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.[1] On December 17, 1994, Yamada advanced to the finals of the King of Pancrase Tournament where he lost to Ken Shamrock via unanimous decision.

Manabu Yamada
Born (1969-05-18) May 18, 1969 (age 54)
Tochigi, Japan
Other names"Oyabun" ("Kingpin")
NationalityJapanese
Height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight225 lb (102 kg; 16 st 1 lb)
StyleShootfighting, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Karate, Jeet Kune Do
TrainerSatoru Sayama
Rank  Black Belt in Karate
Years active1990–2000 (MMA)
Mixed martial arts record
Total45
Wins23
By knockout3
By submission19
By decision1
Losses16
By knockout5
By submission8
By decision3
Draws6
Other information
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Career edit

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 edit

Mixed martial arts record edit

Professional record breakdown
44 matches 23 wins 15 losses
By knockout 3 4
By submission 19 8
By decision 1 3
Draws 6
Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 23-16-6 Yuki Kondo Decision (unanimous) Pancrase - Trans 1 January 23, 2000 1 10:00 Tokyo, Japan
Draw 23-15-6 Osami Shibuya Draw Pancrase - Breakthrough 10 November 28, 1999 1 30:00 Osaka, Japan
Win 23-15-5 Tae Yoon Han Submission (armbar) Pancrase - Breakthrough 8 September 4, 1999 1 0:48 Sendai, Japan
Loss 22-15-5 Jason DeLucia Decision (unanimous) Pancrase - 1999 Neo-Blood Tournament Second Round August 1, 1999 1 15:00 Tokyo, Japan
Win 22-14-5 Leon Dijk Decision (majority) Pancrase - Breakthrough 5 May 23, 1999 1 10:00 Nagoya, Japan
Draw 21-14-5 Ryushi Yanagisawa Draw Pancrase - Breakthrough 3 March 9, 1999 1 15:00 Tokyo, Japan
Win 21-14-4 David Moore Technical Submission (guillotine choke) Pancrase - Breakthrough 1 January 19, 1999 1 0:20 Tokyo, Japan
Loss 20-14-4 Jason DeLucia Submission (armbar) Pancrase - Advance 12 December 19, 1998 1 1:13 Urayasu, Japan
Win 20-13-4 Daisuke Watanabe Submission (rear-naked choke) Pancrase - Advance 10 October 26, 1998 1 7:33 Tokyo, Japan
Draw 19-13-4 Katsuomi Inagaki Draw Pancrase - 1998 Anniversary Show September 14, 1998 2 3:00 Tokyo, Japan
Loss 19-13-3 Bas Rutten Submission (ankle lock) Pancrase - Truth 7 October 8, 1996 1 0:54 Nagoya, Japan
Win 19-12-3 Kiuma Kunioku Submission (guillotine choke) Pancrase - 1996 Anniversary Show September 7, 1996 1 8:29 Urayasu, Japan
Loss 18-12-3 Frank Shamrock Submission (rear-naked choke) Pancrase - 1996 Neo-Blood Tournament, Round 1 July 22, 1996 1 12:44 Tokyo, Japan
Draw 18-11-3 Kazuo Takahashi Draw Pancrase - Truth 6 June 25, 1996 1 10:00 Fukuoka, Japan
Loss 18-11-2 Semmy Schilt Submission (rear-naked choke) Pancrase - Truth 5 May 16, 1996 1 5:44 Tokyo, Japan
Loss 18-10-2 Guy Mezger TKO (doctor stoppage) Pancrase - Truth 3 April 7, 1996 1 6:14 Tokyo, Japan
Win 18-9-2 Leon Dijk Submission (ankle lock) Pancrase - Truth 3 April 7, 1996 1 2:53 Tokyo, Japan
Loss 17-9-2 Maurice Smith KO (punch) Pancrase: 1995 Anniversary Show[4] September 1, 1995 2 1:46 Tokyo, Japan
Win 17-8-2 Vernon White Submission (heel hook) Pancrase - Eyes Of Beast 5 June 13, 1995 1 10:26 Sapporo, Japan
Win 16-8-2 Jason DeLucia Submission (heel hook) Pancrase - Eyes Of Beast 4 May 13, 1995 1 3:03 Urayasu, Japan
