List of Pancrase champions

This is a list of Pancrase champions at each weight class.　 Pancrase is a Japan-based mixed martial arts(MMA) promoting and sanctioning organization since 1993. The champions of Pancrase are specially called "King of Pancrasist", or "King of Pancrase".

Contents

Title Histories

Flyweight Championship

125 lb (57 kg) and below
No. Name Date Location Defenses
1 Mitsuhisa Sunabe
(def. Takuya Eizumi)		 June 7, 2009 Tokyo, Japan
  • def. Isao Hirose on October 25, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan
2 Kiyotaka Shimizu February 7, 2010 Tokyo, Japan
  • def. Isao Hirose on July 4, 2010 in Tokyo, Japan
  • drew Mitsuhisa Sunabe on December 5, 2010 in Tokyo, Japan
  • def. Mitsuhisa Sunabe on June 5, 2011 in Tokyo, Japan

Bantamweight Championship

125 to 135 lb (57 kg to 61.2 kg)
No. Name Date Location Defenses
1 Manabu Inoue
(def. Seiya Kawahara)		 December 7, 2008 Yokohama, Japan
  • def. Masahiro Oishi on October 5, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan
  • def. Tashiro Nishiuichi on September 5, 2010 in Tokyo, Japan
2 Shintaro Ishiwatari
(def. Manabu Inoue)		 December 3, 2011 Tokyo, Japan

Featherweight Championship

135 to 145 lb (61.2 kg to 65.8 kg)
On January 30, 2008 Pancrase revised this weight class from under 141.4 lb (64 kg) to its current limits.
No. Name Date Location Defenses
1 Yoshiro Maeda
(def. Daiki "DJ.taiki" Hata)		 August 27, 2006 Yokohama, Japan
2 Marlon Sandro
(def. Masaya Takita)		 October 26, 2008 Tokyo, Japan

Lightweight Championship

145 to 155 lbs (65.8 to 70.3 kg)
On January 30, 2008 Pancrase revised Lightweight from 141.4 to 152.5 lb (64 to 69 kg) to its current limits.
No. Name Date Location Defenses
1 Shoji Maruyama
(def. Artur Oumakhanov)		 January 30, 2008 Tokyo, Japan
Title vacated May 2008 Shoji Maruyama vacates Lightweight Championship in order to compete in the Featherweight Division.
2 Katsuya Inoue
(def. Koji Oishi)		 December 7, 2008 Tokyo, Japan
  • def. Daisuke Hanazawa on February 1, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan
3 Maximo Blanco
(def. Katsuya Inoue)		 August 8, 2009 Tokyo, Japan
Title vacated April 2011 Maximo Blanco vacates Lightweight Championship citing his inability to defend his belt due to numerous injuries.[1]
4 Koji Oishi
(def. Daisuke Hanazawa)		 May 3, 2011 Tokyo, Japan

Welterweight Championship

155 to 170 lb (70.3 to 77.1 kg)
On January 30, 2008 Pancrase revised this weight class from 152.5 to 165.7 lb (69 to 75 kg) to its current limits.
No. Name Date Location Defenses
1 Kiuma Kunioku
(def. Takafumi Ito)		 July 28, 2002 Tokyo, Japan
  • def. Hiroki Nagaoka on September 29, 2002 in Kanagawa, Japan
  • def. Kenichi Serizawa on November 30, 2003 in Tokyo, Japan
Title vacated September 2004 Kunioku vacates Welterweight Championship to pursue new competition.[2]
Katsuya Inoue[3]
(declared interim champion by committee; opponent was injured)		 May 1, 2005 Kanagawa, Japan
2 Daizo Ishige
(def. Katsuya Inoue for undisputed title)		 August 27, 2006 Kanagawa, Japan
Katsuya Inoue[4]
(def. Fabricio Nascimento for interim title)		 July 27, 2007 Tokyo, Japan
Title vacated January 2008 Daizo Ishige vacates the Welterweight Championship.
3 Katsuya Inoue
(def. Satoru Kitaoka for vacant title)		 January 30, 2008 Tokyo, Japan
Title vacated February 2008 Katsuya Inoue vacates the Welterweight Championship in order to compete in the Lightweight division.
Takuya Wada
(def. Jason Palacios for interim title)		 April 27, 2008 Tokyo, Japan
Takuya Wada was promoted to undisputed champion in December 2008.
4 Takuya Wada January 30, 2009 Tokyo, Japan
  • def. Tomoyoshi Iwamiya on April 5, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan
Title vacated April 30, 2010 Takuya Wada vacates the welterweight title.
5 Kengo Ura
(def. Kei Yamamiya for vacant title)		 June 5, 2010 Tokyo, Japan
6 Takenori Sato February 6, 2011 Tokyo, Japan
  • def. Sojiro Orui on June 5, 2011 in Tokyo, Japan

