and kickboxer who moved from Vancouver to San Jose as a teenager to pursue fighting--challenged for world titles in four separate eras of MMA. As a 20 year-old in the early era of the year 2000 he won the SuperBrawl 16 tournament and challenged Pat Miletich for the UFC Welterweight Championship, in the middle of the mainstream MMA boom he fought Carlos Condit to crown the first Zuffa-era WEC Welterweight champion, and in the modern MMA era of 2010 he fought for the Tachi Palace Fights Welterweight Championship. Between these, he fought for the KOTC title, entered himself in the Dream Welterweight Grand Prix, joined a Bellator's lightweight tournament and had fights against stars like Egan Inoue, Diego Sanchez, Paul Daley and Will Brooks. The like factor in all of this is, of course, that he lost...most of those. He got armbarred by Miletich, choked out by Condit, knocked out by Daley and lost decisions to most of the other top fighters he faced. And this is exactly how the gatekeeper phenomenon becomes a thing. Alessio's career was nearly twenty years long and deeply accomplished: He won three championships, he was the youngest UFC title contender ever, he picked up scores of wins against tough fighters like Eiji Mitsuoka, Chris Brennan and Luigi Fioravanti, he fought across Pancrase, the UFC, the WEC, KOTC, Bellator, Pride and Dream, he was at one point #5 in the world at welterweight. He fought in the UFC in three separate decades. He's one of the most-traveled fighters the sport has seen, and to stay at ALL relevant across a career as storied as his is an insane accomplishment. And yet you can still simplify him down to "gatekeeper," and you wouldn't be wrong. Combat sports are cruel that way. He was still a bad dude. And he choked out War Machine, so all the power in the world to him."'' |
| 1004 | -->-- A profile of A'essio from a VideoGame/FireProWrestling user [=CarlCX=] from https://steamcommunity.com |
| 1005 | |
| 1006 | * TheApprentice: To Keith Rockel and Pat Barbieri. |
| 1007 | * BadassBiker: He has two national BMX trick biking championships. |
| 1008 | * GuestFighter |
| 1009 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}: As well as boxing, amateur wrestling and UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu. He trained for MMA at Team Elite and later at Xtreme Couture. |
| 1010 | * RedBaron: "The Natural". |
| 1011 | * SuperCop: Is a Las Vegas police officer. |
| 1012 | |
| 1013 | !!!Leslie Allen |
| 1014 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/KenShamrock. |
| 1015 | * CoolTeacher: He has his own gym, Dragon's Gate (not to be confused with the wrestling promotion). |
| 1016 | * {{Determinator}}: Had to be one to train under Wrestling/KenShamrock. |
| 1017 | * IKnowKarate: A Kyokushin black belt, he also knows kempo, tang soo do, UsefulNotes/MuayThai, and UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu. He was also part of the Lion’s Den. |
| 1018 | * {{Jobber}}: Basically his role in Pancrase. |
| 1019 | * LeParkour: He knows Free-Running actually. |
| 1020 | * RedBaron: "Lil Buddha". |
| 1021 | * TrainingFromHell: Went through one as expected of a Wrestling/KenShamrock / Lion's Den disciple. |
| 1022 | |
| 1023 | !!!Lane Andrews Jr |
| 1024 | * CoolTeacher: Chief Instructor South Tampa RMNU, where he teaches BJJ and MMA. |
| 1025 | * GuestFighter: Had only one fight in Pancrase. |
| 1026 | * IKnowKarate: A 2nd dan black belt. He also has black belts in UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}} and UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu, is a UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} and amateur wrestling champion and also knows UsefulNotes/KravMaga. |
| 1027 | |
| 1028 | !!!Ebenezer Fontes Braga |
| 1029 | -->''"Ebenezer Fontes Braga, Luta Livre's representative at the Pride 2000 GP, the man who was nicknamed Pitbull before literally everyone else in MMA decided it was a good idea."'' |
| 1030 | -->-- A profile of Braga from a VideoGame/FireProWrestling user [=CarlCX=] from https://steamcommunity.com |
| 1031 | |
| 1032 | * TheApprentice: To Joao Ricardo, Marco Ruas, Carlos Gracie Jr, and Roberto “Gordo” Correa. |
| 1033 | * GuestFighter: Had one match in Pancrase against Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki. He also appeared at a Seikendo event. |
| 1034 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu: Trained with Gracie Barra, but is more well known as a Luta Livre fighter who trained at the Budokan Luta Livre gym and Ruas Vale Tudo. He also trained in UsefulNotes/MuayThai. |
| 1035 | * JackOfAllStats: Is said to have good skill in all the fields of fighting, though was not skilled enough to be a top fighter. |
| 1036 | * NervesOfSteel: Is noted to always be calm in fights. |
| 1037 | * RedBaron: "Pitbull", "Burajiru no Ningen Kyōki" ("Brazilian Human Weapon"). |
| 1038 | |
| 1039 | !!!Shonie Carter |
| 1040 | -->''"I like Pancrase and UFC equally. The rules don't matter to me. I'm comfortable no matter what they are."'' |
| 1041 | |
| 1042 | * {{Bouncer}}: He is a bartender and bouncer at the Mexican restaurant Fiesta Cantina in the Wrigleyville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. |
| 1043 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Got to show his brand of antics when he was on Series/TheUltimateFighter. |
| 1044 | * CombatReferee: On May 16, 2008, he served as an impromptu guest referee for a notorious bout at a Legends of Fighting event that resulted in a double-knockout. |
| 1045 | * CoolTeacher: Teaches at the Honbu Dojo Shidokan USA and is a personal trainer at the LA Fitness Gym's Ravenswood location. |
| 1046 | * CostumePorn: Was known for his flashy outfits in his entrances. |
| 1047 | * DoNotCallMePaul: His real name is Mearion Shonie Bickhem III. |
| 1048 | * GoodOldFisticuffs: Took part in a "bare knuckle" (in actuality fighters hands were wrapped) boxing event for Bare Knuckle Boxing in England on April 22, 2017. |
| 1049 | * GuestFighter |
| 1050 | * IKnowKarate: A Shidokan black belt and international champion. He trained in UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} at the Aiki Training Hall and is a Illinois State and North Carolina State Kickboxing champion. He is a black belt and champion in UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} and Japanese jujitsu, he also trained in Chinese Sanshou, UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}, amateur (especially Greco-Roman) and UsefulNotes/CatchWrestling. He also trained for MMA at the Iron Academy. |
| 1051 | * PimpedOutDress: Shonie Carter would often wear a pimped-out suit, including a cane and pimp cup, during fighter assemblies, and spent a lot of time in the house of Series/TheUltimateFighter making crafts. |
| 1052 | * RedBaron: "Mr International", "The Hurricane", "Player with a Passport", "The International Pimp of Mystery", "Pimpalicious". |
| 1053 | * ScaryBlackMan |
| 1054 | * SemperFi: Served for six years in the United States Marine Corps. |
| 1055 | * SensualSpandex: Or at least he thought so. The other fighters on Season 4 of Series/TheUltimateFighter were a little put off by his banana hammock fight shorts. |
| 1056 | * SpectacularSpinning: Well known for his use of the spinning backfist in competition. |
| 1057 | * TrashTalk: Had a outlandish personality and a colorful vocabulary. |
| 1058 | |
| 1059 | !!!John Cronk |
| 1060 | * CoolTeacher: He has his own MMA school, Warrior Dojo. |
| 1061 | * GuestFighter: Had only one fight in Pancrase in a Pankration Rules fight against Kazuo Takahashi. |
| 1062 | * IKnowKarate: A Shotokan black belt, he trained in UsefulNotes/MuayThai and was a middleweight champion, as well as UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}. He also trained for MMA at Ground Zero MMA. |
| 1063 | * RedBaron: "The Terminator", "The Annihilator", "Bad Boy". |
| 1064 | |
| 1065 | !!!Eric Gedek |
| 1066 | * TheApprentice: To Jason Godsey. |
| 1067 | * GuestFighter |
| 1068 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: As well as Tang Soo Do. He trained for MMA at Integrated Fighting Academy. |
| 1069 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1070 | |
| 1071 | !!!Tae Yoon Han |
| 1072 | * GuestFighter |
| 1073 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}}: A 4th dan black belt, he was also a UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} 2nd dan black belt. |
| 1074 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1075 | * WrestlerInAllOfUs: He later became a mainstay wrestler for New Korea Pro Wrestling Association. |
| 1076 | |
| 1077 | !!!Victor Hunsaker |
| 1078 | * TheApprentice: To Eddie Millis. |
| 1079 | * GuestFighter: Had only one fight in Pancrase. |
| 1080 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}: As well as amateur wrestling and trained for MMA at the Shark Tank. |
| 1081 | |
| 1082 | !!!Shinji Katase |
| 1083 | * EarlyBirdCameo: Appeared at a Samurai Project show around the time Ikuhisa Minowa was briefly a trainee for Ryuma Go and CMA KPW. |
| 1084 | * TheApprentice: To Hidekatsu Morooka. |
| 1085 | * GuestFighter: From CMA KPW. |
| 1086 | * IKnowKarate: A Shinbukan stylist. Also trained for MMA at CMA Makoto Gym. |
| 1087 | |
| 1088 | !!!Masatomo Iba |
| 1089 | * EarlyBirdCameo: Appeared at a Samurai Project show in 1996. He also appeared at Capture International before his Pancrase debut. |
| 1090 | * TheApprentice: To Hidekatsu Morooka. |
| 1091 | * GuestFighter: From CMA KPW. |
| 1092 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Shoot Wrestling]]: Trained at CMA Makoto Gym. He was the winner of the 1999 Neo-Blood pre-tournament featuring other CMA fighters, defeating Yuichi Miyazaki for an first round entry in the 1999 Neo-Blood Tournament. He lost his first round match in the Neo Blood tournament to Daisuke Watanabe. |
| 1093 | |
| 1094 | !!!Chris Lytle |
| 1095 | * TheApprentice: To Jason Godsey, Pat [=McPherson=] and Keith Palmer. |
| 1096 | * CoolTeacher: He helps coach wrestling at New Palestine High School. He also teaches MMA at Integrated Fighting Academy. |
| 1097 | * FiremenAreHot: A full-time firefighter with the Indianapolis Fire Department. |
| 1098 | * GoodOldFisticuffs: Came out of retirement to fight in Bare Knuckle FC 2 on August 25th 2018. |
| 1099 | * GuestFighter |
| 1100 | * HiddenDepths: Founded the Chris Lytle Foundation, that fights for awareness of autism, suicide, bullying, domestic violence, rape, and sexual assault. |
