Wataru Sakata
| Wataru Sakata | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
March 11, 1973 Inazawa, Aichi, Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) |
| Weight | 88 kg (194 lb) |
| Division | Light Heavyweight |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 21 |
| Wins | 10 |
| By knockout | 3 |
| By submission | 6 |
| By decision | 1 |
| Losses | 11 |
| By knockout | 1 |
| By submission | 4 |
| By decision | 6 |
Wataru Sakata (坂田 亘 Sakata Wataru, born March 11, 1973 in Inazawa, Aichi, Japan) is a Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He has a professional MMA record of 11-13-0 as of December 31, 2003.
He started his career in Akira Maeda's Fighting Network RINGS in 1994 after being trained by Animal Hamaguchi. He made the transition to mixed martial arts in the late 1990s along with the rest of the promotion. His tenure in RINGS was not very successful. In fact, the zenith of his notoriety came when he was beaten senseless in the backstage area by Maeda during a post match interview after losing a bout too quickly for Maeda's liking.[1]
When RINGS collapsed in 2002, Sakata participated in PRIDE Fighting Championships fights and joined Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE as a freelancer. He gradually began wrestling more. He joined the off-beat wrestling "opera" federation HUSTLE in 2008 and became the top face in the promotion. His biggest victory came when he defeated and seemingly "destroyed" cyborg wrestler The Esperanza.
Sakata was married to model Eiko Koike on August 29, 2007. They have one child together.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Bridging dragon suplex
- Diving double foot stomp
- High speed roundhouse kick to the opponent's head
- Kneeling reverse piledriver
- Superkick
- Signature moves
- Aquarius Clutch (Hammerlock headscissors transitioned into a pin)
- Juji-gatame
Championships and accomplishments
- Hustle Super Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Ryouji Sai
- Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE
- NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Masato Tanaka
- Zero1 International Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Tenkaichi Jr. (2002)
- Pro Wrestling World-1
- World-1 Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Mixed martial arts record
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 24 matches | 11 wins | 13 losses |
| By knockout | 3 | 1 |
| By submission | 6 | 4 |
| By decision | 2 | 8 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss | 11–13 | Daniel Gracie | Submission (armbar) | Pride FC - Shockwave 2003 | December 31, 2003 | 1 | 7:12 | Saitama, Japan | |
| style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss | 11–12 | Mario Sperry | Decision (unanimous) | UFO - Legend | August 8, 2002 | 3 | 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 11–11 | Toro Irison | Submission (armbar) | Deep - 4th Impact | March 30, 2002 | 1 | 4:05 | Nagoya, Aichi, Japan | |
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 10–11 | Kosei Kubota | TKO (punches) | Deep - 3rd Impact | December 23, 2001 | 1 | 4:05 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 9–11 | Adrian Serrano | TKO (eye injury) | Deep - 2nd Impact | August 18, 2001 | 1 | 5:00 | Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan | |
| style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss | 8–11 | Ryushi Yanagisawa | Decision (split) | Rings: King of Kings 2000 Final | February 24, 2001 | 2 | 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss | 8–10 | Dave Menne | Decision (unanimous) | Rings: King of Kings 2000 Block A | October 9, 2000 | 2 | 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss | 8–9 | Gustavo Machado | TKO (cut) | Rings: Battle Genesis Vol. 6 | September 5, 2000 | 1 | 1:35 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 8–8 | Mansour Heidari | Decision (unanimous) | WEF 9 - World Class | May 13, 2000 | 3 | 4:00 | Evansville, Indiana, United States | |
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 7–8 | Branden Lee Hinkle | Submission (leg lock) | Rings: Millennium Combine 1 | April 20, 2000 | 1 | 7:23 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss | 6–8 | Renzo Gracie | Submission (armbar) | Rings: King of Kings 1999 Block B | December 22, 1999 | 1 | 1:25 | Osaka, Japan | |
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 6–7 | Chris Watts | Submission (achilles lock) | TFKRG 5 - Total Fight KRG 5 | October 3, 1999 | 1 | 6:53 | Buckinghamshire, England, England | |
| style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss | 5–7 | Hiromitsu Kanehara | Decision (lost points) | Rings: Rise 5th | August 19, 1999 | 3 | 5:00 | Japan | |
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 5–6 | Borislav Jeliazkov | Submission (armbar) | Rings: Rise 4th | June 24, 1999 | 1 | 6:49 | Japan | |
| style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss | 4–6 | Borislav Jeliazkov | Submission (scarf hold) | Rings: Rise 1st | March 20, 1999 | 1 | 8:28 | Japan | |
| style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss | 4–5 | Sean Alvarez | Decision | Rings: Final Capture | February 21, 1999 | 3 | 5:00 | Japan | |
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 4–4 | Dick Vrij | TKO | Rings: World Mega Battle Tournament | December 23, 1998 | 1 | 2:29 | Japan | |
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 3–4 | Willie Peeters | Submission | Rings: Fourth Fighting Integration | June 27, 1998 | 1 | 1:45 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss | 2–4 | Willie Peeters | Decision (unanimous) | Rings Holland: The King of Rings | February 8, 1998 | 2 | 5:00 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | |
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 2–3 | Valentijn Overeem | Submission (ankle lock) | Rings - Extension Fighting 7 | September 26, 1997 | 1 | 2:16 | Japan | |
| style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win | 1–3 | Sean McCully | N/A | Rings - Budokan Hall 1997 | January 22, 1997 | N/A | N/A | Tokyo, Japan | |
| style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss | 0–3 | Willie Peeters | Submission (neck lock) | Rings - Maelstrom 6 | August 24, 1996 | 1 | 18:31 | Japan | |
| style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss | 0–2 | Mikhail Ilyukhin | Submission | Rings - Budokan Hall 1996 | January 24, 1996 | N/A | N/A | Tokyo, Japan | |
| style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss | 0–1 | Tsuyoshi Kosaka | Submission | Rings - Budokan Hall 1995 | January 25, 1995 | N/A | N/A | Tokyo, Japan |