Kyotaro

In this Japanese name, the family name is "Fujimoto".
Kyōtarō
京太郎
Born Fujimoto Kyōtarō
[ɸu͍dʑimoto kjoːtaɽoː]
藤本 京太郎
June 23, 1986 (1986-06-23) (age 25)
Osaka, Japan
Nationality Japanese
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 102 kg (220 lb; 16.1 st)
Division Heavyweight
Style Karate, Kickboxing, Muay Thai
Fighting out of Machida, Tokyo, Japan
Team Team Dragon
Trainer Kensaku Maeda
Years active 5 (2006–present)
Kickboxing record
Total 23
Wins 18
By knockout 9
Losses 5
By knockout 0
last updated on: December 16, 2010

Kyotaro (京太郎 [kjoːtaɽoː] Kyōtarō?, born 23 June 1986) is a Japanese heavyweight kickboxer, currently competing in K-1. His real name is Kyotaro Fujimoto, and he had been using 3 other ring names before. He is known for his right hook which has knocked out many of his opponents. He is currently the K-1 Heavyweight Champion and has successfully defended the title against Peter Aerts at K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Yokohama. He was also the K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Fukuoka tournament finalist and K-1 Young Japan GP 2007 champion.[1]

Contents

Biography

Early life

He was born in Osaka, Japan on June 23, 1986. He started learning karate of Uomoto-ryū(魚本流) because his parents told him to start when he was buried by his two older sisters. His parents divorced in 1997 and he lives with his mother, sisters and grand mother.

When he was a high school student, he decided to be a fighter because he wanted to be famous but he knew that he wasn't good-looking and smart.

Kickboxing debut

He moved to Tokyo and joined Dragon Dojo established by Kensaku Maeda. He debut on May 17, 2006 against Junichi Hanada.

Kyotaro entered the world of K-1 when he fought and won the K-1 Tryout 2007 Survival tournament in Tokyo by defeating Tatsunori Momose in the Semi-final and Takumi Sato in the Final all by Decision. This tournament was designed to showcase new talent. He then fought Kyoung Suk Kim during the opening fights at K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Seoul Final 16 defeating Kim by 2nd Round Knockout. He further proved himself as a top K-1 contender by defeating the K-1 World Grand Prix 2004 in Las Vegas II and the K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Hawaii tournament champion Mighty Mo at K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Yokohama. Kyotaro was then invited to fight in the K-1 World GP 2008 in Fukuoka in which he became the runner up losing to Brazilian Karateka Ewerton Teixeira.

K-1 Heavyweight Title

On March 28, 2009, Kyotaro won the K-1 Heavyweight (-100 kg) Title tournament by knocking out Melvin Manhoef in semifinals and beating Gokhan Saki in finals by Extra Round Majority Decision. Kyotaro became the second fighter after Badr Hari to win the title in K-1 Heavyweight division.[2] Kyotaro recently defended his title against 3 time K-1 Grand Prix Champion Peter Aerts at K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Yokohama. Kyotaro shocked fans by knocking Aerts down twice at the end of the 1st Round and then continuing to knock him out with his notable right hook into the 2nd Round.

At the K-1 Final 16 Kyotaro defeated another legend in Jerome Lebanner. Kyotaro withstood the frenchmans' early power to give him a severe beating in the 3rd round to earn a draw. The tired and supposedly beaten Lebanner was angry at the decision and walked out of the ring, giving Kyotaro the win by DQ. Though he still gained respect for standing toe to toe with one of the longest serving K-1 fighters in the world.

His next fight was at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final against 4-time defending defending champion Semmy Schilt. He fought with a good heart and game plan but was unable to faze his taller opponent, losing by unanimous decision.

He then chose to fight the DREAM (MMA) Light-heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi. He was knocked down in the second round and again lost by unanimous decision.

