History Wrestling / KazuyukiFujita

* TheAce: He was the top fighter of the Inoki Dojo, along with the latecomer Lyoto Machida. Less in the conventional sense, although he definitevely could step up in the ring with world names.

* ArchEnemy: In MMA, arguably Mirko Filipovic, who gave Kazuyuki his first defeat and beat him again in the rematch. In pro wrestling and real life, Wrestling/NaoyaOgawa, mainly due to the 1.4 Incident, in which Ogawa attacked Wrestling/ShinyaHashimoto, who had been Fujita's BigBrotherMentor in backstage.

* BoringButPractical: Being mainly a freestyle wrestler, Fujita's defensive and controlling style was neither spectacular nor exciting, but his punches and knees were enough to put his opponents out or claw the decision win if his opponents made the mistake of running out of gas by trying to beat him with strikes. Similarly, he was not a great grappler, but he did have a solid submission defense and knew some effective chokes to apply on overwhelmed opponents.
** It is believed that the infamous "lay and pray" term was coined by Stephen Quadros during the fight between Fujita and Gilbert Yvel, after Kaz spent almost all the match on top of him not doing nothing more than some random armbar attemps.
*** Interestingly, it was not the lay and pray itself what won the fight for hi (as the ruleset of PRIDE valued finishing attempts over control or positioning) but the mentioned armbar attempts; the lay and pray just served to impede Yvel from doing anything more notable than those. So Fujita basically only did the "lay", without the "pray" part.

* {{Face}}: While Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba proved that puroresu could win fights, Fujita proved that the traditional JapaneseSpirit of determination and indomitability alone could win fights. The Japanese crowd loved every second of it, and would have elevated Fujita to the category of a national hero had Fujita been charismatic enough.

* UnstoppableForceMeetsImmovableObject: The premise of his fight against Wrestling/BobSapp, although the result was much less exciting than it sounded. Basically, Fujita took him down and soccer kicked him in the head while a terrified Sapp tried to do something to stop the beatdown. Afterwards, Kaz called himself "The Real Beast", as Sapp had been known until that point as "The Beast".

** Arguably to {{WWE}}'s Wrestling/BrockLesnar, given their similar physiques and equal levels of skill in wrestling and MMA. They even faced in a three-way match during Lesnar's short stint in NJPW.

->''"Wanderlei eventually got to his feet and stalked Fujita like a [[AllAnimeIsNaughtyTentacles Japanese octopus in an all-female prison.]] He hit him as hard as you can hit someone, many times. And every time Fujita fell down, Silva kicked him in the head as if he was going for a 70-yard field goal. None of this did anything!"''
-->--'''Creator/{{Seanbaby}}''' on [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/worst-life-ever-the-story-of-kazuyuki-fujitas-skull/ a certain article about Fujita.]]

'''Kazuyuki Fujita''' (b. 1970) is a UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}ese {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er and UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts fighter, best known for his work in Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling and PRIDE Fighting Championships. He was originally a decorated amateur wrestler who missed the Olympics for one point, later turning to pro wrestling in NJPW. Starting traditionally as a jobber, he was climbing his way to low-card when he volunteered to take part in the blossoming MMA, a field which Wrestling/AntonioInoki was endorsing among the New Japan wrestlers, but unlike most of them, Fujita was succesful and became the spearhead of the Inoki fighters. By beating names like Mark Kerr, Wrestling/KenShamrock and Gilbert Yvel through pure toughness and a barely not preternatural measure of HardHead, he turned into one of the main Japanese players in PRIDE and once came as close as anyone to beat the invincible Fedor Emelianenko. After PRIDE's fall, he fought briefly for Sengoku and returned to Inoki in his company Inoki Genome Federation, where he currently wrestles.

* TheAce: He was the top fighter of the Inoki Dojo, along with Lyoto Machida. Less in the conventional sense, although he definitevely could step up in the ring with world names.

* BoringButPractical: Being mainly a wrestler, Fujita's defensive and controlling style was not spectacular or exciting, but his punches and knees were enough to put his opponents out once they were out of gas by trying to beat him. Similarly, he was not a great grappler, but he did have a solid submission defense and knew some effective chokes.

