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Manabu Yamada

Japanese martial artist

Summary

Japanese martial artist

Field	Value
name	Manabu Yamada
other_names	"Oyabun" ("Kingpin")
birth_date
birth_place	Tochigi, Japan
nationality	Japanese
height
weight_lb	225
style	Shooto, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Karate, Jeet Kune Do
trainer	Satoru Sayama
rank	Black Belt in Karate
years_active	1990–2000 (MMA)
mma_kowin	3
mma_subwin	19
mma_decwin	1
mma_koloss	4
mma_subloss	9
mma_decloss	3
mma_draw	6
sherdog	742

Manabu Yamada (山田学, born May 18, 1969, in Tochigi, Japan) is a retired Japanese mixed martial arts fighter. He is best known for his participation in Shooto and Pancrase fighting organizations. On December 17, 1994, Yamada advanced to the finals of the King of Pancrase Tournament where he lost to Ken Shamrock via unanimous decision.

Career

Yamada started training with Satoru Sayama at the Super Tiger Gym after a background in karate, debuting in Shooto in 1990. He faced Kenji Kawaguchi twice in matches for the Shooto Middleweight Championship, but he was submitted in both occasions. After two important wins over Kazuhiro Kusayanagi and Naoki Sakurada, he left Shooto and joined Pancrase in 1993.

Manabu had his Pancrase debut against Katsuomi Inagaki, winning rapidly by submission. Shortly after, he got his first big win over Andre Van Den Oetelaar, a kickboxer and Dutch judo champion who sported a large weight advantage. Yamada lost points early due to a rear naked choke and a liver shot, but he came back knocking down Oetelaar with a high kick and then cutting him with a strike, winning the fight by doctor stoppage. Afterwards, Yamada suffered his first defeat in the promotion when he was caught in a heel hook by Takaku Fuke, despite having the points advantage for most of the match.

In December 1994, Yamada took part in the tournament for the first King of Pancrase championship. He eliminated Christopher DeWeaver in two minutes, moving forward to face rising star Frank Shamrock. Despite his opponent's superior strength and late comeback, Yamada caught him in an ankle hold early in the match and resisted all his submission attempts, which gave him the victory by points at the end.

The former Shooto fighter advanced to engage his biggest challenge to the point, the Pancrase co-founder and heavy favourite Minoru Suzuki. In the beginning of a classic fight, Yamada was taken down and had his back fastly taken, but his defensive acumen allowed him to avoid being submitted, and he stole a point from Suzuki with a scrambling rear naked choke. Minoru came back strong, getting several near-holds, but Manabu kept defending and seeking for openings, which granted him another point by ankle hold. He then overpowered Suzuki and controlled him until locked an armbar from side control, making Suzuki tap out for one of his biggest career wins.

The same night, Yamada came again to fight Ken Shamrock in the finals, giving another impressive exhibition by going to the distance with the much stronger Shamrock after 30:00. Yamada again resisted his opponent's grip while turtled up, threatening him with Kimura locks and rolling leglocks from the position, and he even threw a pro wrestling dropkick at the end of the bout, but he lost by decision at the end, with Shamrock being declared King of Pancrase.

Yamada's next match saw an upset when he was submitted by Bas Rutten. Despite his top control, Yamada was trapped in an arm triangle choke and was rendered unconscious due to his refusal to tap out. Manabu lost a match against Jason DeLucia by accidental eye gouge, but he got his course back defeating Pancrase founder Masakatsu Funaki and DeLucia in a revenge match. However, it would be short-lived, as Yamada dropped from main competition, losing to submission to DeLucia in only 1:13 and just getting an important win over Kiuma Kunioku.

Yamada retired in January 2000, after losing to Yuki Kondo, and currently works as MMA trainer and seitai teacher.

Championships and accomplishments

Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling
- 1994 King of Pancrase tournament Runner Up
Tokyo Sports
- Rookie of the Year (1994)

Mixed martial arts record

other-losses=
Loss
Yuki Kondo
Decision (unanimous)
Pancrase - Trans 1

For the inaugural Pancrase Openweight Championship.
Win
Minoru Suzuki
Submission (armbar)
King of Pancrase tournament second round

For the Shooto Middleweight Championship.
Win
Satoshi Honma
Submission (armbar)
Shooto - Shooto

For the inaugural Shooto Middleweight Championship.
Loss
Yasuto Sekishima
KO (punch)
Shooto - Shooto

Mixed martial arts exhibition record

dec-losses=0
Draw
Noboru Asahi
Technical Draw
Pancrase - Proof 3

References

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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