Kickboxing record

Professional kickboxing record
18 Wins (9 (T) KO's, 8 decisions, 1 dq), 5 Losses
Date Result Opponent Event Location Method Round Time Record
2010-12-31 Loss Gegard Mousasi Dynamite!! 2010 Saitama, Japan Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 18-5
2010-12-11 Loss Semmy Schilt K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final Tokyo, Japan Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 18-4
2010-10-02 Win Jérôme Le Banner K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Seoul Final 16 Seoul, South Korea Forfeit 4 0:00 18-3
2010-04-03 Win Peter Aerts K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Yokohama Yokohama, Japan KO (Right hook) 2 1:56 17-3
Fight for K-1 Heavyweight (-100kg) title.
2009-12-05 Loss Tyrone Spong K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final Yokohama, Japan Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 16-3
2009-09-26 Loss Ruslan Karaev K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final 16 Seoul, Republic of Korea Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 16-2
2009-08-11 Win Jan Soukup K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Tokyo Final 16 Qualifying GP Tokyo, Japan KO (Right hook) 3 1:20 16-1
2009-03-28 Win Gökhan Saki K-1 World GP 2009 in Yokohama Yokohama, Japan Ext R. Decision (Majority) 4 3:00 15-1
Wins K-1 Heavyweight (-100kg) title.
2009-03-28 Win Melvin Manhoef K-1 World GP 2009 in Yokohama Yokohama, Japan KO (Right hook) 1 2:02 14-1
2008-09-27 Win Min Ho Song K-1 World GP 2008 Final 16 Seoul, Korea KO (Punches) 3 1:43 13-1
2008-06-29 Loss Ewerton Teixeira K-1 World GP 2008 in Fukuoka Final Fukuoka, Japan Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 12-1
Fight was for K-1 World GP 2008 in Fukuoka title.
2008-06-29 Win Takumi Sato K-1 World GP 2008 in Fukuoka Fukuoka, Japan Semi-final Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 12-0
2008-06-29 Win Musashi K-1 World GP 2008 in Fukuoka Quarte-final Fukuoka, Japan Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 11-0
2008-04-13 Win Mighty Mo K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Yokohama Yokohama, Japan Decision (Ext.R.) 4 3:00 10-0
2007-12-22 Win Tsuyoshi Nakasako AJKF "Enter the Dragon　The 1st" Japan KO 2 2:07 9-0
2007-09-29 Win Kyoung Suk Kim K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Seoul Final 16 Seoul, Korea KO 2 2:14 8-0
2007-08-16 Win Takumi Sato K-1 Tryout 2007 Survival K-1 Young Japan GP Final Tokyo, Japan Ext.R Decision (Unanimous) 4 3:00 7-0
Wins K-1 Tryout 2007 Survival title.
2007-08-16 Win Tatsunori Momose K-1 Tryout 2007 Survival K-1 Young Japan GP Semi-final Tokyo, Japan Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 6-0
2007-06-03 Win Ryo Takigawa J-Network "Team Dragon Quest 1" Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan Decision(unanimous) 3 3:00 5-0
2007-01-12 Win Tank Sugimura MAJKF "Shidokan Spring New Year Event Breakdown-1" Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan KO(Punches) 2 1:42 4-0
2006-11-05 Win Turbo Weerasakreck M-1 "M-1 Fairtex Shingha Beer Muay Thai Challenge
-Thai King's Enthronement 60th Anniversary Cup 2006-"		 Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan TKO(Right low kick) 4 2:13 3-0
2006-09-01 Win Toshi Saenchai Gym J-Network "Mach! Go! Go! '06 -Flyweight Strongest Decision Tournament 1st Match- Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan Decision(unanimous) 3 3:00 2-0
2006-05-17 Win Junichi Hanada J-Network "Go! Go! J-Net '06 -Invading the Dragon- Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan KO 2 1:16 1-0

Legend:       Win       Loss       Draw/No contest       Notes
Amateur kickboxing record
Date Result Opponent Event Location Method Round Time
2007-05-03 Win Jun'ichi Kikuchi 18th K-2 GRAND　PRIX Heavyweight tournament Final Adachi, Tokyo, Japan Ippon (Awasete) 1

Legend:       Win       Loss       Draw/No contest       Notes

Titles

Awards

Ring names

See also

References

  1. ^ Monty DiPietro. "Teixeira takes K-1 Japan GP; Schilt and Hari Also Win in Fukuoka". k-1.co.jp. http://www.k-1.co.jp/k-1gp/btop.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 
  2. ^ "Maeda Takes K-1 Heavyweight Belt; Bonjasky Beats Overeem". K-1 Grand Prix Website. http://www.k-1.co.jp/k-1gp/dtop.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-28. 
  3. ^ "Shinkarate" 17 years old boys win at two weight divisions! Fighters from Dragon Dojo(Team Dragon) win at two weight divisions 【新空手】17歳が二階級で優勝！龍道場（チームドラゴン）は二階級制覇