*** Interestingly, it was not the lay and pray itself what won the fight for him, as the ruleset of PRIDE valued finishing attempts over control or positioning, but the mentioned armbar attempts; the lay and pray just served to impede Yvel from doing anything more notable than them. So Fujita basically only did the "lay", without the "pray" part.

* DeathSeeker: Not straight, but he compared walking into the MMA ring like walking to his own execution, as he went to give everything out in a place where a crowd got excited whenever blood was shed.
* DentedIron: Injuries and general weardown reduced his legendary toughness. When he was forced to face Satoshi Ishii many years past his prime, he was a shell of himself.
* {{Determinator}}: Embodying the JapaneseSpirit of ''kakan'' or perseverance, Fujita walked to the ring with no thoughts of giving up or falling down. He did not care whether he was facing just a difficult opponent, a plainly better fighter or even the best in the world. Like the many other pro wrestlers who had turned to MMA despite knowing they could not succeed, Fujita just went out to fight until his opponent were defeated or until the ref and/or the medics said otherwise.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: In his fight against Fedor Emelianenko (at the time considered the best fighter in all MMA) Fujita came the closest anyone at that point ever did to knock Fedor out with a thunderous punch.
** On the other end, when Alistair Overeem knocked him out cold it was a huge surprise.

* EvilCounterpart: Can be considered one to Manabu Nakanishi in NJPW. They both are big, tough wrestlers with a decorated amateur background and a similar physique, but Nakanishi has been always portraited as a New Japan loyalist, while Fujita was a part of the Inoki MMA army and got his success from it. Similarly, Nakanishi's nickname was "Wild Man", while Fujita's was "Wild Beast".
* {{Face}}: While Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba proved that puroresu could win fights, Fujita proved that the traditional JapaneseSpirit of determination and indomitability alone could win fights. The Japanese crowd loved every second of it.

* HeroicBuild: Played for laughs in some promos and post-events ring celebrations in PRIDE, where foreign fighters were often in awe about how large were his trapezoids.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In 2004, Fujita lost the IWGP Heavyweight Championship before Kensuke Sasaki when he pinned himself while choking Sasaki. It counts twice as a bad petard for New Japan, because such a match finish (which was booked by Fujita himself in which he thought would be a good idea to preserve his aura) was seen by the fans as ridiculous and offensive to the puroresu tradition, and they started to throw rubbish to the ring and bashed the company.

* '''MadeOfIron'''[=/=]'''HardHead''': His skull, chin and neck were hard as steel. He has shrugged off beatdowns which would have knocked out more or less everybody, including knee strikes to the top of the head and haymakers to the face by Cro Cop and Wanderlei Silva. According to a supposed medical test, his bones were naturally thicker than common people.

* UnstoppableForceMeetsImmovableObject: The premise of his fight against Wrestling/BobSapp, although the result was much less exciting than it sounds. Basically, Fujita took him down and soccer kicked him in the head while a terrified Sapp tried to do something to stop the beatdown. Afterwards, Kaz called himself "The Real Beast", as Sapp had been known until that point as "The Beast".

* TheApprentice: To Antonio Inoki. He personally trained Fujita in catch wrestling, although he was GenreSavvy enough to send him to train with vale tudo expert Marco Ruas (who, as a luta livre practitioner, was a catch wrestler too - all in the family). Fujita also trained with Wrestling/SatoruSayama, Gerard Gordeau and other members of Inoki's entourage.

* TheChampion: After seeing him getting victories in the MMA ring, Antonio Inoki appointed Fujita as his personal champion and gave him his entrance theme and flavour, arguably [[StageMom trying to live his dreams of MMA greatness through him]].

* [[IKnowKarate I Know Freestyle Wrestling]]: An accomplishedfreestyle wrestler. As said above, he missed the Olympics for one mere point.

* UnstoppableForceMeetsImmovableObject: The premise of his fight against Bob Sapp, although the result was much less exciting than it sounds. Basically, Fujita took him down and soccer kicked him in the head while a terrified Sapp tried to do something to stop the beatdown. Afterwards, Kaz called himself "The Real Beast", as Sapp had been known until that point as "The Beast".

