- Masakazu Imanari
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Masakazu Imanari Born February 10, 1976 Other names Ashikan Judan, The Master of Leglocks Nationality Japanese Height 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) Weight 134 lb (61 kg; 9.6 st) Division Bantamweight
Featherweight
LightweightStyle Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Catch Wrestling Fighting out of Tokyo, Japan Team Team Roken Rank black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Years active 2000–present Mixed martial arts record Total 35 Wins 24 By knockout 1 By submission 15 By decision 8 Losses 9 By knockout 2 By decision 7 Draws 2 Other information Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog Masakazu Imanari (今成正和 Imanari Masakazu, born 10 February 1976) is a Japanese mixed martial artist best known for his leglocks. He fights out of Team Roken in Kanagawa, Japan. He currently has a professional MMA record of 24–9–2 with notable victories over Danny Batten, Jorge Gurgel, Mike Brown, Robbie Olivier, Jean Silva and Yoshiro Maeda. He is a veteran of Kingdom, DEEP, ZST, Pride Fighting Championships, and Cage Rage. He also has had a successful career in Combat Wrestling, placing as high as 3rd and 2nd in their All-Japan championship tournaments. He is the current Cage Rage Featherweight Champion, DEEP Bantamweight Champion and the former DEEP Featherweight Champion.
Contents
Mixed martial arts career
ZST
Imanari gained popularity during his mixed martial arts career in Japanese promotion ZST fighting the likes of top lightweights including Dokonjonosuke Mishima, Jorge Gurgel and Marcus Aurelio even when he was much smaller in the Featherweight division. He defeated Gurgel, who is a Brazilian Jujitsu black belt former UFC fighter via submission (heel hook) while Imanari was a much lower rank in Brazilian Jujitsu as well as lighter in weight. Imanari also defeated former Cage Warriors Featherweight Champion, Danny Batten. In the first round Batten took Imanari down on the ropes but Imanari attempted a triangle choke. Batten escaped it but Imanari then transitioned to an armbar causing Batten to submit in just over 40 seconds.
DEEP
Imanari moved on to compete in DEEP where he defeated a top WEC contender and the former WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Brown via submission (heel hook) where Brown's leg became dislocated. Imanari now a top contender in DEEP went on to compete for the title shot against Yoshiro Maeda in which he defeated Maeda via submission (toe hold) to become the new DEEP Featherweight Champion. Imanari made his first KO victory in his first defense for the belt against Takeshi Yamazaki with an up kick.
Cage Rage
His next fight which was his first fight outside Tokyo, Japan was in London, UK where he became the Cage Rage World Featherweight champion by defeating Robbie Olivier with a flying armbar at Cage Rage 20. This accomplishment made him the only mixed martial artist in the Featherweight division to hold belts in two separate major promotions (DEEP and Cage Rage). He defended his Cage Rage belt for the first time against Jean Silva, winning by reverse heel hook in the first round, injuring Silva's knee in the process. He is known for his proficiency in leglocks and his relentless tendency to constantly pursue them.
Dream Featherweight Grand Prix
Imanari was a participant in the Dream Featherweight (63 kg / 138 lb) Grand Prix[1] and won his first-round matchup against Atsushi Yamamoto by split decision at Dream 7 but lost to current DREAM Featherweight champion Bibiano Fernandes by unanimous decision at Dream 9.
Dream Bantamweight Grand Prix
In 2011 Imanari returned to DREAM to take part in the Bantamweight Japan Tournament. He won his first two tournament fights in a single night defeating both Keisuke Fujiwara and Kenji Osawa at Dream: Fight for Japan!. The tournament finals took place at Dream: Japan GP Final where Imanari faced off with Hideo Tokoro. Tokoro defeated Imanari to win the tournament, the second place finish gained Imanari entrance into the Bantamweight Grand Prix. Imanari faced Abel Cullum in the opening round of the Bantamweight Grand Prix at Dream 17 at Saitami Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, on Sept. 24.[2] He won the bout via submission in the third round.
Personal life
Imanari is part of "Nippon Top Team" which also includes current WAMMA and DREAM Lightweight champion and Shooto Middleweight Champion Shinya Aoki, and former Sengoku champion Satoru Kitaoka.
His Japanese nickname of "Ashikan Judan" translated literally into English means "10th Dan of Leglocks", but can be roughly considered equivalent to "The Master of Leglocks".
