Ryuichi Murata (Japanese: 村田 龍一, Murata Ryūichi, born August 27, 1976) is a Japanese judoka and mixed martial artist. He was a world-class judo competitor with 5 top-3 Judo World Cup tournament finishes and has won multiple silver and bronze medals at world and national judo competitions. Most recently, he's competed in MMA and currently has an MMA record of 8 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw. He won the Spirit MC Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament in 2007.

Ryuichi Murata
村田龍一
Born (1976-08-27) August 27, 1976 (age 47)
Saitama, Saitama, Japan
NationalityJapanese
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight191 lb (87 kg; 13.6 st)
DivisionMiddleweight
Light Heavyweight
Heavyweight
StyleMMA, Judo
StanceOrthodox
Fighting out ofTokyo, Japan
TeamDEEP Impact Training Facility
Takada Dojo
Mixed martial arts record
Total12
Wins8
By knockout4
By submission2
By decision2
Losses3
By knockout1
By submission1
By decision1
Draws1
Other information
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Judo career edit

Murata has achieved good success as a judoka. He was second at the world junior championships in 1996. In Japanese national tournaments he has been second once (2000) and third twice (1998,2001). At World Cup events he won in Tbilisi (2003) and Budapest (2001), finished second at Leonding, Austria (1997), and third in Paris (2000).[1]

Mixed martial arts career edit

Ryuichi Murata made his MMA debut on Pride Fighting Championships Bushido 8 card in 2005. He lost the fight against Kazuki Okubo due to submission. In a post fight interview, Murata stated that he didn't have enough experience to fight well in MMA and didn't feel like he was "able to show much at all" of what he wanted to achieve.[2]

Murata went on to fight on a number of cards with the Deep and Spirit MC MMA promotions. In 2007, he participated in Spirit MC's Heavyweight GP tournament. In the first round he knocked out Dong Woo Shin. He later submitted ChunGil Myung Chun with an armbar to move to the tournament finals. In the finals he earned a technical knockout against Jung Gyu Choi to become Spirit MC's Heavyweight GP Champion.

Judo tournaments edit

Date Tournament Place Weight class
February 2, 2003 A-Tournament Tbilisi 1st Half-middleweight (81 kg)
January 26, 2003 Super A-Tournament Moscow 2nd Half-middleweight (81 kg)
January 11, 2003 Jigoro Kano Cup Tokyo 3rd Half-middleweight (81 kg)
May 25, 2001 East Asian Games Osaka 3rd Half-middleweight (81 kg)
April 29, 2001 Japan Judo Championships 3rd Half-middleweight (81 kg)
March 3, 2001 A-Tournament Budapest Bank Cup 1st Half-middleweight (81 kg)
April 2, 2000 Japan Judo Championships 2nd Half-middleweight (81 kg)
February 12, 2000 Tournoi de Paris[3] 3rd Half-middleweight (81 kg)
April 5, 1998 Japan National Championships Fukuoka 3rd Half-middleweight (81 kg)
February 16, 1997 ASKO World Tournament Leonding 2nd Half-Heavyweight (78 kg)
October 5, 1996 World Junior Championships 2nd Half-Heavyweight (78 kg)

Mixed martial arts record edit

Professional record breakdown
12 matches 8 wins 3 losses
By knockout 4 1
By submission 2 1
By decision 2 1
Draws 1
Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 8-3-1 Jae Young Kim KO (punches and knees) Spirit MC 17[4] June 29, 2008 1 0:33 Seoul, South Korea
Win 8-2-1 Seung Bae Whi Decision (unanimous) Spirit MC 16[5] April 27, 2008 3 5:00 Seoul, South Korea
Win 7-2-1 Ho Jin Kim Submission (armbar) Deep: Protect Impact 2007 December 22, 2007 1 3:38 Osaka, Japan
Win 6-2-1 Jung Gyu Choi TKO (punches) Spirit MC 13 October 14, 2007 3 3:34 Seoul, South Korea Heavyweight Grand Prix final
Win 5-2-1 Gil Myung Chun Submission (keylock) Spirit MC 13 October 14, 2007 1 3:29 Seoul, South Korea Heavyweight Grand Prix semi-final
Win 4-2-1 Dong Woo Shin KO (punch) Spirit MC 12 August 19, 2007 1 2:18 Seoul, South Korea Heavyweight Grand Prix quarter-final
Draw 3-2-1 Sojiro Orui Draw Deep: 31 Impact August 5, 2007 2 5:00 Tokyo, Japan
Win 3-2 Gregory Babene TKO (punches) Real Rhythm - 5th Stage November 18, 2006 1 3:36 Osaka, Japan
Win 2-2 Seiki Ryo Decision (unanimous) Deep: clubDeep Nagoya: MB3z Impact, Di Entrare May 21, 2006 2 5:00 Nagoya
Loss 1-2 Nick Ring Decision (unanimous) Deep: 23 Impact[6] February 5, 2006 2 5:00 Tokyo, Japan
Win 1-1 Ryuhei Sato TKO (punches) Deep: 21st Impact October 28, 2005 1 3:51 Tokyo, Japan
Loss 0-1 Kazuki Okubo Submission (armbar) Pride: Bushido 8 July 17, 2005 1 4:29 Nagoya, Aichi, Japan MMA Debut

References edit

  1. ^ "Ryuichi Murata". JudoInside. Retrieved March 15, 2010.
  2. ^ "Bushido Vol 8 Interview, Kazuki Okubo & Ryuichi Murata". Pride Fighting Championships. July 26, 2005. Retrieved March 15, 2010.
  3. ^ Tournoi International
  4. ^ "Lim Retains Middleweight Title at Spirit MC 17" - Sherdog
  5. ^ "SPIRIT MC 16 REVIEW & PHOTOS: CLASH OF PRIDE" - MMA Weekly Archived 2008-05-02 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "Ring Ready to Move Forward After Successful Return" - Full Contest Fighter Archived 2009-08-31 at the Wayback Machine

External links edit