-->''"His physical evaluation rate is one of the highest I have ever seen in and outside the NJPW Dojo. He is just a monster."''
--->--'''Wrestling/SatoruSayama''' about his trainee.

'''Kazuyuki Fujita''' (b. 1970) is a UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}ese {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er and UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts fighter, best known for his work in Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling and PRIDE Fighting Championships. He was originally a decorated amateur wrestler who missed the Olympics for one point, later turning to pro wrestling in NJPW. Starting traditionally as a jobber, he was climbing his way to low-card when he volunteered to take part in the blossoming MMA, a field which Wrestling/AntonioInoki was endorsing among the New Japan wrestlers, but unlike most of them, Fujita was succesful thanks to his legit background and became the spearhead of the Inoki fighters. By beating names like Mark Kerr, Wrestling/KenShamrock and Gilbert Yvel through pure toughness and HardHead, he turned into one of the main Japanese players in PRIDE and once came as close as anyone to beat the invincible Fedor Emelianenko. After PRIDE's fall, he fought briefly for Sengoku and returned to Inoki in his company Inoki Genome Federation, where he currently wrestles.

As usual, you can find the basics at [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazuyuki_Fujita The Other Wiki]]. [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/worst-life-ever-the-story-of-kazuyuki-fujitas-skull/ Seanbaby has a less serious recap of his more known MMA fights.]]

* TheAce: Of the Inoki Dojo, along with Lyoto Machida.

* ArchEnemy: In MMA, arguably Mirko Filipovic, who gave Kazuyuki his first defeat and beat him again in the revenge. In pro wrestling and real life, Wrestling/NaoyaOgawa, mainly due to the 1.4 Incident, in which Ogawa attacked Wrestling/ShinyaHashimoto, who had been Fujita's BigBrotherMentor in backstage.

* {{Face}}: While Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba proved that puroresu could win fights, Fujita proved that the traditional JapaneseSpirit of determination and indomitability alone could win fights. The Japanese crowd loved them for it.
* FeelNoPain: His losses against Mirko Cro Cop and Wanderlei Silva were doctor stoppages due to ''cuts''. Despite getting showered with all kind of punches and kicks, he just looked annoyed for having to lose the matches for such a trifle.

* HeroicBuild: Played for laughs in some promos and post-events ring celebrations in PRIDE, where foreign fighters often were in awe about how large were his trapezoids.

* HowMuchMoreCanHeTake: Kaz was almost impossible to knock out, so this trope was often on board when he stepped into the ring against a striker - the usual questions were how many hits would need his opponent to open a cut or how many time would need Fujita to get him downed. It was an absolute upset when Alistair Overeem knocked him out cold.

* TheJuggernaut: One of the few examples which qualify both in pro wrestling and MMA.

* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: After being stormed by Silva.
* NiceGuy: By all accounts. Unlike most Japanese wrestlers turned fighters at the time, Fujita was very humble and polite.

* {{Badass}}

--->--'''Eddie Bravo''' after witnessing Fujita's toughness

-->''"His physical evaluation is one of the highest I have ever seen in and outside the New Japan dojo. He is just a monster."''
--->--'''Wrestling/SatoruSayama''' about his trainee

-->"I am not so great a puncher, not so great a kicker. I don't really have anything all that great, but in today's vale tudo, the strongest is the one that can take a beating."

* TheChampion: After seeing him getting victories in the MMA ring, Antonio Inoki named Fujita his personal champion and gave him his entrance theme and flavour, arguably [[StageMom trying to live his dreams of MMA greatness through him]].

* {{Determinator}}: Perhaps embodying the JapaneseSpirit of ''kakan'' or perseverance, Fujita walked to the ring with no thoughts of giving up or falling down. He did not care whether he was facing just a difficult opponent, a plainly better fighter or even the best in the world. Like the many other pro wrestlers who had turned to MMA despite knowing they could not succeed, Fujita just went out to fight until his opponent were defeated or until the ref and/or the medics said otherwise.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: In his fight against Fedor Emelianenko (at the time considered the best fighter in all MMA) Fujita came the closest anyone at that point ever did to knocking Fedor out with a thunderous punch.