Mixed martial arts record
Professional record breakdown 35 matches 24 wins 9 losses By knockout 1 2 By submission 15 0 By decision 8 7 Draws 2 Result Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes Win 24–9–2 Abel Cullum Submission (armbar) Dream 17 September 24, 2011 3 0:46 Saitama, Japan Dream World Bantamweight Grand Prix Loss 23–9–2 Hideo Tokoro Decision (unanimous) Dream: Japan GP Final July 16, 2011 2 5:00 Tokyo, Japan Dream Bantamweight Tournament Final Win 23–8–2 Kenji Osawa Submission (achilles lock) Dream: Fight for Japan! May 29, 2011 2 0:58 Saitama, Japan Dream Bantamweight Tournament Semifinal. Vacates Deep Bantamweight Title. Win 22–8–2 Keisuke Fujiwara Decision (unanimous) Dream: Fight for Japan! May 29, 2011 2 5:00 Saitama, Japan Dream Bantamweight Tournament Quarterfinal Loss 21–8–2 Hiroshi Nakamura Decision (unanimous) Deep: 52 Impact February 25, 2011 3 5:00 Tokyo, Japan Non-title bout Win 21–7–2 Daiki Hata Decision (majority) Deep: 50th Impact October 24, 2010 3 5:00 Tokyo, Japan Non-title bout Win 20–7–2 Tomoya Miyashita Decision (unanimous) Deep: 49 Impact August 27, 2010 3 5:00 Tokyo, Japan Defended Deep Bantamweight Title Win 19–7–2 Isao Terada Submission (armbar) Deep: 47 Impact April 17, 2010 3 0:27 Tokyo, Japan Win 18–7–2 Justin Cruz Submission (rear-naked choke) Deep: Cage Impact 2009 December 19, 2009 1 2:39 Tokyo, Japan Fought at 137 lb Win 17–7–2 Tomohiko Hori Decision (unanimous) Deep: 43 Impact August 23, 2009 3 5:00 Tokyo, Japan Defended Deep Bantamweight Title Loss 16–7–2 Bibiano Fernandes Decision (unanimous) Dream 9 May 26, 2009 2 5:00 Saitama, Japan Dream Featherweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal Win 16–6–2 Atsushi Yamamoto Decision (split) Dream 7 March 8, 2009 2 5:00 Saitama, Japan Dream Featherweight Grand Prix Opening Round Win 15–6–2 Hiroshi Umemura Submission (heel hook) Deep: 37 Impact August 17, 2008 1 0:29 Tokyo, Japan Won Deep Bantamweight Title Loss 14–6–2 Dokonjonosuke Mishima Decision (majority) Deep: 35 Impact May 19, 2008 3 5:00 Tokyo, Japan Lost Deep Featherweight Title Win 14–5–2 Jean Silva Submission (heel hook) Cage Rage 25 March 8, 2008 1 2:30 London, England Defended Cage Rage Featherweight Title Win 13–5–2 Hiroyuki Abe Submission (toe hold) Deep: 32 Impact October 10, 2007 3 4:32 Tokyo, Japan Win 12–5–2 Kim Jong-Man Submission (armbar) Deep: 31 Impact August 5, 2007 1 3:28 Tokyo, Japan Defended Deep Featherweight Title Win 11–5–2 Robbie Olivier Submission (flying armbar) Cage Rage 20 February 10, 2007 1 0:27 London, England Won Cage Rage Featherweight Title Win 10–5–2 Takeshi Yamazaki KO (upkick) Deep: 26 Impact October 10, 2006 3 1:49 Tokyo, Japan Defended Deep Featherweight Title Loss 9–5–2 Fredson Paixão Decision (majority) Deep: 25 Impact August 4, 2006 3 5:00 Tokyo, Japan Win 9–4–2 Yoshiro Maeda Submission (toe hold) Deep: 22 Impact December 2, 2005 3 1:31 Tokyo, Japan Deep Featherweight Tournament Final. Won Deep Featherweight Title Win 8–4–2 Mike Brown Submission (kneelock) Deep: 22 Impact December 2, 2005 2 3:38 Tokyo, Japan Deep Featherweight Tournament Semifinal. Dislocated Brown's leg to the point that his leg was pulled out and to the side of his knee joint. Win 7–4–2 Fabio Mello Decision (unanimous) Deep: 21st Impact October 28, 2005 3 5:00 Tokyo, Japan Deep Featherweight Tournament Quarterfinal Loss 6–4–2 Joachim Hansen KO (knee) Pride Bushido 8 July 17, 2005 1 2:34 Nagoya, Japan Fought at Lightweight Draw 6–3–2 Yoshiro Maeda Draw (majority) Deep: 18th Impact February 5, 2005 3 5:00 Tokyo, Japan Win 6–3–1 Renato Tavares Submission (heel hook) Deep: 17th Impact July 17, 2005 2 2:36 Nagoya, Japan Return to Featherweight Loss 5–3–1 Luiz Firmino Decision (unanimous) Pride Bushido 5 October 14, 2004 2 5:00 Osaka, Japan Loss 5–2–1 Marcus Aurélio Decision (split) Zst: Grand Prix Final Round January 11, 2004 2 5:00 Tokyo, Japan Win 5–1–1 Jorge Gurgel Submission (heel hook) Zst: Grand Prix Opening Round November 23, 2003 1 0:32 Tokyo, Japan Loss 4–1–1 Dokonjonosuke Mishima TKO (punches) Deep: 11th Impact July 13, 2003 2 2:58 Osaka, Japan Moves up to Lightweight Win 4–0–1 Danny Batten Submission (armbar) Zst: The Battlefield 3 June 1, 2003 1 0:43 Tokyo, Japan Win 3–0–1 Erikas Petraitis Decision (unanimous) Zst: The Battlefield 2 June 1, 2003 2 5:00 Tokyo, Japan Win 2–0–1 Yuji Oba Decision (majority) Pancrase: 2002 Anniversary Show September 29, 2002 2 5:00 Yokohama, Japan Win 1–0–1 Tokusaburo Iwama Submission (heel hook) Premium Challenge May 6, 2002 1 3:24 Tokyo, Japan Draw 0–0–1 Ryoji Sai Technical draw Titan Fighting Championship 1 September 29, 2000 1 1:29 Tokyo, Japan References
- ^ http://mmafighting.com/news/2009/02/05/13-fighters-announced-dream-featherweight-gp
- ^ "Bantamweight Pairings Announced for Grand Prix at Dream 17". MMAWeekly.com. August 05, 2011. http://mmaweekly.com/bantamweight-pairings-announced-for-grand-prix-at-dream-17. Retrieved 2011-08-05.
External links
Categories:- 1976 births
- Living people
- Japanese mixed martial artists
- Bantamweight mixed martial artists
- Featherweight mixed martial artists
- Lightweight mixed martial artists
- Japanese practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
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