Tag: kid yamamoto

MMA World Reacts To Passing Of Kid Yamamoto

Several fighters have expressed their thoughts about the late Kid Yamamoto.

The post MMA World Reacts To Passing Of Kid Yamamoto appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

The MMA world has reacted to the passing of Kid Yamamoto as several fighters have taken to social media to comment on the news. Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto passed away on Tuesday, September 18, at age 41 just a month after announcing that he was diagnosed with cancer, and was being treated overseas at the time.

The Japanese MMA legend had a great impact on the sport as he fought above his weight class for the majority of his career, and was the first true superstar from the lighter weights. He fought some of the best MMA fighters in the world while competing as a pro fighter and picked up some big accolades along the way. That includes winning Hero’s 2005 lightweight Grand Prix by beating the likes of Genki Sudo, Caol Uno, and Royler Gracie, all by knockout.

Kid also fought in a cross-over match up with kickboxing great Masato. This fight saw him score a knockdown but eventually suffered a decision loss. This was a big success in Japan as it drew 52,000 fans in the arena and 34 million viewers on TV.

Moving along to 2007, Yamamoto was able to score a win over current ranked UFC fighter Rani Yahya in front of almost 48,000 fans by knockout. At the time, he held a pro-MMA record of 17-1 that included some wins over big names. Those fighters include Asian champions Bibiano Fernandes and Jadamba Narantungalag, Jeff Curran, and Istvan Majoros and Kazuyuki Miyata

Yamamoto was one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport before making the decision to initial retire in 2007. Yamamoto took part in four fights under the UFC banner once signing with the promotion in 2011 but his stint was not as successful as originally believed.

After taking time off to attempt to qualify for the 2008 Olympics, his pro-MMA career started to decline as he suffered numerous injuries on the next couple of years. This was unfortunate as he fought in the UFC around this time including making his promotional debut by fighting former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson in 2011. He wrapped up his career with a record of 18-6-2 NC.

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Back in the mid 2000’s, I would spend all my free time on sherdog.com which happened to be the place I first caught wind of this fighter from Japan named Kid Yamamoto. I spent so much time scouring the internet for any videos or articles on him, I even put his highlight videos next to Chuck Liddell’s and Rich Franklin’s on my Myspace page. I knew he was one the best guys in the world, but to me he was also an enigma. I would rush to the computer to get the results from his fights since I couldn’t watch them live. He’s one of my all time favorites and he’s one of the greats, that’s for sure. Thank you @kid_yamamoto for all you have done for this sport and may you Rest In Peace legend. #RIPKid

A post shared by Michael Chiesa (@mikemav22) on

The post MMA World Reacts To Passing Of Kid Yamamoto appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Japanese MMA Legend Kid Yamamoto Passes Away

Kid Yamamoto has died. Yamamoto had just announced late last month that he was battling cancer. Not only did the fighting spirit of Yamamoto will him to use every ounce of energy to fight the cancer, but he also wanted to make a return to MMA if he cou…

Kid Yamamoto has died. Yamamoto had just announced late last month that he was battling cancer. Not only did the fighting spirit of Yamamoto will him to use every ounce of energy to fight the cancer, but he also wanted to make a return to MMA if he could get past the biggest fight of […]

The post Japanese MMA Legend Kid Yamamoto Passes Away appeared first on MMA News.

Japanese MMA Legend Kid Yamamoto Announces Battle With Cancer

This is terrible news.

The post Japanese MMA Legend Kid Yamamoto Announces Battle With Cancer appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Former UFC fighter and Japanese mixed martial arts (MMA) legend “Kid” Yamamoto has announced he is battling cancer.

Yamamoto announced the news on his Instagram. He wrote the message in his native language of Japanese, however, it has been translated by several outlets.

There are few details available on Yamamoto’s exact diagnosis. All that is known as of this writing is he is battling cancer and apparently promised to return to fighting:

The 41-year-old has been competing in MMA since 2001. Aside from MMA, Yamamoto also competes in kickboxing and grappling.

Yamamoto established himself as one of the top fighters in the world from bantamweight to lightweight. He went undefeated from 2002 to 2009.

He debuted in the UFC back in 2011 but was never able to garner a win under the promotion’s banner. Instead, he suffered three straight losses and a fourth bout that went to a No Contest.

Yamamoto has not fought since his last UFC appearance in February of 2015. Several months later he competed in an exhibition kickboxing fight

Over the span of his career he has been able to pick up impressive wins over the likes of  Bibiano Fernandes, Roller Gracie, Genki Sudo, Caol Uno and Jeff Curran. He also once shared the cage with Demetrious Johnson.

Johnson welcomed Yamamoto to the UFC back in 2011, defeating him via unanimous decision.

The post Japanese MMA Legend Kid Yamamoto Announces Battle With Cancer appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Kid Yamamoto vs. Chris Beal Added To UFC Fight Night 89

UFC has announced an exciting new fight for their upcoming UFC Fight Night 89 event.