* HowMuchMoreCanHeTake: Kaz was almost impossible to knock out, so this trope was often on board when he stepped into the ring. It was an absolute upset when Travis Wiuff knocked him out.

* '''MadeOfIron'''[=/=]'''HardHead''': His skull, chin and neck were hard as steel. He has shrugged off beatdowns which would have knocked out more or less everybody, including Cro Cop knee strikes to the top of the head and haymakers to the face. According to a supposed medical test, his bones were naturally thicker than common people.

* NiceGuy: By all accounts. Unlike most of Japanese wrestlers turned fighters at the time, Fujita was very humble and polite.

* KickTheDog: Literally, with Shinsuke Nakamura. At the 2004 Toukon Festival, Inoki ordered Fujita to shoot on Nakamura in a tag team match, kicking him in the face and hurting him badly. Only to Inoki to came personally to the ring and beat him even more.

-->''"He is a monster."''
--->--'''Wrestling/SatoruSayama''' being more concise about his trainee

* HeroKiller: His wins about Kerr and Shamrock were this to UFC fans.

* HowMuchMoreCanHeTake: Kaz was almost impossible to knock out, so this trope was often on board when he stepped into the ring. It was an absolute upset when fellow monster Alistair Overeem knocked him out cold.

* [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: An accomplished amateur wrestler. As said above, he missed the Olympics for one mere point.

* '''MadeOfIron'''[=/=]'''HardHead''': His skull, chin and neck were hard as steel, and this is not completely a lyric artistic license.

* StoneWall: In MMA. His striking output was rudimentary and he usually found himself outgunned by his opponents, but they always got tired much before managing to knock him out or submit him.

* WorkedShoot: His Different Style Fights. In fact, it were them (especially the ones against Kendo Kashin and Kimo Leopoldo) which impelled him to try MMA.

*** Interestingly, it was not the lay and pray itself what won the fight for him, as the ruleset of PRIDE valued finishing attempts over control or positioning, but the mentioned armbar attempts; the lay and pray just served to impede Yvel from doing anything more notable than them.

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Arguably to {{WWE}}'s Wrestling/BrockLesnar, given their similar physiques and equal levels of skill in wrestling and MMA. They even faced in a three-way match during Lesnar's short stint in NJPW.

-->""I am not so great a puncher, not so great a kicker. I don't really have anything all that great, but in today's vale tudo, the strongest is the one that can take a beating."

** It's believed that the infamous "lay and pray" term was coined by Stephen Quadros during the fight between Fujita and Gilbert Yvel, after Kaz spent almost all the match on top of him not doing nothing more than some random armbar attemps in order to secure another victory for Inoki.

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: In his fight against Fedor Emelianenko (at the time considered the best fighter in all MMA) Fujita, never considered a good striker, came the closest anyone at that point ever did to knocking Fedor out.

* FinishingMove: Soccer Kick to the Head, Knee Strike and Sleeper Hold. He also used to end matches with a random barrage of MMA strikes.
* HeroKiller: His wins about Kerr and Shamrock were this to UFC fan's eyes.

** StoneWall: In MMA. His striking output was rudimentary and he usually found himself outgunned by his opponents, at least until they got tired.

* TheQuietOne: Was a man of few words.

* UnstoppableForceMeetsImmovableObject: The premise of his fight against Wrestling/BobSapp, although the result was much less exciting than it sounds. Basically, Fujita took him down and soccer kicked him in the head while a terrified Sapp tried to do something to stop the beatdown. Afterwards, Kaz called himself "The Real Beast", as Sapp had been known until that point as "The Beast".

* WorkedShoot: His Different Style Fights. In fact, was one of them (against Kendo Kashin, another shooter) which impelled him to try MMA.

* UnstoppableForceMeetsImmovableObject: The premise of his fight against Bob Sapp, although the result was much less exciting than it sounds. Basically, Fujita took him down and soccer kicked him in the head while a terrified Sapp tried to do something to stop the beatdown. Afterwards, Kaz called himself "The Real Beast", as Sapp had been known until that point as "The Beast".