| 1101 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: He was an active member of the wrestling team at Southport High School finishing 4th at the Indiana State Wrestling Finals in his junior year and 2nd place his senior year. He also trained in boxing and was an Indiana Boxing Association Light Heavyweight champion as well as tang soo do and was an Indiana State tang soo do champion. He attended single-discipline gyms rather than MMA camps when he first started his MMA career but later trained for MMA at Ring Sports/Palmers Gym, and Integrated Fighting Academy. |
| 1102 | * RedBaron: "Lights Out". |
| 1103 | |
| 1104 | !!!Nate Marquardt |
| 1105 | * TheApprentice: To Alastair [=McNiven=], Billy Hendricks, Sheldon Marr, Shane Pitts and Ricardo Murgel. |
| 1106 | * BadassFamily: His father was a marine and his brother is in the US Air Force. |
| 1107 | * CoolTeacher: Owns his own gym; High Altitude Martial Arts Dojo. |
| 1108 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu: A 2nd degree black belt, he is also a 2nd dan black belt Japanese jujutsu, and has trained in UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}, kenpo, shootfighting, arnis, and freestyle wrestling. |
| 1109 | * KidHero: The youngest King of Pancrase at the age of 21. |
| 1110 | * MightyWhitey: He is the only 7 time King of Pancrase. |
| 1111 | * RealMenLoveJesus: A Christian and he has said his faith is the most important thing in his life. |
| 1112 | * TheRival: Believes Kunioku Kiuma was his best rival. |
| 1113 | * RedBaron: "The Great". |
| 1114 | * UrExample: Was the first middleweight King of Pancrase. |
| 1115 | |
| 1116 | !!!Eddy Millis |
| 1117 | -->''"Well we started as a school that cross-trained in several Martial Arts. We were known for our aggressiveness, and wanted a more aggressive name. They use to call me the Shark, so one of my Fighters; Phil suggested The Shark Tank. I would like The Shark Tank us to capture some U.F.C. Titles and reach over 100 wins."'' |
| 1118 | |
| 1119 | * AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Was the head fighter of the Shark Tank. |
| 1120 | * BadassTeacher: Trained many fighters from his MMA school, Shark Tank MMA. |
| 1121 | * GuestFighter: Had only one fight in Pancrase. |
| 1122 | * IKnowKarate: A black belt, as well as UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} and was a 1999 W.K.O. heavyweight champion, he also trained in boxing, Jeet Kune Do, kali, UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}, UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, amateur and UsefulNotes/CatchWrestling, and UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu. |
| 1123 | * {{Jobber}}: Despite being the head of his own team, he never won a professional MMA bout. |
| 1124 | * RedBaron: "The Shark". |
| 1125 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: People can't agree on whether they should write his name as Eddy or Eddie. |
| 1126 | |
| 1127 | !!!Yuichi Miyazaki |
| 1128 | * EarlyBirdCameo: Appeared at a Samurai Project show in 1996. |
| 1129 | * TheApprentice: To Hidekatsu Morooka. |
| 1130 | * GuestFighter: From CMA KPW. |
| 1131 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Shoot Wrestling]]: Trained at CMA Makoto Gym. |
| 1132 | |
| 1133 | !!!Hiroshi Ota |
| 1134 | * TheApprentice: To Hiroyuki Abe. |
| 1135 | * CanonImmigrant: Though a recurrent Pancrase fighter, he is not from the U-system, but Wajutsu Keishukai RJW, Hiroyuki Abe's Wajutsu Keishukai affiliated gym. |
| 1136 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: An All-Japan Greco-Roman and Freestyle Champion. He also trained in combat wrestling and trained for MMA at Wajutsu Keishukai RJW. |
| 1137 | |
| 1138 | !!!Tony Petarra |
| 1139 | * TheApprentice: To Eddie Millis. |
| 1140 | * GuestFighter: Had only one fight in Pancrase. |
| 1141 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: As well as Kung Fu, UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu and trained for MMA at the Shark Tank. |
| 1142 | |
| 1143 | !!!Akira Shoji |
| 1144 | -->''"What do you say now, Gracies? Who said the Japanese were the weakest?"'' |
| 1145 | |
| 1146 | * TheApprentice: To Yoshinori Nishi and Matt Hume. |
| 1147 | * AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Was in charge of the Smash promotion’s MMA division. |
| 1148 | * ChallengeSeeker: Faced whoever PRIDE wanted to throw at him and actually had the most fights in PRIDE. |
| 1149 | * CombatReferee: Has refereed for DREAM and DEEP. |
| 1150 | * CoolTeacher: Has his own MMA dojo. He also was briefly a trainer at Takada Dojo. |
| 1151 | * DeathSeeker: Not straight, according to fight commentator Stephen Quadros and John Hyams, director of the documentary "The Smashing Machine", Shoji cleaned his house and prepared his will before every competition in case he is killed during the fight. |
| 1152 | * DentedIron: He got KO’ed and TKO’ed more easily after his fight with Dan Henderson. |
| 1153 | * {{Determinator}}: Was renowned for his never-say-die attitude in the ring and his relentless fighting spirit. Not Renzo Gracie, Igor Vovchanchyn, or even Mark Coleman could finish him in his prime. |
| 1154 | * EscapeArtist: A stellar submission escapist, the only person to have ever tapped him out was Fabrício Werdum at ADCC 2003, Dean Lister and Kazuo Misaki also caught him in submissions in their MMA bouts against him, but he refused to tap out to either of them and lost by technical submission. |
| 1155 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: His draw with Renzo Gracie at PRIDE 1. |
| 1156 | * GenreSavvy: Though not enough to actually win against him, he knew the strengths of Igor Vovchanchyn, Shoji played conservatively and avoided the KO for a decision loss. |
| 1157 | * GuestFighter: From PRIDE. |
| 1158 | * HeAlsoDid: Was also a judge for DREAM and DEEP. |
| 1159 | * HeroKiller: Worfed Wallid Ismail by TKO at PRIDE 4. He also has a split decision win against Guy Mezger, though not without controversy. |
| 1160 | * HiddenDepths: Owns 2 ramen restaurants, one is named Tsukemen Ebisuko. |
| 1161 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: Was A national-ranked judoka since high school and was schoolmates with Kazunari Murakami. He later trained at Wajutsu Keisukai for MMA and was part of their Brightness team and even went to the USA to train briefly at AMC Pankration. |
| 1162 | * RedBaron: "Mr. Pride", "Saigo no Nippondanji" ("The Last Japanese"), "Nihon Jūjutsu-kai no Arahōshi" ("The Japanese Jiu-Jitsu Warrior Monk"). |
| 1163 | * WrestlerInAllOfUs: Has wrestled for Wrestling/FightingOperaHustle and Smash. He even originally wanted to be a pro wrestler before he became a MMA fighter and is said to have wrestled under a mask in 1995 for Tokyo Pro Wrestling at Masashi Aoyagi's suggestion. |
| 1164 | |
| 1165 | !!!Bob Stines Jr |
| 1166 | -->''"The most foreboding of them was a guy named Bob Stines. He hit me in a way that I never wanted to be hit like that again. Ian Freeman fought him and beat him, and Ian concurred."'' |
| 1167 | -->-- Jason [=DeLucia=] |
| 1168 | |
| 1169 | * TheApprentice: To Ernie Boggs and a lot of others. |
| 1170 | * BadassFamily: His father was an amateur wrestler and jujitsu guy, while his grandfather was a boxer. |
| 1171 | * CoolTeacher: President and head coach of the American Sport Jujitsu League USA Team. |
| 1172 | * GuestFighter: An American Combat Jiu-Jitsu representative. |
| 1173 | * IKnowKarate: Started with Shorin-ryu and is now a 5th dan black belt, he also learned Goju-ryu, Shotokan and Isshin-ryu with black belts in those as will. He learned American Combat/Sport Jiu-Jitsu at BCI Modern Day Warriors and is a 3rd dan black belt and won many national and world championships in the sport. He has black belts in several Japanese jujitsu styles, UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}}, and hapkido. He has also trained in Shaolin and Tiger-Crane Kung-Fu, amateur wrestling and boxing. |
| 1174 | * StartMyOwn: Founded his own jujitsu style, Sanshin-ryu Jujitsu and made himself its 10th dan grandmaster. |
| 1175 | |
| 1176 | !!!Genki Sudo |
| 1177 | -->''"Sudo reminds me of the token guy you’d always get in a Van Damme movie with a martial arts tournament, the little guy with the weird style."'' |
| 1178 | -->--Scott Newman, The Oratory reviewer. |
| 1179 | |
| 1180 | -->''"Ninety eight percent of spectators know nothing about kakutogi. I have a good reputation, because in my fight, ‘a small guy defeats a big guy’, was easy to understand. I think it is also important to make general people appreciate and understand kakutogi. My fight was good in this sense. I’m satisfied that I could finish him without any problem."'' |
| 1181 | -->--Genki Sudo |
| 1182 | |
| 1183 | * TheApprentice: Originally to Creator/BasRutten, who introduced him to Pancrase, later to Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki and later again to Sanae Kikuta. |
| 1184 | * CatchPhrase: "We are all one". |
| 1185 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}} |
| 1186 | * ConfusionFu: His fighting style included robot dances, giving the back to his opponent and performing flying holds. That said, he was also one of the few ConfusionFu guys from Japan who could hold his own comfortably without the Confusion part. |
| 1187 | * CostumePorn: His entrances are worth to see. |
| 1188 | * CoolTeacher: Is a coach for the Takushoku University Wrestling Department and also coaches for the Olympic national team. |
| 1189 | * DancingIsSeriousBusiness: Was part of the 647 people that danced robot dances at the same time to achieve the Guinness World Record on March 15, 2012. |
| 1190 | * FourManBand: One of the four founders of Grabaka. |
| 1191 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu: Trained it before his start in Pancrase, which gave him an additional advantage over his pals and is now a black belt. He also knew Greco-Roman wrestling and won the All Japan Junior Olympics and the World Junior Championship, briefly trained in combat wrestling under Kiguchi Noriaki and trained in striking under Tsukamoto Tokuomi, a Shin (Gloved) Kyokushin karateka. |
| 1192 | * RedBaron: "The Neo-Samurai", "Hengen Jizai no Torikkusutā" ("Transforming Trickster"). |
| 1193 | * RenaissanceMan: Has competed in MMA and UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}, writes philosophy essays, draws calligraphy, is a sommelier, scuba diving, plays in a music band, owns an amateur baseball team and acts in films, is now a politician, among other curiosities. |
| 1194 | * SuplexFinisher: According to himself, in his amateur wrestling days, he concentrated on suplexing his opponents more than any other technique. |
| 1195 | * WrestlerInAllOfUs: Pulled off perhaps the most mind blowing submission in the history of MMA - a [[SpectacularSpinning Giant Swing]] into an Achilles Lock against Craig Oxley. |