Middleweight Championship

170 to 185 lb (77.1 to 83.9 kg)
On January 30, 2008 Pancrase revised this weight class from 165.7 to 181 lb (75 to 82 kg) to its current limits.
No. Name Date Location Defenses
1 Nathan Marquardt
(def. Shonie Carter)		 Sept. 24 , 2000 Kanagawa, Japan
  • drew Kiuma Kunioku on December 4, 2000 in Japan
  • def. Yuji Hoshino on October 30, 2001 in Tokyo, Japan
2 Kiuma Kunioku December 1, 2001 Kanagawa, Japan
3 Nathan Marquardt (2) Dec. 21 , 2002 Tokyo, Japan
4 Ricardo Almeida Nov. 30 , 2003 Tokyo, Japan
Title vacated July 2004 Almeida vacates Middleweight Championship; retires from active competition.
5 Nathan Marquardt (3)
(def. Kazuo Misaki)		 November 7, 2004 Chiba, Japan
  • def. Izuru Takeuchi on May 1, 2005 in Kanagawa, Japan
Title vacated October 2006 Marquardt vacates Middleweight Championship to pursue UFC career.[5]
6 Yuichi Nakanishi
(def. Izuru Takeuchi)		 December 2, 2006 Tokyo, Japan
7 Izuru Takeuchi
(def. Yuichi Nakanishi)		 November 28, 2007 Tokyo, Japan
Yuki Kondo

(Awarded Interim Championship after Vacating Light Heavyweight Championship)

 January 2008 Tokyo, Japan
  • def. Ki Bum Kim on August 8, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan
  • drew Yuji Hisamatsu on October 25, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan
  • def. Takenori Sato on February 7, 2010 in Tokyo, Japan
8 Yuki Kondo
(def. Ichiro Kanai) for unified title		 April 29, 2010 Tokyo, Japan
  • drew Yuji Hisamatsu on July 4, 2010 in Tokyo, Japan
9 Rikuhei Fujii
(def. Yuki Kondo)		 December 5, 2010 Tokyo, Japan
Title vacated May 2011 Rikuhei Fujii vacates the Middleweight Championship.

Light Heavyweight Championship

185 to 205 lb (83.9 to 93 kg)
On January 30, 2008 Pancrase revised this weight class from 181 to 199 lb (82 to 90.5 kg) to its current limits.
No. Name Date Location Defenses
1 Steven A. Seay
(def. Ikuhisa Minowa)		 Sept. 24 , 2000 Kanagawa, Japan
2 Sanae Kikuta
(def. Ikuhisa Minowa)		 Sept. 30 , 2001 Kanagawa, Japan
  • drew Yuki Kondo on May 18, 2003 in Kanagawa, Japan
3 Yuki Kondo Nov. 30 , 2003 Tokyo, Japan
Title vacated January 2008 Yuki Kondo vacates the Light Heavyweight Championship and moves to the middleweight division.
4 Ryo Kawamura
(def. Keiichiro Yamamiya)		 October 1, 2008 Tokyo, Japan
  • def. Yukiya Naito on June 7, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan
  • def. Shunsuke Inoue on December 6, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan
  • drew Yuji Sakuragi on December 5, 2010 in Tokyo, Japan
Title vacated May 2011 Ryo Kawamura vacates the Light Heavyweight Championship and moves to the middleweight division.

Heavyweight Championship

205 to 265 lb (93 to 120.2 kg)
On January 30, 2008 Pancrase revised this weight class from 199 to 221 lb (90.5 to 100.5 kg) to its current limits.
No. Name Date Location Defenses
1 Yoshiki Takahashi
(def. Shamoji Fujii)		 December 1, 2001 Kanagawa, Japan
  • def. Tsuyoshi Ozawa on July 27, 2003 in Tokyo, Japan
Title vacated Takahashi vacates Heavyweight Championship.
2 Kestutis "Tiger" Arbocius
(def. Poai Suganuma)		 August 27, 2006 Kanagawa, Japan
Title vacated May 2007 Arbocius is stripped of Heavyweight Championship due to injury.
3 Assuerio Silva
(def. Tatsuya Mizuno)		 May 30, 2007 Tokyo, Japan
Title vacated January 2008 Assuerio Silva vacates Heavyweight Championship after signing an exclusive contract to compete in the Hardcore Championship Fighting promotion.