* ArchEnemy: In MMA, arguably Mirko Filipovic, who gave Kazuyuki his first defeat and beat him again in the revenge. In pro wrestling and real life, Naoya Ogawa, mainly due to the 1.4 Incident, in which Ogawa attacked Wrestling/ShinyaHashimoto, who had been Fujita's BigBrotherMentor in backstage.

* ArchEnemy: In MMA, arguably Mirko Filipovic, which gave Kazuyuki his first defeat and beat him again in the revenge. In pro wrestling and real life, Naoya Ogawa, mainly due to the 1.4 Incident, in which Ogawa attacked Wrestling/ShinyaHashimoto, who had been Fujita's BigBrotherMentor in backstage.

As usual, you can find the basics at [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazuyuki_Fujita The Other Wiki]].

* TheApprentice: To Antonio Inoki. He personally trained Fujita in catch wrestling, although he was GenreSavvy enough to send him to train with vale tudo expert Marco Ruas (who, was a luta livre practitioner, was a catch wrestler too - all in the family). Fujita also trained with Wrestling/SatoruSayama and other members of Inoki's entourage.

* {{Face}}: While Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba proved that puroresu could win in a MMA ring, Fujita proved that the traditional JapaneseSpirit of determination and indomitability could win fights. The Japanese crowd loved them for it.

* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Notably averted. Unlike most of Japanese wrestlers turned fighters at the time, Fujita was very humble and soft-spoken.

* LightningBruiser: Fujita was not a lightweight wrestler, but he could nail super hurricanranas with ease.
* KickTheDog: Literally, with Shinsuke Nakamura. At the 2004 Toukon Festival, Inoki ordered Fujita to shoot on Nakamura in a tag team match, kicking him in the face and hurting him badly. Only to Inoki to came personally to the ring and beat him even more.
* '''MadeOfIron'''[=/=]'''HardHead''': His skull, chin and neck were hard as steel, and this is not completely a lyric artistic license.

* The Juggernaut: One of the few examples which qualify both in pro wrestling and MMA.

* TheChampion: After seeing him getting victories in the MMA ring, Antonio Inoki named Fujita his personal champion and gave him his entrance theme and flavour, arguably [[Stage mom trying to live his dreams of MMA greatness through him]].

'''Kazuyuki Fujita''' (b. 1970) is a UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}ese {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er and UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts fighter, best known for his work in Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling and PRIDE Fighting Championships. He was originally a decorated amateur wrestler who missed the Olympics for one point, later turning to pro wrestling in NJPW. Starting traditionally as a jobber, he was climbing his way to low-card when he volunteered to take part in the blossoming MMA, a field Wrestling/AntonioInoki was endorsing among the New Japan wrestlers, but unlike most of them, Fujita was succesful thanks to his legit background and became the spearhead of the Inoki fighters. By beating names like Mark Kerr, Wrestling/KenShamrock and Gilbert Yvel through pure toughness and HardHead, he was one of the main Japanese players in PRIDE and once came as close as anyone to beat the invincible Fedor Emelianenko. After PRIDE's fall, he fought briefly for Sengoku and returned to Inoki in his company Inoki Genome Federation, where he currently wrestles.

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Arguably to {{WWE}}'s Wrestling/BrockLesnar, given their similar physiques and equal levels of skill in wrestling and MMA. They even faced in a three-way match during Lesnar's short stint in NJPW. Fujita was also compared to Wrestling/BillGoldberg.

* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Notably averted. Unlike most of Japanese wrestlers turned fighters from the time, Fujita was very humble and soft-spoken.