| 1196 | |
| 1197 | !!!Daiju Takase |
| 1198 | -->''"It's very little because Anderson is very good, but, Takase, hey, don’t count anybody out."'' |
| 1199 | -->-- Creator/BasRutten, replying to Stephen Quadros on Takase's chances for victory against Anderson Silva. |
| 1200 | |
| 1201 | * TheApprentice: To Yoshinori Nishi. |
| 1202 | * BoringButPractical: Typically employs an unaggressive, cerebral fighting style which has been called off. He has tried to compensate it by mimicking Sakuraba at times, with mixed results. |
| 1203 | * CanonImmigrant: Though a recurrent Pancrase fighter, he is not from the U-system, but Wajutsu Keishukai, Yoshinori Nishi's Daido-juku Kudo dojo turned MMA gym. It should be noted that Yoshinori did compete in RINGS as noted in the RINGS section of this page, competed in the first Vale Tudo Japan event created by Wrestling/SatoruSayama and worked a MMA exhibition match with Sayama in 1995 Lumax Cup which Yoshinori was the promoter. |
| 1204 | * CoolTeacher: Teaches MMA at Johan Vos Gym Tokyo. |
| 1205 | * DavidVersusGoliath: Against the 600-pound Emmanuel Yarborough, he won by striking Emmanuel into submission. |
| 1206 | * TheDreaded: He is apparently the Japanese version of Rickson Gracie, feared in every gym he goes. Ironically, his master Yoshinori Nishi actually faced and lost against Rickson in the first Vale Tudo Japan event. To add to the irony, Nishi's UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} master was Wrestling/MasahikoKimura, who beat Rickson's dad, Helio. |
| 1207 | * FlatCharacter: Stylistically speaking, Takase can pass as quite unremarkable on the ring, being a relatively strategic JackOfAllStats without even a meaningful background or lineage other than his Wajutsu training. Even his most spontaneous Sakuraba impersonations are often too much half-hearted to be flashy. |
| 1208 | * {{Homage}}: Adopted Sakuraba's cartwheel guard pass and Mongolian chops, and even wore similar orange tights. It borders stalking. |
| 1209 | * IKnowKarate: Trained at the Daidōjuku-based Wajutsu Keishukai and also has training in boxing and UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}. He also trained for MMA at Yoshida Dojo and Grabaka. |
| 1210 | * InformedAbility: Josh Barnett, Ryan Bow and other sources have spoken of him as one of the best Japanese grapplers ''ever'', to the point of being feared in the gyms in all Japan and having supposedly tapped out people you would never believe. However, although he has done some impressive grappling feats (namely, pulling a decision win against grappling geek Carlos Newton and going to the judges against people like Rodrigo Gracie and Hayato Sakurai), otherwise he has no big accomplishments in this field, and his performance has been never stellar enough to qualify. It has been theorized that he might be the kind of fighter that is a badass in the gym but doesn't shine on the ring. |
| 1211 | * MurderousThighs: Like Rumina Sato, Takase favours the inverted triangle choke, who he passed upon Shungo Oyama. |
| 1212 | * RealMenLoveJesus: He is a Christian. |
| 1213 | * RedBaron: "Newaza Artist", "The Grappler King from the Shadows", "The Spider Killer". |
| 1214 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: He is mainly known in United States as "that Japanese guy who triangled Anderson Silva" or some variant. |
| 1215 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: His blog spells his first name as Daijyu. |
| 1216 | * UnderdogsAlwaysWin: Before the Silva match, both PRIDE commentators Creator/BasRutten and Stephen Quadros labelled Takase as sadly impossible to win against the skilled Silva. Then the match came... |
| 1217 | * TheUnfavourite: He is so impopular among Japanese MMA pundits for his usually unspirited performances, he even published a book titled ''Kirawaremono'' or ''Why I'm Hated by Them''. On the other hand, his blog is amazingly popular and is nicknamed "Blog King Takase" and "The Charisma Blogger". |
| 1218 | * UnknownRival: One towards Hayato Sakurai. |
| 1219 | * WalkingShirtlessScene: Inverted. For some reason, Takase likes to compete with a T-shirt on if the ruleset allows it. He even fought at the UFC Japan wearing one. |
| 1220 | |
| 1221 | !!!Susumu Yamasaki |
| 1222 | * TheApprentice: To Takashi Azuma. |
| 1223 | * EarlyBirdCameo: Sort of, he had a Daido Juku match against Ikuhisa Minowa at The Wars 5 before his Pancrase debut. |
| 1224 | * GuestFighter |
| 1225 | * IKnowKarate: A 1st dan black belt and multiple time national champion in Kudo and trained at the Daidojuku Hombu dojo, he was also a 3rd dan black belt in UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, was in the same judo club as Sanae Kikuta, and was an 90kg All Japan Combat Wrestling Champion. |
| 1226 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1227 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: Yamasaki or Yamazaki. |
| 1228 | [[/folder]] |
| 1229 | |
| 1230 | [[folder:Debuted in The Trans Year (2000)]] |
| 1231 | !!!Murilo Bustamante |
| 1232 | -->''"Bustamante was one of the pioneers of modern MMA--he was training BJJ in the mid-seventies, boxing in the early eighties and had his first MMA fight in 1991. As a representative of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Bustamante was a central figure in the BJJ vs Luta Livre feud that inadvertently created modern mixed martial arts. The two schools had fought numerous times in the streets, and a not-entirely-legal fight card was born out of it: The Jiu-Jitsu vs Luta Livre Challenge, where masters of each would face off to defend their art. Only three of the fights wound up taking place, and the BJJ fighters won all of them--though not iwthout controversy, as two of the stoppages had Luta Livre's adherents crying favoritism. Murilo Bustamante's victory was the only one that couldn't be denied: He so thoroughly beat on Marcelo Mendes that Mendes left the ring and refused to return. It was the start of a fantastic career--one Bustamante wouldn't return to for half a decade. Bustamante didn't truly start fighting until he had already turned 30, which made his success all the more notable--combat being, traditionally, a young man's sport. He swept his way to the UFC--aside from a hard-fought decision loss to Chuck Liddell--won its middleweight championship and became the first man to defend it, defeating Matt Lindland in a match he infamously had to win twice when Lindland denied tapping out to an armbar in the first round. Incensed at the disrespect, and the general chaos within the UFC as it transitioned to new management, Bustamante vacated his belt, went overseas, and signed with Pride. His debut came sooner than expected. Initially meant to fight later in the year, Bustamante's teammate Ricardo Arona fell injured before his Middleweight GP match with Quinton Jackson--so Bustamante stepped up, on five days' notice, to face one of the top light-heavyweights in the world. As a testament to his toughness, Bustamante took him to a split decision. It was the first of a three-loss streak for Murilo, and the deciding factor in his dropping down to the newly-opened Pride Welterweight division--which was equivalent ot the UFC's middleweight division, so it was more like returning to where he'd been successful in the first place--and he ran the table, taking three dominant victories and making it to the finals of the tournament with Dan Henderson. The resulting fight is still controversial. Most felt Bustamante deserved the decision, and the Welterweight title with it, but Henderson controlled the position grappling--and was the more marketable fighter--and got the nod. (There's a reason Pride fans called him Decision Dan.) It was the end of Bustamante's time as a top fighter--which is not particularly surprising, as he turned 40 the following year. He'd fight a few more times before going into semi-retirement, and two fights after that, permanent retirement."'' |
| 1233 | -->-- A profile of Bustamante from a VideoGame/FireProWrestling user [=CarlCX=] from https://steamcommunity.com |
| 1234 | |
| 1235 | * TheApprentice: To Carlson Gracie and Claudio Coelho. |
| 1236 | * BadassTeacher: Is now a BJJ and MMA trainer for a Brazilian Top Team affiliated gym. |
| 1237 | * {{Determinator}}: Fought the great Tom Erikson to a 40-minute stalemate. |
| 1238 | * FourIsDeath: One of the four founders of Brazilian Top Team. |
| 1239 | * GuestFighter |
| 1240 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu: A 7th degree black belt and a 1999 Brazilian national and CBJJ World Champion, he also trained in boxing and UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}. |
| 1241 | * RedBaron: "Busta", "UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu no Takumi" ("Master of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu"). |
| 1242 | * StrongerWithAge: He describes himself as "like French wine, the taste is getting better every year". |
| 1243 | * SurferDude: As a child, he once dreamed of becoming a professional surfer. |
| 1244 | |
| 1245 | !!!John Chrisostomo |
| 1246 | * TheApprentice: To Egan Inoue. |
| 1247 | * GuestFighter |
| 1248 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu: Trained at Grappling Unlimited, he also trained in boxing. |
| 1249 | |
| 1250 | !!!Sean Daugherty |
| 1251 | -->''"No, I didn't give a shit about Royce, I just wanted to go test my skills, see where I was at. I've always loved truth, man. One thing when I first started martial arts was, like, learn ‘em all. I was already on the road to being a well rounded martial artist, I believed in learning many different arts and not turning anything away, that something always had something to give. But I needed to know who I was, I needed to know where did I truly stand, and I really did go there to test my skills, that was it- no matter who it was. I didn't have Royce in my sights, I wasn't salivating, "Oh, I wanna knock this guy off," kind of thing, it wasn't like that. It was me wanting to test myself. And that's where the naiveté of myself shows. I was thinking honor, discipline, and “I'm here to test my skills” and check out what I could really do, and everybody else- some of the people there were "Oh, this is just a new event and it's a paycheck." And they've already got their lifestyles, and things like that."'' |
| 1252 | |
| 1253 | * AffectionateNickname: "Doc". |
| 1254 | * AscendedFanBoy: Somewhat, he was a fan of Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki before their Pancrase fight. |
| 1255 | * BrattyHalfPint: Was 18 when he fought in UFC 2 and was the youngest member of the Lion's Den. |