Retired Titles

Super Heavyweight Championship

Over 221 lb (100.5 kg)
On January 30, 2008 Pancrase adpoted the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts and retires the Super Heavyweight Championship.[6][7]
No. Name Date Location Defenses
1 Tsuyoshi Kosaka
(def. Ron Waterman)		 November 7, 2004 Chiba, Japan
Title vacated January 2006 Kosaka vacates Super Heavyweight Championship.

Openweight Championship

No weight limit.
No. Name Date Location Defenses
1 Ken Shamrock
(won King of Pancrase Tournament)		 Dec. 17 , 1994 Tokyo, Japan
  • def. Bas Rutten on March 10, 1995 in Kanagawa, Japan
2 Minoru Suzuki May 13, 1995 Tokyo, Japan
3 Bas Rutten Sept. 1 , 1995 Tokyo, Japan
Frank Shamrock[8]
(def. Minoru Suzuki for interim championship; Rutten was injured)		 January 28, 1996 Kanagawa, Japan
3 Bas Rutten[9]
(def. Frank Shamrock to defend undisputed King of Pancrase title)		 May 16, 1996 Tokyo, Japan
Title vacated October 1996 Rutten vacates Openweight King of Pancrase Championship for family matters.[9]
4 Masakatsu Funaki
(def. Jason DeLucia)		 Dec. 15 , 1996 Japan
5 Yuki Kondo April 27, 1997 Tokyo, Japan
  • def. Jason DeLucia on September 6, 1997 in Tokyo, Japan
6 Masakatsu Funaki (2) Dec. 20 , 1997 Kanagawa, Japan
7 Guy Mezger April 26, 1998 Kanagawa, Japan
  • def. Ryushi Yanagisawa on September 14, 1998 in Japan
  • def. Yuki Kondo on December 19, 1998 in Tokyo, Japan
Title vacated February 1999 Mezger vacates the title to compete in the UFC[9]
8 Yuki Kondo (2)
(def. Semmy Schilt)		 April 18, 1999 Kanagawa, Japan
9 Semmy Schilt Nov. 28 , 1999 Osaka, Japan
  • def. Yoshiki Takahashi on April 30, 2000 in Kanagawa, Japan
  • def. Osami Shibuya on September 24, 2000 in Kanagawa, Japan
10 Josh Barnett
(def. Yuki Kondo)		 August 31, 2003 Tokyo, Japan

By nationality

The following include championship title holders by nationality.

Country Titles
 Japan 30
 United States 8
 Brazil 2
 Netherlands 2
 Venezuela 1
 Lithuania 1

References and footnotes

  1. ^ Nelson, Chris (2011-04-11). "Blanco Abdicates Pancrase Throne; Lightweight GP Begins May 3". Sherdog.com. http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Blanco-Abdicates-Pancrase-Throne-Lightweight-GP-Begins-May-3-31513. Retrieved 2011-04-11. 
  2. ^ Fukui, Masa (2004-09-15). "Former Welterweight & Middleweight King of Pancrase Kiuma Kunioku". Sherdog.com. http://www.sherdog.com/news/interviews.asp?n_id=2027. Retrieved 2007-02-21. 
  3. ^ "News Page 17: Pancrase 2005 Spiral Tour". StarzWorld.com. http://www.starzworld.com/news_page_17.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-21. 
  4. ^ Nowe, Jason (2004-07-27). "Inoue Takes Interim King of Pancrase Title". Sherdog.com. http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles.asp?n_id=8423. Retrieved 2007-07-28. 
  5. ^ Breen, Jordan (2006-10-23). "With Eye on UFC, Marquardt Relinquishes KOP Belt". Sherdog.com. http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles.asp?n_id=5929. Retrieved 2007-02-15. 
  6. ^ MMAFighting.com - Pancrase to adopt Unified Rules of MMA weight classes
  7. ^ PANCRASE Official Site
  8. ^ Rutten was injured in January 1996 and could not defend his title; Shamrock captured an interim championship en route to his title-unification fight with Rutten.
  9. ^ a b c "King of Pancrase Title History". Quebrada.net. http://www.quebrada.net/titles/KingofPancrasetitle.html. Retrieved 2007-02-22. 

See also

External links

Current champions for active organizations
UFC · Dream · Strikeforce · Pancrase · Shooto · Bellator FC · KOTC · Deep
Legacy champions for defunct organizations
Pride FC · IFL · EliteXC · Cage Rage · Hero's · WEC · SRC