Akira Kikuchi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Akira Kikuchi
Statistics
Height	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight	167 lb (76 kg)
Nationality	Japanese
Born	July 23, 1978(1978-07-23)
Fighting out of	Tokyo, Japan
Town of birth	Miyagi-ken, Japan
Team/Association	Krazy Bee
Fighting style	Judo, wrestling
Mixed martial arts record
Wins	16
By knockout	5
By submission	7
Losses	4
Draws	0

Akira Kikuchi (菊地昭, Kikuchi Akira^?, born July 23, 1978) is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist and a former Shooto World Middleweight Champion – commonly known as the welterweight division in the United States and Canada.^[1] He trains alongside Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto with the Killer Bee team.

1 Career
2 Mixed martial arts record
3 References and footnotes
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Career

Kikuchi began his mixed martial arts career in the Shooto leagues. As an amateur, Kikuchi won the 2001 All-Japan Shooto Championship.^[2] Turning professional, Kikuchi defeated his first five opponents in the organization and one additional opponent in Hawaii's Superbrawl Icon Sport. He suffered his first loss in August 2003 to American Jake Shields in a bout that would determine a contender for the vacant Shooto Middleweight Championship; Shields went on to become the first Middleweight Champion in Shooto since 2001. Kikuchi met Shields in a rematch in December 2004 and was victorious in a unanimous judges' decision, becoming the Middleweight Champion.

Following the route of training partner Norifumi Yamamoto, Kikuchi debuted in the K-1 HERO'S promotion in July 2005, defeating Katsuya Inoue by first-round technical knockout. Kikuchi would secure one more knockout victory in HERO'S over former Pancrase Welterweight Champion Kiuma Kunioku before returning to Shooto the next year.

Kikuchi was defeated in his first title defense against Shinya Aoki at Shooto: Victory of the Truth in February 2006, and controversy following the bout would result in the Killer Bee gym's suspension from Shooto. Norifumi Yamamoto, a key member of Killer Bee, allegedly struck and verbally assaulted a Shooto official. The official, who was examining a laceration on Kikuchi's face from the title bout immediately prior to the incident, appeared before the International Shooto Commission. In the hearings, Yamamoto apologized for the incident, and Killer Bee was relieved of the suspension six months later.^[3] Due to the suspension length, Kikuchi fought only once more in 2006.^[4]

On February 17, 2007, exactly one year after their first encounter, Kikuchi and Shinya Aoki met for a second time in the Professional Shooto league. Aoki, the champion, defeated Kikuchi and defended the Shooto Middleweight Championship by split judges' decision.

In January 2007, it was announced that Kikuchi was entered into a welterweight tournament to be held by the World Wide Cage Network. The WWCN anticipates that the tournament champion will be sent to compete among the Ultimate Fighting Championship's welterweight roster.^[5] Kikuchi's first bout in the tournament, against Jared Rollins, was scheduled for March 17 in Tokyo.^[6] Kikuchi was victorious in a second-round technical knockout, advancing him to the next round of the tournament.^[7] In the semi-finals of the tournament, Kikuchi fought fellow Shooto veteran Yoshiyuki Yoshida. In what was seen as an upset, Yoshida was victorious in a first-round technical knockout due to strikes on the ground.^[8]

In early 2008, Kikuchi announced his retirement from mixed martial arts.^[9]

[edit] Mixed martial arts record

16 Wins (5 (T) KOs, 7 submissions, 4 decisions), 4 Losses (1 (T)KO, 3 decisions)
Date	Result	Opponent	Event	Method	Round	Time	Notes
09/08/2007	Loss	Yoshiyuki Yoshida	GCM: Cage Force 4	Technical knockout (strikes)	1	4:33
06/09/2007	Win	Ju Pyo Hong	GCM: Cage Force 3	Technical knockout (punches)	1	3:06	Non-tournament bout
03/17/2007	Win	Jared Rollins	GCM: Cage Force 2	Technical knockout (punches)	2	1:34
02/17/2007	Loss	Shinya Aoki	Shooto: Back To Our Roots 1	Decision (split)	3	5:00	Shooto Middleweight Championship bout
10/14/2006	Win	Ronald Jhun	Shooto: Champion Carnival	Submission (armlock)	1	1:58
02/17/2006	Loss	Shinya Aoki	Shooto: Victory of the Truth	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00	Shooto Middleweight Championship bout
09/07/2005	Win	Kiuma Kunioku	K-1 HERO'S 3	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
07/06/2005	Win	Katsuya Inoue	K-1 HERO'S 2	Technical knockout (punches)	1	1:41
04/23/2005	Win	Jason Brudvik	Shooto 2005 (Hakata Star Lanes)	Technical knockout (punches)	1	2:32
12/14/2004	Win	Jake Shields	Shooto 2004: Year-end Show	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00	Shooto Middleweight Championship bout; Kikuchi becomes Middleweight Champion
09/26/2004	Win	Ramunas Komas	Shooto 2004 (Korakuen Hall)	Submission (armbar)	2	2:21
05/03/2004	Win	Jutaro Nakao	Shooto 2004 (Korakuen Hall)	Decision (majority)	3	5:00
03/04/2004	Win	Sam Morgan	Shooto 2004 (Kitazawa Town Hall)	Submission (armbar)	1	2:51
08/10/2003	Loss	Jake Shields	Shooto 2003 (Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium)	Decision (unanimous)	3	5:00
06/27/2003	Win	Seichi Ikemoto	Shooto 2003 (Hiroshima Sun Plaza)	Submission (armbar)	2	1:28
02/23/2003	Win	Toru Nakayama	Shooto 2003 (Korakuen Hall)	Technical knockout (punches)	1	2:53
11/09/2002	Win	Kolo Koka	Icon Sport: Superbrawl 27	Submission (keylock)	1	3:09
07/27/2002	Win	Shigetoshi Iwase	Shooto: Treasure Hunt 9	Decision (unanimous)	2	5:00
04/14/2002	Win	Jani Lax	Shooto: Wanna Shooto 2	Submission (kimura)	1	2:51
01/25/2002	Win	Yoichi Fukumoto	Shooto-Treasure Hunt 2	Submission (armbar)	1	3:18