| 1256 | * CoolTeacher: The head instructor of The Barn Of Truth Dojo and a UsefulNotes/CatchWrestling coach for Snake Pit U.S.A. Catch Wrestling Association. He was also a Hand to Hand Combat instructor to Special Operation Forces: USAF Pararescue/Combat Controllers, Army Combative Instructors and U.S. Army Green Berets. |
| 1257 | * {{Determinator}}: Had to be one to train under Wrestling/KenShamrock. |
| 1258 | * EarlyBirdCameo: Fought in UFC 2 losing to Scott Morris. |
| 1259 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}: Was an Indiana State and West Virginia kickboxing champion before he started MMA. He is also trained in boxing, amateur wrestling, UsefulNotes/{{Aikido}}, a 1st dan black belt in UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}}, a black belt in Moo Duk Kwan, a 4th dan in Shingitai Jujitsu and a black belt in UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} under John Saylor who also trained him in UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} and UsefulNotes/CatchWrestling. |
| 1260 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1261 | * RealMenLoveJesus: Is a Mormon. |
| 1262 | * TrainingFromHell: Went through one as expected of a Wrestling/KenShamrock / Lion's Den disciple. |
| 1263 | * UrExample: Fought in the first UFC match where Big John [=McCarthy=] refereed and said, the very first "LETS GET IT ON". |
| 1264 | |
| 1265 | !!!Motoki Hattori |
| 1266 | * AffectionateNickname: "Jimmy". |
| 1267 | * TheApprentice: To Jason [=DeLucia=]. |
| 1268 | * CoolTeacher: A UsefulNotes/MuayThai instructor. |
| 1269 | * GuestFighter: Had only one fight in Pancrase. |
| 1270 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/MuayThai: Trained under Kru Mark Nardone. He also trained in UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}}, jeet kune do, UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, amateur wrestling, UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu and trained for MMA at Pancrase Hybrid Budokan. |
| 1271 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1272 | |
| 1273 | !!!Takaichi Hirayama |
| 1274 | * TheApprentice: To Yoshinori Nishi. |
| 1275 | * CanonImmigrant: Though a recurrent Pancrase fighter, he is not from the U-system, but Wajutsu Keishukai, Yoshinori Nishi's Daido-juku Kudo dojo turned MMA gym. |
| 1276 | * IKnowKarate: A Kyokushin practitioner, he also trained in UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}. He trained for MMA at Wajutsu Keishukai. |
| 1277 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1278 | |
| 1279 | !!!Yuji Hisamatsu |
| 1280 | -->''"Here's The Pink Typhoon, Yuji Hisamatsu, who came to the ring in a pink gi, fought in pink trunks and/or leggings, and proudly wore the slogan "NO PINK, NO LIFE" on the back of his tights. I still have no idea why. Hisamatsu got a relatively late start in the sport--a student of the Wajyutsu Keishukai, he turned 30 just one year and six fights into a thirteen-year, 44-fight career--and got off to a reasonable start, losing his first two Pancrase appearances before winning the one-night Titan Fighting Championship tournament, TKOing a baby Hideo Tokoro in the process. He was a strong presence in GCM, and got invited up to Pride for Pride: The Best Vol. 3, where he took a strong decision over Canadian middleweight Demetrius Gioulacos, giving him the most visible win of his career. And that was...actually kind of it for success in his career. In those first two and a half years of his time in fighting he went 9-5; in the remaining eleven years, he went 7-17-6 and never won two fights back-to-back again. He was prolific as hell, with 2007 being the only year he didn't fight multiple times, and more importantly he was -tough- as hell, going the distance with fighters like Kondo, Kawamura, Chonan, Misaki and Marquardt. His striking was aggressive and creative, his grappling was defensively solid--but he just couldn't get over the hump, particularly as he approached and eventually passed 40 and his athleticism began to fail him. In the last three years of his career he went 2-8-2, retiring on a decision victory over fellow longtime Pancrase vet Keiichiro Yamamiya and a lifetime supply of deep-pink fighting attire. I still don't know where the "Typhoon" part of the pinkness came from, but he took a Nate Marquardt punch to the face and didn't die, so he can call himself whatever he wants."'' |
| 1281 | -->-- A profile of Hisamatsu from a VideoGame/FireProWrestling user [=CarlCX=] from https://steamcommunity.com |
| 1282 | |
| 1283 | * TheApprentice: To Yoshinori Nishi. |
| 1284 | * BadassTeacher: Founded and is the head instructor of Wajutsu Keishukai Yokohama aka Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tiger Place. |
| 1285 | * CanonImmigrant: Though a recurrent Pancrase fighter, he is not from the U-system, but Wajutsu Keishukai, Yoshinori Nishi's Daido-juku Kudo dojo turned MMA gym. |
| 1286 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: A 4th dan black belt, he is also a blue belt in UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu and is a 1999 All Japan Brazilian jiu jitsu open tournament blue belt meio pesado class champion. He trained for MMA at Wajutsu Keishukai. |
| 1287 | * RealMenWearPink: Regularly fought in pink trunks and/or leggings. |
| 1288 | * RedBaron: "The Pink Typhoon". |
| 1289 | |
| 1290 | !!!Yūji Hoshino |
| 1291 | * TheApprentice: To Hiroyuki Abe and Taiyo Nakahara. |
| 1292 | * CanonImmigrant: Though a recurrent Pancrase fighter, he is not from the U-system, but Wajutsu Keishukai RJW, Hiroyuki Abe's Wajutsu Keishukai affiliated gym. |
| 1293 | * IKnowKarate: A Shotokan black belt and also trained in amateur wrestling where in high school in 1992 and 1993, he took second place at All Japan High School Greco-Roman Wrestling championship at the 69kg class tournaments and in college in 1994 and 1995 took third place at the All Japan College Freestyle Wrestling Championship at the 69kg class tournaments. He trained for MMA at Wajutsu Keishukai RJW and GODS. |
| 1294 | * PromotedFanBoy: Was a Wrestling/SatoruSayama fan growing up. |
| 1295 | |
| 1296 | !!!Johnny Huskey |
| 1297 | -->''"I think Johnny Huskey is the best. No doubt about it, I've seen a lot of wrestlers. Now you see I was dormant for about 25 years until Johnny Huskey picked me up about 5 years ago on the internet. He contacted me and got me back into wrestling. Of course he knew pretty good wrestling but I showed him quite a few things that he didn't know, that he was impressed with, that is how we got our relationship going. Johnny is superior in any phase of submission wrestling I've ever seen."'' |
| 1298 | -->-- Billy Wicks |
| 1299 | |
| 1300 | * TheApprentice: To Billy "Pops" Wicks and is said to be his best student. |
| 1301 | * AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Had his own fight team, Team Huskey. |
| 1302 | * CoolTeacher: A UsefulNotes/CatchWrestling trainer at the W.N.C. Barbell Gym. |
| 1303 | * GuestFighter: Had only one fight in Pancrase. |
| 1304 | * IKnowKarate: As well as UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} and was a 1990 Judo Gold Cup champion, UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} and was a 1993 NC State kickboxing champion, and also trained in UsefulNotes/CatchWrestling. |
| 1305 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1306 | |
| 1307 | !!!Daisuke Igarashi |
| 1308 | * TheApprentice: To Hiroyuki Abe. |
| 1309 | * CanonImmigrant: Though a recurrent Pancrase fighter, he is not from the U-system, but Wajutsu Keishukai RJW, Hiroyuki Abe's Wajutsu Keishukai affiliated gym. |
| 1310 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: An 1993 high school and 1996 college All Japan freestyle competitor, he also trained in combat wrestling. He trained for MMA at Wajutsu Keishukai RJW. |
| 1311 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1312 | |
| 1313 | !!!Eiji Ishikawa |
| 1314 | * TheApprentice: To Sanae Kikuta. |
| 1315 | * TheBigGuy: Of Grabaka, as he had the best ground-and-pound technique. |
| 1316 | * EmbarrassingNickname: "Ē-chan" and for some reason "Dàmén" ("Door"). |
| 1317 | * FourManBand: One of the four founders of Grabaka. |
| 1318 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: In high school. |
| 1319 | * RedBaron: "Fukutsu no Grabaka Tamashī" ("The Indomitable Grabaka Soul"). |
| 1320 | |
| 1321 | !!!Yukihiro Kanazawa |
| 1322 | * TheApprentice: To Yoshinori Nishi. |
| 1323 | * CanonImmigrant: Though a recurrent Pancrase fighter, he is not from the U-system, but Wajutsu Keishukai, Yoshinori Nishi's Daido-juku Kudo dojo turned MMA gym. |
| 1324 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: A 3rd dan black belt, he also trained in boxing. He trained for MMA at Wajutsu Keishukai. |
| 1325 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1326 | |
| 1327 | !!!Denis Kang |
| 1328 | * TheApprentice: To Marcus Soares. |
| 1329 | * BadassTeacher: Is the head coach of UFC GYM BC Coquitlam. |
| 1330 | * GuestFighter |
| 1331 | * IKnowKarate: As well as hapkido, UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}}, amateur wrestling, and is a 3rd dan black belt in UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu. He also trained for MMA at American Top Team. |
| 1332 | * RedBaron: "The Super Korean". |
| 1333 | |
| 1334 | !!!Makoto Kato |
| 1335 | * TheApprentice: To Hidekatsu Morooka, Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki and Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki. |
| 1336 | * BrattyHalfPint: Was the youngest Pancrase trainee at the original dojo at 16 years old. |
| 1337 | * CoolMask: As Sougou Senshi Kato Ranger. |
| 1338 | * EarlyBirdCameo: He passed the first ever Pancrase entrance exam in 1993 and competed in other promotions like CMA and KPW before making his pro debut in 2000, though by that time he already had his own dojo that was not affiliated with Pancrase. |
| 1339 | * GuestFighter: Had only one fight in Pancrase. |
| 1340 | * HeAlsoDid: Has become an actor under the stage name of Makoto Mizumoto. |
| 1341 | * IKnowKarate: Before he became a Pancrase dojo boy. He also competed in shootboxing and UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}. |
| 1342 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1343 | * RedBaron: "Rurō no Haiburiddo" ("Hybrid Exile"), "Hybrid K". |
| 1344 | * WrestlerInAllOfUs: He later wrestled for Real Japan Pro Wrestling. |
| 1345 | |
| 1346 | !!!Naohisa Kawamura |
| 1347 | * TheApprentice: To Hidetaka Aso. |
| 1348 | * CanonImmigrant / GuestFighter |