* BoringButPractical: Fujita's style wasn't spectacular or exciting, but his punches and knees were enough to crush.
** The infamous "lay and pray" term was coined by Stephen Quadros during the fight between Fujita and Gilbert Yvel, after Kaz spent almost all the match on top of him not doing nothing more than some random armbar attemps in order to secure another victory for Inoki.
** His victories in PRIDE led to Inoki meddling to change Kazuyuki's wrestling style in New Japan to a generic MMA one, filled with positioning and ground and pound. At the time, Antonio seemed to have the reasoning of "if we our wrestling moves don't work in MMA, then MMA moves will work in our wrestling".
* TheBrute: He was a heel in NJPW.
* TheChampion: After seeing him getting victories in the MMA ring, Antonio Inoki named Fujita his personal champion and gave him his entrance theme and flavour, arguably [[Stage mom trying to live his MMA dreams of greatness through him]].

* DentedIron: Injuries and general wornout reduced his legendary toughness. When he was forced to face Satoshi Ishii many years past his prime, he was a shell of himself.
* {{Determinator}}: Fujita never gives up. Period.

* FinishingMove: Soccer Kick to the Head, Knee Strike, Sleeper Hold. He also used to end matches with a random barrage of MMA strikes.
* HeroKiller: His wins about Kerr and Shamrock were this to UFC's eyes.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In 2004, Fujita lost the IWGP Heavyweight Championship before Kensuke Sasaki when he pinned himself while choking Sasaki. It counts twice as a bad petard for New Japan, because such a match finish (which was booked by Fujita himself in which he thought would be a good idea to preserve his aura) was seen by the fans as ridiculous and offensive to the puroresu tradition, and they started to throw rubbish to the ring and bash the company.

* LightningBruiser: He was not a light wrestler, but Fujita could nail super hurricanranas with ease.

* '''MadeOfIron'''[=/=]'''HardHead''': His skull, chin and neck were hard as steel.
* [[IKnowKarate IKnowAmateurWrestling]]: An accomplished amateur wrestler. As said, he missed the Olympics for one mere point.

* TheOneWhoWearsShoes: Usually wore wrestling shoes in MMA, as PRIDE's rule set allowed it.
* ToBeAMaster: His main motivation was not winning championships, but being the strongest fighter.
* UnstoppableForceMeetsImmovableObject: The premise of his fight against Bob Sapp, although the result was much less exciting that it sounds. Basically, Fujita took him down and soccer kicked him in the head while a terrified Sapp tried to do something. Afterwards, Fujita called himself "The Real Beast", as Sapp had been known as "The Beast".
* WorkedShoot: His Different Style Fights. In fact, was one of them (against Kendo Kashin) which impelled him to try MMA.

* TheAce: Of the Inoki Dojo, along Lyoto Machida.

* HowMuchMoreHeCanTake: Kaz was almost impossible to knock out, so this trope was often on board when he stepped into the ring. It was an absolute upset when fellow monster Alistair Overeem knocked him out cold.

* HowMuchHeCanTake: Kaz was almost impossible to knock out, so this trope was often on board when he stepped into the ring. It was an absolute upset when fellow monster Alistair Overeem knocked him out cold.

* The Brute: He was a heel in NJPW.

* TheApprentice: To Antonio Inoki. He personally trained Fujita in catch wrestling, although he was GenreSavvy enough to send him to train with vale tudo expert Marco Ruas (who, was a luta livre practitioner, was a catch wrestler too - all in the family).

* The Brute: In NJPW, he was esentially a heel.

* DeathSeeker: Not straight, but he compared walking into the MMA ring like walking to his own execution, as he went to give everything out in a place where a crowd got excited when he was hit or damaged.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Being showered with strikes from Mark Kerr and ''not'' getting knocked out, and then turn the fight on his head.
* EvilCounterpart: Can be considered one to Manabu Nakanishi in NJPW. They both are big, tough wrestlers with a decorated amateur background and a similar physique, but Nakanishi has been always portraited as a New Japan loyalist, while Fujita was a part of the Inoki MMA army and got his success from it.

* HeroKiller
* HowMuchHeCanTake
* HyperCompetentSidekick
* KickTheDog: Literally, with Shinsuke Nakamura.
* MadeOfIron[=/=]HardHead
* [[IKnowKarate IKnowAmateurWrestling]]: An accomplished wrestler.

* TheQuietOne

* TheOneWhoWearsShoes

* UnstoppableForceMeetsImmovableObject: Against Bob Sapp.