Win 15-8-2 Masakatsu Funaki Submission (heel hook) Pancrase - Eyes Of Beast 3 April 8, 1995 1 4:43 Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Loss 14-8-2 Jason DeLucia TKO (doctor stoppage) Pancrase - Eyes Of Beast 2 March 10, 1995 1 1:41 Yokohama, Japan
Loss 14-7-2 Bas Rutten Technical Submission (arm-triangle choke) Pancrase - Eyes Of Beast 1 January 6, 1995 1 1:05 Nagoya, Japan
Loss 14-6-2 Ken Shamrock Decision (unanimous) King of Pancrase tournament second round December 17, 1994 1 30:00 Tokyo, Japan Shamrock defeated Yamada to become the inaugural Pancrase Openweight Champion.
Win 14-5-2 Minoru Suzuki Submission (armbar) King of Pancrase tournament second round December 17, 1994 1 14:46 Tokyo, Japan
Win 13-5-2 Frank Shamrock Submission (ankle lock) King of Pancrase tournament opening round December 16, 1994 1 8:38 Tokyo, Japan
Win 12-5-2 Christopher DeWeaver Submission (heel hook) King of Pancrase tournament opening round December 16, 1994 1 2:44 Tokyo, Japan
Win 11-5-2 Alex Cook Submission (armbar) Pancrase - Road To The Championship 5 October 15, 1994 1 2:27 Tokyo, Japan
Loss 10-5-2 Takaku Fuke Submission (heel hook) Pancrase - Road To The Championship 4 September 1, 1994 1 13:47 Osaka, Japan
Win 10-4-2 Matt Hume Submission (heel hook) Pancrase - Road To The Championship 3 July 26, 1994 1 2:31 Tokyo, Japan
Win 9-4-2 Andre Van Den Oetelaar TKO (doctor stoppage) Pancrase - Road To The Championship 2 July 6, 1994 1 4:52 Amagasaki, Japan
Win 8-4-2 Katsuomi Inagaki Submission (kneebar) Pancrase - Road To The Championship 1 May 31, 1994 1 2:04 Tokyo, Japan
Win 7-4-2 Chad Stahelski Submission (kneebar) Shooto - Shooto June 24, 1993 1 2:08 Tokyo, Japan
Win 6-4-2 Naoki Sakurada Submission (kneebar) Shooto - Shooto February 26, 1993 5 1:09 Tokyo, Japan
Win 5-4-2 Kazuhiro Kusayanagi Submission (armbar) Shooto - Shooto November 27, 1992 1 1:05 Tokyo, Japan
Loss 4-4-2 Kenji Kawaguchi Submission (kneebar) Shooto - Shooto July 23, 1992 1 0:36 Tokyo, Japan Kawaguchi defeated Yamada to remain the Shooto Middleweight Champion.
Win 4-3-2 Satoshi Honma Submission (armbar) Shooto - Shooto March 27, 1992 1 N/A Tokyo, Japan
Win 3-3-2 Yutaka Fuji Submission (kneebar) Shooto - Shooto December 23, 1991 1 1:39 Tokyo, Japan
Loss 2-3-2 Satoshi Honma Submission (armbar) Shooto - Shooto August 3, 1991 4 N/A Tokyo, Japan
Loss 2-2-2 Kenji Kawaguchi Submission (kneebar) Shooto - Shooto May 31, 1991 1 0:58 Tokyo, Japan Kawaguchi defeated Yamada to become the inaugural Shooto Middleweight Champion.
Loss 2-1-2 Yasuto Sekishima KO (punch) Shooto - Shooto January 13, 1991 2 N/A Tokyo, Japan
Win 2-0-2 Yoshimasa Ishikawa TKO (punches) Shooto - Shooto September 8, 1990 1 2:07 Tokyo, Japan
Win 1-0-2 Tomonori Ohara KO (punch) Shooto - Shooto July 7, 1990 1 N/A Tokyo, Japan
Draw 0-0-2 Takashi Ishizaki Draw Shooto - Shooto May 12, 1990 3 3:00 Tokyo, Japan
Draw 0-0-1 Takashi Tojo Draw Shooto - Shooto March 17, 1990 3 3:00 Tokyo, Japan

Mixed martial arts exhibition record edit

Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Draw 0-0-2 Noboru Asahi Technical Draw Pancrase - Proof 3 May 13, 2001 1 5:00 Tokyo, Japan
Draw 0-0-1 Sanae Kikuta Technical Draw DEEP 2001 January 8, 2001 1 3:00 Tokyo, Japan

References edit

  1. ^ "Multi News Puroresu News Archive". www.quebrada.net.
  2. ^ "Pancrase". www.prowrestlinghistory.com.
  3. ^ "PUROLOVE.com". www.purolove.com.
  4. ^ "Pancrase: 1995 Anniversary Show Official Results". mixedmartialarts.com. September 1, 1995.

External links edit