| 1349 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: A 2nd dan black belt, he is also a 2nd dan black belt and a 1998 national middleweight champion in sport jiu-jitsu and a 1st dan black belt and a 1998 open weight champion in Submission Arts Wrestling and trained at the S.A.W. Hombu dojo. |
| 1350 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1351 | |
| 1352 | !!!Yoshinori Kawasaki |
| 1353 | * TheApprentice: To Hiroyuki Abe. |
| 1354 | * CanonImmigrant: Though a recurrent Pancrase fighter, he is not from the U-system, but Wajutsu Keishukai RJW, Hiroyuki Abe's Wajutsu Keishukai affiliated gym. |
| 1355 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: A 2nd dan black belt, he also trained in freestyle wrestling and is a 1995 and 1996 East Japan College Freestyle Wrestling Champion. He trained for MMA at Wajutsu Keishukai RJW. |
| 1356 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1357 | |
| 1358 | !!!Kazuhito Kikuchi |
| 1359 | * AlliterativeName |
| 1360 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki. |
| 1361 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: Won 3rd place at the 1997 All Japan sambo championships at the 68kg class, he also trained in Command Sambo and UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}. He trained for MMA at Pancraseism Yokohama and was a 1999 amateur Pancrase 60kg tournament champion. |
| 1362 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1363 | |
| 1364 | !!!Satoru Kitaoka |
| 1365 | * TheApprentice: To both Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki, Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki and Yuki Nakai. |
| 1366 | * AscendedFanBoy: Committed himself to martial arts after seeing the second fight between Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki and Creator/BasRutten. |
| 1367 | * CanonImmigrant: Trained at the Shooto-affiliated Paraestra Tokyo Gym before his debut in Pancrase. |
| 1368 | * CoolTeacher: Is now the head trainer of [=PANCRASEism=] Yokohama. |
| 1369 | * FourIsDeath: Was part of the Sengoku Raiden Championships top fighters coined as "S4" along with Eiji Mitsuoka, Kazunori Yokota, and Mizuto Hirota. |
| 1370 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: A black belt in this and UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu, the latter received under Yuki Nakai. He also knows shoot and UsefulNotes/CatchWrestling, and was also the 80kg class champion at the 14th All Japan Combat Wrestling Championships in 2008. |
| 1371 | * NeverBeHurtAgain: Started training martial arts because he suffered bullying as a child for being an {{Otaku}}. |
| 1372 | * {{Otaku}}: A legendary anime fan. His favorites are ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' and ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure''. |
| 1373 | * PowerTrio: Founded Nippon Top Team with Shinya Aoki and Masazaku Imanari. |
| 1374 | * RealMenWearPink: As mentioned above, he is a fan of many anime series, but the one he chose to reference with his ring attire was the cutesy show ''Anime/OnegaiMyMelody'' of all things. During the series' heyday, he used to have "My Melody" written on his pants while fighting and claim he was going to beat his opponent with the "Melody Mark" from the series. This eventually landed him a cameo role in the anime's episode 47, playing a pro wrestler. |
| 1375 | * RedBaron: "Shimewaza Kuma Shogun" ("The Shogun Bear of Chokes"), "Ism no Zunō" ("The Brain of Ism"), "Kimo Tsuyo" ("Liver Strength"), "Byōsatsu Newaza-ō" ("The Newaza King of Instant Finishes") and "Ai Senshi" ("Soldier of Sorrow", a ShoutOut to the 2009 ''Gundam'' theme). In English, "The UsefulNotes/CatchWrestling Koala Bear". |
| 1376 | * RedIsHeroic: Is famous for wearing ample red pants in the ring. |
| 1377 | |
| 1378 | !!!Masaya Kojima |
| 1379 | * TheApprentice: To Yoshinori Nishi. |
| 1380 | * CanonImmigrant: Though a recurrent Pancrase fighter, he is not from the U-system, but Wajutsu Keishukai, Yoshinori Nishi's Daido-juku Kudo dojo turned MMA gym. |
| 1381 | * IKnowKarate: Trained at the Daidōjuku-based Wajutsu Keishukai. |
| 1382 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1383 | |
| 1384 | !!!Michael Sa Jin Kwok |
| 1385 | * TheApprentice: To Greg Nelson. |
| 1386 | * GuestFighter |
| 1387 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Boxing]]: He also trained for MMA at the Minnesota Mixed Martial Arts Academy. |
| 1388 | |
| 1389 | !!!Matt Sung Lee |
| 1390 | * TheApprentice: To Keith Rockel and Pat Barbieri. |
| 1391 | * CoolTeacher: Has his own gym, The Factory - Matt Lee's Fighting and Functional Fitness. |
| 1392 | * GuestFighter: Had only one fight in Pancrase. |
| 1393 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}}: A black belt and was a 1996 U.S. Cup Tae Kwon Do Championship middleweight champion. He has black belts in hapkido and UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu. He also trained for MMA with Team Elite. |
| 1394 | |
| 1395 | !!!Ichio Matsubara |
| 1396 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki as a part of the Pancrase Tokyo Dojo. |
| 1397 | * DyeHard: Dyed his hair green, purple or blonde. |
| 1398 | * {{Jobber}}: Ikuhisa Minowa and Sanae Kikuta finished him off under less than three minutes. |
| 1399 | * RealSongThemeTune: "Generator" by Bad Religion. |
| 1400 | * RedBaron: "Massive Ichi". |
| 1401 | !!!Hiroo Matsunaga |
| 1402 | * EarlyBirdCameo: Appears as the trainee in blue shorts the Masakatsu Funaki Hybrid Body - Diet Chapter instructional video. |
| 1403 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki as a part of the Pancrase Tokyo Dojo and later Sanae Kikuta. |
| 1404 | * FourManBand: One of the four founders of Grabaka. |
| 1405 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} |
| 1406 | * {{Jobber}}: Debuted in January 23rd, 2000 to a draw with Ichio Matsubara. His last fight was a loss to Katsuomi Inagaki in February 2000 and never fought again, his fighting career spanning a total of two months. |
| 1407 | * RealSongThemeTune: "What I Got" by Sublime |
| 1408 | * UrExample: One of the first GRABAKA trainees under Sanae Kikuta. |
| 1409 | |
| 1410 | !!!Sen Nakadai |
| 1411 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki and Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki. |
| 1412 | * CoolTeacher: Is a MMA instructor at Reversal Gym Yokohama Groundslam. |
| 1413 | * IKnowKarate: A kyokushin stylist, he also trained in UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}. He also trained for MMA at the Pancraseism Tokyo Dojo. |
| 1414 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1415 | * WrestlerInAllOfUs: He later wrestled for U-STYLE. |
| 1416 | |
| 1417 | !!!Yohei Ota |
| 1418 | * TheApprentice: To Yoshinori Nishi and later to Hidetaka Monma. |
| 1419 | * CanonImmigrant: Though a recurrent Pancrase fighter, he is not from the U-system, but Wajutsu Keishukai, Yoshinori Nishi's Daido-juku Kudo dojo turned MMA gym. |
| 1420 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: He also trained for MMA at Wajutsu Keishukai A-3 and Brightness Monma Dojo and was the 1st amateur Pancrase open tournament under 80kg class champion in 1999. |
| 1421 | |
| 1422 | !!!Craig Oxley |
| 1423 | * TheApprentice: To Ernie Boggs. |
| 1424 | * GuestFighter |
| 1425 | * IKnowKarate: A 3rd dan black belt in Shotokan and a 7 time West Virginia State UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} champion. He is also trained at BCI Modern Day Warriors and is a 3rd dan black belt in sport jiu-jitsu and 5 time U.S. Sport jiu-jitsu champion. He also competed in UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} and boxing. |
| 1426 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1427 | |
| 1428 | !!!Tony Ross |
| 1429 | * TheApprentice: To Jason Godsey. |
| 1430 | * GuestFighter |
| 1431 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}}: A 2nd dan black belt, he also trained in UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} and trained for MMA at Integrated Fighting Academy. |
| 1432 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1433 | |
| 1434 | !!!Hikaru Sato |
| 1435 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki. |
| 1436 | * AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Wrestles in and owns Hard Hit, which was originally a shoot style wrestling offshoot of Wrestling/DramaticDreamTeam until he bought it to become an independent promotion on its own. |
| 1437 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: An avid cosplayer who likes to wear bunny ears and maid outfits. |
| 1438 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}} |
| 1439 | * {{Crossdresser}}: Likes wearing maid outfits. Sometimes even wrestles in them. |
| 1440 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: A high school wrestler before coming to Pancrase. He also trained in SumoWrestling. |
| 1441 | * RealLifeRelative: His brother Eitarō Satō is the drummer for indigo la End, a Japanese rock band. |
| 1442 | * RedBaron: "Hentaiō" ("Pervert King"), "Akiba-kei Pankurashisuto ("Akihabara Style Pancrasist"), "Zenshin Hentai Puroresurā" ("Whole Body Metamorphosis Pro Wrestler"), "Meido-fuku Faitā" ("Maid Outfit Fighter"), "U no Matsuei" ("U-System Descendant"). |
| 1443 | * WrestlerInAllOfUs: An active member for Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling and Wrestling/DramaticDreamTeam. |
| 1444 | |
| 1445 | !!!Mitsuyoshi Sato |
| 1446 | * TheApprentice: To Sanae Kikuta. |
| 1447 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: A 1995 Kanto champion and placed 4th in the 1999 All Japan College Freestyle Wrestling Championships, he also trained in combat wrestling and was a 1999 and 2000 All Japan combat wrestling champion. He trained for MMA with GRABAKA. |
| 1448 | |
| 1449 | !!!Shinya Sato |
| 1450 | * AlliterativeName |
| 1451 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki and Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki. |
| 1452 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: Was an Aomori sambo junior champion in the under 70kg class. He also trained in amateur and combat wrestling and was an Aomori Greco-Roman wrestling champion in the under 68kg class. He also trained at P'Lab and Pancraseism Dojos. |
| 1453 | |
| 1454 | !!!Hiroshi Shibata |
| 1455 | * TheApprentice: To Hiroyuki Abe. |
| 1456 | * CanonImmigrant: Though a recurrent Pancrase fighter, he is not from the U-system, but Wajutsu Keishukai RJW, Hiroyuki Abe's Wajutsu Keishukai affiliated gym. |
| 1457 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: Was a 1995 All Japan College Freestyle Wrestling 74kg Champion. He trained for MMA at Wajutsu Keishukai RJW. |
| 1458 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1459 | * LeotardOfPower: Wore an amateur wrestling singlet. |
| 1460 | |
| 1461 | !!!Tomoya Takaesu |
| 1462 | * AlliterativeName |
| 1463 | * TheApprentice: To Hidetaka Aso. |
| 1464 | * CanonImmigrant / GuestFighter: Had only one fight in Pancrase. |
| 1465 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: A 2nd dan black belt. He is also trained at the S.A.W. Hombu Dojo, is Submission Arts Wrestling 1st dan black belt, and a multiple time All Japan SAW Champion. |
| 1466 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1467 | |
| 1468 | !!!Dan Theodore |
| 1469 | -->''"Shoot for your dreams and you will be true to yourself."'' |
| 1470 | |
| 1471 | * CombatCommentator: Is now an English commentator for Pancrase shows. |
| 1472 | * CoolTeacher: Is now a MMA instructor. |
| 1473 | * FiremenAreHot: Was once a Volunteer Fireman in Bentendorf Iowa. |
| 1474 | * GuestFighter |
| 1475 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}}: A black belt, he also trained in UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, UsefulNotes/MuayThai, boxing, jeet kune do, hapkido, UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}, Russian systema, savate, UsefulNotes/WingChun, a brown belt in UsefulNotes/{{Aikido}}, a 1st dan black belt in Daidojuku, a purple belt in UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu, and a brown belt in the Hayastan Grappling System. |
| 1476 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1477 | * PromotedFanBoy: During his freshman year of 1995 that he first watched a UFC tape hanging out with his buddies. They attacked each other at the end of the tape doing their best to improvise submission holds. Dan announced he would do that stuff someday and his friends laughed at him. He announced that he would get Wrestling/DanSevern to teach him, and about a year later Severn called during his 20th Birthday party to ask him to come to Michigan to train with him. |
| 1478 | * RedBaron: "The Wolfman". |
| 1479 | * StuntDouble: Is a professional stunt double and once doubled for Creator/SylvesterStallone. |
| 1480 | |
| 1481 | !!!Masutatsu Yano |
| 1482 | * TheApprentice: To Hiroyuki Abe. |
| 1483 | * CanonImmigrant: Though a recurrent Pancrase fighter, he is not from the U-system, but Wajutsu Keishukai RJW, Hiroyuki Abe's Wajutsu Keishukai affiliated gym. |
| 1484 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: A 1997 All Japan College Champion. He trained for MMA at Wajutsu Keishukai RJW. |
| 1485 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1486 | [[/folder]] |
| 1487 | |
| 1488 | [[folder:Debuted in The Proof Year (2001)]] |
| 1489 | !!!Kenji Akiyama |
| 1490 | * TheApprentice: To Takashi Ozawa. |
| 1491 | * AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Is now Zendokai Thailand President. |
| 1492 | * CoolTeacher: Head instrutor of Zendokai Shingi Dojo. |
| 1493 | * GuestFighter |
| 1494 | * IKnowKarate: 1st dan black belt and 2 time All Japan Champion in Daido-Juku and 2nd dan black belt and 4 time All Japan Champion in Zendokai. He also knows UsefulNotes/{{Kendo}}. |
| 1495 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1496 | |
| 1497 | !!!Ryo Chonan |
| 1498 | -->''"That was beautiful. You can only see that in demonstrations -- this guy just did it for real."'' |
| 1499 | -->-- Creator/BasRutten on the Ryo's Flying Scissors Heel Hook. |
| 1500 | |
| 1501 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/KiyoshiTamura and Makoto Ohe. |
| 1502 | * AscendedFanBoy: Was a RINGS fan before he got into MMA. |
| 1503 | * BadassBiker: Has a license and once dreamed of being a motorcycle mechanic. |
| 1504 | * CanonImmigrant / GuestFighter: Made his MMA debut in Pancrase, but fought there only once representing Wrestling/KiyoshiTamura‘s U-FILE Camp. |
| 1505 | * CoolTeacher: Founded and is the head trainer of Tribe Tokyo MMA. |
| 1506 | * DelinquentHair: Dyed his hair bleach blond at certain times in his career. |
| 1507 | * GoodOldFisticuffs: Was primarily a striker with his martial arts background in Kyokushin and UsefulNotes/MuayThai, while his grappling was described as scrappy, almost improvisational, and only used when necessary, usually for defensive purposes. Which is why his submission win with such a rare submission to boot over Anderson Silva surprised everyone. |
| 1508 | * HeroKiller: Has beaten guys like Hayato Sakurai, Carlos Newton and most notably Anderson Silva by Flying Scissor Heel Hook in the 3rd round. |
| 1509 | * HiddenDepths: Was a carpenter in the early days of his pro fighting career. |
| 1510 | * IKnowKarate: Trained in Kyokushin in high school before moving to Thailand to learn UsefulNotes/MuayThai. He also trained for MMA at U-FILE Camp and later with CMA's Team M.A.D. |
| 1511 | * ManlyMenCanHunt: Apparently went hunting with Dan Henderson. |
| 1512 | * OddFriendship: With Dan Henderson. They are apparently hunting buddies and Ryo even joined Henderson's Team Quest for a while. |
| 1513 | * RedBaron: "Satsuriku Pirania" ("Slaughter Piranha"), "The Shark". |
| 1514 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: Like Daiju Takase, he is mainly known in United States as "that Japanese guy who Flying Scissors Heel Hooked Anderson Silva" or some variant. |
| 1515 | * StartMyOwn: Founded his own regional MMA promotion, Tribe Tokyo Fight. |
| 1516 | * UnderdogsAlwaysWin: While not as bad as Daiju Takase, before the Silva match, both PRIDE commentators Creator/BasRutten and Mauro Ranallo labelled Chonan as having little chance to win against the skilled Silva. Then the match came... where Ryo did surprisingly well against Silva in both stand up and the ground, with both commentators believing that Ryo was actually outscoring Silva in the first 2 rounds before finishing Silva with the Flying Scissors Heel Hook in the 3rd round. He does admit that if they fought again, Silva would kill him. |
| 1517 | |
| 1518 | !!!Marcelo Dantas |
| 1519 | -->''"It really doesn’t matter if it’s Tom Erikson or Mark Kerr, they’ll have to kill me to beat and to kill me they’ll have to exchange blows."'' |
| 1520 | |
| 1521 | * TheAce: Aside from disqualification losses, he has never lost a vale tudo or MMA fight. |
| 1522 | * TheApprentice: To Ze Arnaldo, Banni Cavalcante, Carlos Gracie. |
| 1523 | * BadassFamily: His son, Marcelo Dantas Jr (aka "Marcelinho" or Marcelo Tigre Jr) is also a MMA fighter. |
| 1524 | * BloodKnight: Once stated he would fight for free if he got to fight in the UFC or Pride. |
| 1525 | * BloodLust: Was known for licking his own blood during the matches. Not only that, but he supposedly drank bull's blood before the matches, being that the secret of his strength [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} according to him]], (though it could be a reference to Milo of Croton, a 6th-century BC Olympic wrestler, who was said to do the same). |
| 1526 | * {{Bouncer}}: Was one with Marcio Buda at a nightclub in Natal. |
| 1527 | * CoolTeacher: Has his own gym, Marcelo Tigre Fight Club. |
| 1528 | * DarkAndTroubledPast: Was born into poverty, lived in a shack, was pressured by his relatives into almost killing a guy who tried to claim that Marcelo stole money from him, had to fight a dog for food in his girlfriend's backyard, and a lot more stuff like that. |
| 1529 | * {{Determinator}}: His toughness is legendary. |
| 1530 | * GuestFighter: Appeared at only one Pancrase show. |
| 1531 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu: As well as boxing and UsefulNotes/MuayThai. |
| 1532 | * InstantExpert: Won his first vale tudo fight after only 6 months of training. |
| 1533 | * OverlyLongName: His full name is Marcelo Alves Eneas Dantas. Which is why he is better known as Marcelo Tigre. |
| 1534 | * PunchPunchPunchUhOh: Was also famous for offering his opponents free leg kicks. |
| 1535 | * RagsToRiches: Was in poverty for most of his life before his fighting career. |
| 1536 | * RedBaron: "Tigre". |
| 1537 | * ScrewedByTheNetwork: Was banned from Pancrase after his disqualification loss by eye gouge to Kazuo Takahashi, Marcelo claims he did it accidentally and that the Pancrase management used that to make sure he wouldn't win and banned him because he was too good. |
| 1538 | |
| 1539 | !!!Naoki Deguchi |
| 1540 | * TheApprentice: To Naoyuki Taira. |
| 1541 | * GuestFighter |
| 1542 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: As well as UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu and trained for MMA at Strapple MMA Gym. |
| 1543 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1544 | |
| 1545 | !!!Paulo Filho |
| 1546 | -->''"I’d rather lose a fight than not go because I thought I could lose. I’d rather actually lose than be a coward. I’d rather sleep knowing that I got beat up than realizing I chickened out with the possibility of losing."'' |
| 1547 | |
| 1548 | * TheApprentice: To Carlson Gracie, Carlos Barrett, and Murilo Bustamante. |
| 1549 | * BadassIsraeli: Is a quarter Jewish from his father’s side. |
| 1550 | * BrokenAce: Was one of Carlson Gracie's best students and had a 16 win streak when he first started MMA and has never lost by KO or submission. He then struggled with [[DrugsAreBad substance abuse]] and depression which affected his fighting, his health, and he became somewhat infamous for pulling out of bouts at the last minute. He retired from MMA in 2014, regretting that he was so far from where he could have been in MMA. |
| 1551 | * CoolTeacher: Is now a BJJ instructor. |
| 1552 | * GuestFighter: Had only one fight in Pancrase. |
| 1553 | * HeroesLoveDogs: Is a pitbull lover and has pitbull tattoo on his shoulder in honour of his first pitbull that died in 1994 (strangely the dog’s name was Hitler). He also opened a pit bull kennel, housing as many as 40 dogs in a 5000sq meter area in Minas Gerais. |
| 1554 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu: A black belt and a world champion, he also has a black belt in UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} and trained for it at Clube de Regatas Flamengo. |
| 1555 | * OverlyLongName: His full name is Paulo Fernando de Souza Leite Filho. It should be noted that his surname is actually Leite, since Filho is a suffix for "Jr" or "son of". |
| 1556 | * RedBaron: "Paulão", "Ely", "BTT Bakugeki-ki" ("BTT’s Bomber"), "Rio no Ningen Bakugeki-ki" ("Rio’s Human Bomber"). |
| 1557 | |
| 1558 | !!!Mick Green |
| 1559 | * TheApprentice: To Christopher [=DeWeaver=]. |
| 1560 | * AwesomeAussie |
| 1561 | * CoolTeacher: The head instructor of Queensland’s Integrated Martial Arts Academy. |
| 1562 | * GuestFighter: From Pancrase Australia. |
| 1563 | * IKnowKarate: Kyokushin and Zendokai, he also trained in UsefulNotes/MuayThai, Hwa Rang Do, UsefulNotes/{{Aikido}}, and UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu. He trained for MMA at the Pancrase Australia Gym. |
| 1564 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1565 | * RedBaron: "The Hammer of Justice". |
| 1566 | |
| 1567 | !!!Hideaki Iwasaki |
| 1568 | * TheApprentice: To Naoyuki Taira. |
| 1569 | * GuestFighter |
| 1570 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] SumoWrestling: In high school. He is also a UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu blue belt. He trained for MMA at Strapple MMA. |
| 1571 | |
| 1572 | !!!Hitoyo Kimura |
| 1573 | * TheApprentice: To Hidekatsu Morooka and Hidetaka Aso. |
| 1574 | * CanonImmigrant / GuestFighter |
| 1575 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Submission Arts Wrestling]]: Was a 2000 All Japan S.A.W. under 80kg champion. He also trained for MMA at CMA Makoto Gym. |
| 1576 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1577 | |
| 1578 | !!!Kazuo Misaki |
| 1579 | -->''"Kazuo Misaki, like so many of his peers, was a high school judoka. What stated as a personal desire to dabble in kickboxing became a fully-grown interest in mixed martial arts thanks to the legendary Sanae Kikuta, who recruited him into his equally legendary Grabaka team, a stable that included luminiaries like Akihiro Gono, Eiji Ishikawa and Riki Fukuda. Misaki made his debut in Pancrase in 2001 as a 25 year-old with puffy blonde hair and a laser-accurate right hand. The 80s hair would be gone by his next fight, but the right hand would serve him well for the remainder of his career."'' |
| 1580 | -->-- A profile of Misaki from a VideoGame/FireProWrestling user [=CarlCX=] from https://steamcommunity.com |
| 1581 | |
| 1582 | * TheApprentice: To Sanae Kikuta. |
| 1583 | * AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Formed his own MMA team; Haleo Top Team, after he left GRABAKA. |
| 1584 | * EveryYearTheyFizzleOut: While a good fighter, he never held a MMA championship belt in his career. He was a contender in almost every promotion he fought in, but always came short in championship bouts. His only major accomplishment was winning the 2006 PRIDE Welterweight Grand Prix and while he did well by eliminating Phil Baroni and Dan Henderson, avenging an earlier loss to the later outside the tournament, he was eliminated by Paulo Filho. He was only able to continue in the tournament because Filho suffered a knee injury and pulled out and it is said that Pride paid tournament alternative Gegard Mousasi to pull out as well to let Misaki continue and finally took a split decision win over Denis Kang to win the tournament. |
| 1585 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: Trained since middle school and is a 3rd dan black belt, he also trained in UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} at Katori Dojo. He later trained for MMA with GRABAKA. |
| 1586 | * JackOfAllStats: He was a remarkably well-rounded fighter in an age where most of his peers were still single-art marvels, and was a tactical, thoughtful fighter. |
| 1587 | * RedBaron: "GRABAKA no Hittoman" ("The GRABAKA Hitman"). |
| 1588 | * SurferDude: His hobby outside of fighting. |
| 1589 | |
| 1590 | !!!Junya Miyakawa |
| 1591 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki and Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki. |
| 1592 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: A 2nd dan black belt. He trained for MMA at the Pancraseism Tokyo Dojo. |
| 1593 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1594 | |
| 1595 | !!!Hiroki Nagaoka |
| 1596 | * TheApprentice: To Yasutaka Kato and Yukinori Haruhara. |
| 1597 | * CoolTeacher: Started his own gym, MMA Dojo Dobuita. |
| 1598 | * GuestFighter |
| 1599 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: A 2nd dan black belt. He also trained at Rodeo Style Gym in MMA, UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu, boxing and UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}. |
| 1600 | |
| 1601 | !!!Koji Oishi |
| 1602 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/MasakatsuFunaki and Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki. |
| 1603 | * CanonImmigrant: Was originally a Wajyutsu Keisyukai RJW fighter before he was brought into Pancrase. |
| 1604 | * CoolTeacher: Was the director of the Pancraseism Tokyo Dojo after Takafumi Ito left in 2008. |
| 1605 | * IKnowKarate: As well as amateur wrestling. He trained for MMA at Wajyutsu Keisyukai RJW and Pancrase Yokohama Dojo |
| 1606 | * TheWorfEffect: A good fighter, but in his fight against Nick Diaz, he actually tried to box with Diaz despite not having much striking prowess and got KO'ed in about a minute and a half. He did however beat Nathan Diaz, Nick's younger brother, later in Pancrase. |
| 1607 | |
| 1608 | !!!Seiki Ryo |
| 1609 | * ADayInTheLimelight: Was the first Titan FC tournament champion. |
| 1610 | * GuestFighter |
| 1611 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu: Trained at Stand MMA Gym. |
| 1612 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1613 | |
| 1614 | !!!Sean Sherk |
| 1615 | -->''"If I could fight forever, I would."'' |
| 1616 | |
| 1617 | * TheAce: Had a win streak of 19 wins (or 15 wins, since he drew against Kiuma Kunioku) at the start of his career. He ended his career of 36 wins, 4 losses, and 1 draw. |
| 1618 | * AlliterativeName |
| 1619 | * TheApprentice: To Greg Nelson. |
| 1620 | * BloodKnight |
| 1621 | * CoolTeacher: Is now a trainer at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy. |
| 1622 | * GuestFighter |
| 1623 | * HeroicBuild: Has a weight lifting background and was known to be a workout and conditioning freak. |
| 1624 | * HiddenDepths: He now works full time, 12 hour day shifts flipping houses in the Minnesota area. |
| 1625 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: Began wrestling at the age of 7. He also trained in boxing, UsefulNotes/MuayThai, UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu, and shoot wrestling at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy. |
| 1626 | * RedBaron: "The Muscle Shark". |
| 1627 | |
| 1628 | !!!Mitsuhisa Sunabe |
| 1629 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki. |
| 1630 | * BadassTeacher: Was the head trainer of Hybrid Wrestling Mugen, P's REAL Dojo and reversaL Gym OKINAWA CROSS×LINE. |
| 1631 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: In high school. He trained at the Pancrase Yokohama Dojo and is a 1999 and 2000 amateur Pancrase open tournament -60kg champion. |
| 1632 | * RedBaron: "Pancrase Keiryō-Kyū no Paionia" ("Pancrase Lightweight Pioneer"), "Speed Star". |
| 1633 | * UrExample: The first Flyweight and Light Flyweight King of Pancrase. |
| 1634 | |
| 1635 | !!!Matt Trihey |
| 1636 | -->''"I only got to Japan because they wanted to see the tattooed white guy lose."'' |
| 1637 | |
| 1638 | * TheApprentice: To Christopher [=DeWeaver=]. |
| 1639 | * AwesomeAussie |
| 1640 | * CoolTeacher: Co-owner and head trainer at Underworld Gym which provides fitness and MMA lessons. |
| 1641 | * GuestFighter: From Pancrase Australia. |
| 1642 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Boxing]]: A 2 time Australian heavyweight champion, he also trained in UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}, UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu and MMA at the Pancrase Australia Gym. |
| 1643 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1644 | * TattooedCrook: Has a lot of tattoos over his body. |
| 1645 | |
| 1646 | !!!Hajime Ubukata |
| 1647 | * TheApprentice: To Hidetaka Aso. |
| 1648 | * CanonImmigrant / GuestFighter: Had only one fight in Pancrase. |
| 1649 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: A 3rd dan black belt, he also trained at the S.A.W. Hombu Dojo and was a 1st dan black belt in Submission Arts Wrestling. |
| 1650 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 1651 | |
| 1652 | !!!Takumi Yano |
| 1653 | * TheApprentice: To Masashi Horibe. |
| 1654 | * AscendedFanboy: Was pro wrestling fan growing up, particularly the UWF and the [[Wrestling/SatoruSayama Tiger Mask]] vs Kuniaki Kobayashi feud. |
| 1655 | * BrokenPedestal: Feels this way towards Masashi Horibe and Koppo as a whole and came out as a major whistle-blower on their training doctrines, lifestyle, and other sketchy practices. |
| 1656 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: He is quite a weird dude, he sometimes wears socks in his MMA fights. |
| 1657 | * ConfusionFu: A few things he likes to do in his fights is to expose his back to his opponents while standing and even willingly lets some of his opponents have full mount. |
| 1658 | * CoolTeacher: Has his own MMA school now, Mixed Martial Art Koppō Ugōkai Yano dojo. |
| 1659 | * CripplingOverspecialization: Aside from the occasional kick, he almost never strikes in his MMA fights. Thankfully he has very good if unorthodox grappling. |
| 1660 | * EliteFour: Was part of the "ZST Shi Kyōdai" ("ZST Four Brothers"). |
| 1661 | * GuestFighter |
| 1662 | * HeManWomanHater: Sort of, he does not like the idea of women doing MMA. He even refused to fight at a Pancrase show because there would be women fighting on that card. |
| 1663 | * HeroicSecondWind: He got his nickname of "Tōyō no Shinpi" as he would get to the end of a MMA round looking like he might faint from exhaustion, then at the start of the next round look ready to go all out again which leaves his opponents puzzled. |
| 1664 | * IKnowKarate: Trained at the Ugokai Wild Phoenix gym, he is also a 1st dan black belt in UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}. |
| 1665 | * InstantExpert: Downplayed, but he only started martial arts training when he was 22. |
| 1666 | * MurderousThighs: Likes using the head scissors choke and even submitted Hideki Kadowaki with one at the GCM: The Contenders 2000. |
| 1667 | * RedBaron: "Yanotaku", "Tōyō no Shinpi" ("The Oriental Mystery"), "Koppō's Ace". |
| 1668 | * TakeThat: Yano was so disillusioned with Koppō and his master Horibe that he spent much of his later MMA career sporting a mustache similar to Horibe’s and dressing like him to mock him. He wore Koppo shirts at Contenders events, even when he was no longer affiliated with them. |
| 1669 | [[/folder]] |
| 1670 | |
| 1671 | [[folder:Debuted in The Spirit Year (2002)]] |
| 1672 | !!!Ricardo Alemida |
| 1673 | -->''"Jiu jitsu and martial arts do not build character, they reveal it. We are all born with unmeasurable courage and determination, but it is as we go through the trials of rigorous training that we rediscover those gifts."'' |
| 1674 | |
| 1675 | * TheApprentice: To Renzo Gracie and was his first black belt. |
| 1676 | * BadassFamily: His younger brother Flavio Almeida is also a BJJ competitor, champion and trainer and the current CEO of Gracie Barra. |
| 1677 | * CoolTeacher: Runs his own BJJ academy and has trained guys like Frankie Edgar, Kris [=McCray=], Eddie Alvarez and Corey Anderson. |
| 1678 | * GuestFighter |
| 1679 | * HeroKiller: Was undefeated in Pride and Pancrase with wins over Akira Shogi and Ryo Chonan in the former and wins over Osami Shibuya, Ikuhisa Minowa, Yuki Sasaki, Kazuo Misaki, and Nate Marquardt (for the King of Pancrase middleweight title) in the latter. |
| 1680 | * HoldUpYourScore: Is now a MMA judge. |
| 1681 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu: A 4th degree black belt, a multiple time medalist at the ADCC Championships, a Brazilian national, Pan American, and No-Gi World Masters champion. He also trained with the Gracie Barra Combat Team for MMA. |
| 1682 | * RedBaron: "Cachorrão" ("Big Dog"). The name came about before Ricardo he started training jiu jitsu. An avid surfer, Ricardo Almeida had the reputation of kicking people out of the sea and being very protective of his surfing spot, because of this the local beach lifeguards gave him the name “Cachorrão”, the name of a famous soap opera “bad guy”. |
| 1683 | * SurferDude: An avid surfer. |
| 1684 | * TheWorfEffect: Some of his UFC fights. |
| 1685 | |
| 1686 | !!!Yoshinori Momose |
| 1687 | * ADayInTheLimelight: Defeated Yuki Kondo at a Premium Challenge event. Kondo avenged his loss in their rematch in Pancrase. |
| 1688 | * TheApprentice: To Takashi Ozawa. |
| 1689 | * GuestFighter |
| 1690 | * IKnowKarate: Zendokai UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} to be exact. |
| 1691 | |
| 1692 | !!!Shigeyuki Umeki |
| 1693 | * TheApprentice: To Tenshin Matsumoto. |
| 1694 | * CanonImmigrant: Was a recurrent Pancrase fighter that came from SK Absolute, Tenshin Matsumoto's sambo and MMA gym. |
| 1695 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}} |
| 1696 | * ConfusionFu: Possibly the greatest example in modern MMA, even more than Sudo or Gono put together. His fighting approach was composed of throwing random backfists, slapping the air, breakdancing on the mat, and somersaulting backwards into flying leglocks. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f_6L9MopnM Absolutely no joke.]] |
| 1697 | * CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Granted, it is difficult to take seriously a guy who fights that bizarre, but Umeki had surprising submissions skills and in fact won an amateur MMA tournament before his debut. |
| 1698 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: Which he mixed with, according to him, kung fu and breakdance. He trained at SK Absolute. |
| 1699 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: Only had a handful of fights before retiring from MMA to pursue a career as a medical assistant, but he is a pretty known curiosity among MMA fans. |
| 1700 | [[/folder]] |
| 1701 | |
| 1702 | [[folder:Debuted in The Hybrid Year (2003)]] |
| 1703 | !!!Josh Barnett |
| 1704 | -->''"He's like a kid, he just loves the game. And in the future, he's going to make some big waves. It's unfortunate that a lot of promoters don't want to use him because of his appearance. He's a little along the chunky side, but he's a great fighter."'' |
| 1705 | -->-- Matt Hume |
| 1706 | |
| 1707 | -->''"A fighter's mindset is ultimate and unflinching absolute belief in oneself."'' |
| 1708 | -->-- Josh Barnett |
| 1709 | |
| 1710 | * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: He lost 3 times to Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović. |
| 1711 | * AscendedFanBoy: A huge UWF and U-System fan. |
| 1712 | * BadassBoast: Often vowed to finish MMA matches with German suplexes and other pro wrestling moves, to the point it almost became a RunningGag when he announced it only to lose or win in any other way. |
| 1713 | * BadassTeacher: Was once a teacher of UsefulNotes/CatchWrestling at Erik Paulson's CSW Training Center and was the primary trainer and manager of female fighter Megumi Fujii and listed on the Abe Ani Combat Club's website as a team wrestling coach and friend. He now has his own gym; UWF USA, where he teaches MMA, UsefulNotes/CatchWrestling and pro wrestling. He also trained Wrestling/BobSapp and Wrestling/YujiNagata for MMA. |
| 1714 | * BloodKnight: He really likes to fight. |
| 1715 | * CanonImmigrant: He originally trained with and represented AMC Pankration for his MMA fights before going to Japan to train at the UWF Snakepit, though the promotion was already defunct. |
| 1716 | * ChallengeSeeker: Has been trying to get a fight with Fedor Emelianenko for years, the closest he got was fighting Fedor's brother Alexander. Though he jokingly, he once stated he would have liked to fight Aleksander Karelin. |
| 1717 | * CombatCommentator: Was a host of tv series called Pancrase: Legends of Mixed Martial Arts, which had him giving commentary on past Pancrase fights. |
| 1718 | * DefeatingTheUndefeatable: He submitted Dean Lister in a Metamoris match. Lister had not been submitted in competition for 16 years. |
| 1719 | * GuestFighter: He only fought in Pancrase for one MMA match representing Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling and vacated Pancrase Openweight Championship shortly after. He has done UsefulNotes/CatchWrestling rules matches for them however. |
| 1720 | * HeroKiller: Has beaten guys like Bobby Hoffman, Wrestling/DanSevern, Semmy Schilt, Creator/RandyCouture, Yuki Kondo, Kazuo Takahashi, Fedor Emelianenko's brother Alexander, Mark Hunt, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, Hidehiko Yoshida, Gilbert Yvel, Sergei Kharitonov, etc in MMA. In submission grappling in beat Dean Lister and Ryron Gracie. |
| 1721 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/CatchWrestling: Trained by Wrestling/BillyRobinson and shoot wrestling with Yukoh Miyato in the UWF Snakepit, trained at AMC Pankration under Matt Hume, and also trained in the Combat Submission Wrestling system under Erik Paulson. Subverted with UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu, as he is ranked in the Machado system, it is an honourary rank and he never actually trained in it. He also trained in amateur wrestling, UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} and UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} before he started MMA. |
| 1722 | * InsistentTerminology: Very much like Minowa, he likes referring to himself as a catch wrestler and a pro wrestler, and also likes to use catch terminology to describe moves instead of jiu jitsu terminology (he calls the Kimura lock the double wrist lock, for example). |
| 1723 | * LastOfHisKind: Was the last Pancrase Openweight Champion. |
| 1724 | * {{Otaku}}: A major one. He is an OccidentalOtaku that nearly on par with Wrestling/KennyOmega. |
| 1725 | * RedBaron: "The Babyfaced Assassin" (early in his career), "The Warmaster", "The Philadelphia Jailbird", "Trainer of [[Wrestling/BobSapp The Beast]]". In Japan, "Sekai Saikyo no Otaku" ("The World's Strongest Otaku") and "Aoi Hitomi no Kenshiro" ("The Blue-Eyed [[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar Kenshiro]]" - really!). |
| 1726 | * StoutStrength: His early nickname "The Babyfaced Assassin" was given because he has a quite pudgy physique. |
| 1727 | * SuplexFinisher: Likes trying to go for this, like in his match with Yuki Kondo. |
| 1728 | * VictoryPose: Uses the thumb slide across throat meaning for death after he wins matches. |
| 1729 | * WrestlerInAllOfUs: Is both a pro wrestler and MMA fighter and occasionally uses wrestling moves like German suplexes. |
| 1730 | |
| 1731 | !!!Nilson de Castro |
| 1732 | * TheApprentice: To Rudimar Fedrigo and Cristiano Marcello. |
| 1733 | * GroinAttack: Was disqualified in his first bout with Akihiro Gono by accidentally low kicking directly into groin area so hard that Gono started vomiting (though it was not shown on the video of the fight) and had to be stretched out. Gono did somewhat get his revenge in the second fight by decision though. |
| 1734 | * GuestFighter |
| 1735 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/MuayThai: A Chute Boxe fighter and also knows UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu. |
| 1736 | |
| 1737 | !!!Crosley Gracie |
| 1738 | * TheApprentice: To Relson, Carlson and Ralph Gracie. |
| 1739 | * BadassFamily: Son of Rosley Gracie and grandson of Carlos Gracie. |
| 1740 | * CoolTeacher: Has his own BJJ schools in Brentwood and Napa. |
| 1741 | * GuestFighter |
| 1742 | * HeroKiller: Briefly got this status with wins over Kiuma Kunioku by decision and Hayato "Mach" Sakurai by submission (being the first man to submit him in MMA). |
| 1743 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu: A black belt and champion of course. He also studied others like Wrestling, Boxing and UsefulNotes/MuayThai. |
| 1744 | * OvershadowedByAwesome: Is not as well known as his more famous cousins, due to only have a 4 year career in MMA, and only fought once a year. |
| 1745 | |
| 1746 | !!!Heath Sims |
| 1747 | * TheApprentice: To Dan Henderson. |
| 1748 | * CoolTeacher: Is currently head of the wrestling program at Evolve MMA. |
| 1749 | * {{Determinator}}: In 1999 while he was training at the U.S. Olympic facilities in Colorado Springs, Sims flew his snowboard off a mountainside and had to be transported off the mountain by helicopter. His kidney and spleen had been lacerated and his kidney had been nearly severed. He defied doctors orders to start wrestling again for the Olympics. |
| 1750 | * GuestFighter |
| 1751 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: An Olympic level Greco-Roman wrestler who competed in the 2000 Games and also had high school championships in freestyle wrestling. He trained for MMA at Team Quest. |
| 1752 | |
| 1753 | !!!Wrestling/ToruYano |
| 1754 | * GuestFighter: From Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling. |
| 1755 | [[/folder]] |
| 1756 | |
| 1757 | [[folder:Debuted in The Brave Year (2004)]] |
| 1758 | [[/folder]] |
| 1759 | |
| 1760 | [[folder:Debuted in The Spiral Year (2005)]] |
| 1761 | [[/folder]] |
| 1762 | |
| 1763 | [[folder:Debuted in The Blow Year (2006)]] |
| 1764 | [[/folder]] |
| 1765 | |
| 1766 | [[folder:Debuted in The Rising Year (2007)]] |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext Characters / UniversalWrestlingFederationWorldPancraseCreateEra
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load