Joining the card, which is headlined by Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson vs. Rory MacDonald, will be Bantamweight contenders Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto and Chris Beal.

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kid-yamamoto

UFC has announced an exciting new fight for their upcoming UFC Fight Night 89 event.

Joining the card, which is headlined by Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson vs. Rory MacDonald, will be Bantamweight contenders Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto and Chris Beal.

The Yamamoto-Beal bout will take place on the undercard of the event in Canada.

UFC Fight Night 89 takes place on June 18, 2016 at the TD Place Arena in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Kid Yamamoto Returns to the Octagon, Will Face Roman Salazar at UFC 184

After three years away from MMA competition, Japanese legend Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto will be returning to action at UFC 184: Weidman vs. Belfort (February 28th, Los Angeles) against fellow bantamweight Roman Salazar. The UFC announced the booking last night.

Yamamoto has gone 0-3 under the UFC banner — good enough for an honorable mention in our biggest UFC busts list — including decision losses to Demetrious Johnson and Darren Uyenoyama back in 2011, and a first-round armbar loss to Vaughan Lee at UFC 144 in February 2012. Kid was supposed to come back last September against Ivan Menjivar, but withdrew for undisclosed reasons. The 37-year-old has only won a single fight since December 2007.

Salazar is the 9-3 cable guy who was submitted by Mitch Gagnon during his Octagon debut last month at UFC Fight Night 54. He’s a rebound opponent for Yamamoto, plain and simple. Then again, we thought the same thing about Vaughan Lee, so who knows. As Reed Kuhn recently pointed out, even one year of time away from the cage can have a drastically negative effect on a fighter’s win percentage. And you expect Kid Yamamoto to be effective after three years of inactivity, when he wasn’t doing that well in the first place? Let’s keep our expectations reasonable, here.

Side note: One of the unexpected benefits of the UFC’s over-saturated schedule is that veteran fighters seem to have more job security, because they’re needed to fill out main cards. Frank Mir has lost four in a row and was recently booked to fight Antonio Silva. Yves Edwards just ate his fifth consecutive defeat when he was submitted by Akbarh Arreola at UFC Fight Night 57 (although his loss against Yancy Medeiros last November was changed to a no-contest). Josh Koscheck has lost his last three, and he’ll be fighting at UFC 184 as well. So it shouldn’t really be a surprise that Yamamoto has been given another shot. Even if he loses to Salazar, the UFC might still need him for its next Fight Pass card in Japan.

After three years away from MMA competition, Japanese legend Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto will be returning to action at UFC 184: Weidman vs. Belfort (February 28th, Los Angeles) against fellow bantamweight Roman Salazar. The UFC announced the booking last night.

Yamamoto has gone 0-3 under the UFC banner — good enough for an honorable mention in our biggest UFC busts list — including decision losses to Demetrious Johnson and Darren Uyenoyama back in 2011, and a first-round armbar loss to Vaughan Lee at UFC 144 in February 2012. Kid was supposed to come back last September against Ivan Menjivar, but withdrew for undisclosed reasons. The 37-year-old has only won a single fight since December 2007.

Salazar is the 9-3 cable guy who was submitted by Mitch Gagnon during his Octagon debut last month at UFC Fight Night 54. He’s a rebound opponent for Yamamoto, plain and simple. Then again, we thought the same thing about Vaughan Lee, so who knows. As Reed Kuhn recently pointed out, even one year of time away from the cage can have a drastically negative effect on a fighter’s win percentage. And you expect Kid Yamamoto to be effective after three years of inactivity, when he wasn’t doing that well in the first place? Let’s keep our expectations reasonable, here.

Side note: One of the unexpected benefits of the UFC’s over-saturated schedule is that veteran fighters seem to have more job security, because they’re needed to fill out main cards. Frank Mir has lost four in a row and was recently booked to fight Antonio Silva. Yves Edwards just ate his fifth consecutive defeat when he was submitted by Akbarh Arreola at UFC Fight Night 57 (although his loss against Yancy Medeiros last November was changed to a no-contest). Josh Koscheck has lost his last three, and he’ll be fighting at UFC 184 as well. So it shouldn’t really be a surprise that Yamamoto has been given another shot. Even if he loses to Salazar, the UFC might still need him for its next Fight Pass card in Japan.

Do-or-Die Time: Kid Yamamoto to Be Given Final Chance Against Ivan Menjivar at UFC 165


(Darren Uyenoyama mocks Yamamoto after giving him the worst wet willy in MMA History at UFC on FOX 1.) 

One of the more notorious UFC busts in recent memory, Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto has yet to taste victory in three UFC bouts, dropping decisions to Demetrious Johnson (fair enough) and Darren Uyenoyama (understandable) before getting submitted by Vaughan Lee (COME ON!) in the first round of their UFC 144 scrap last February. Since then, we haven’t heard much from the former K1 star and could only assume that he was diligently working on his kata with headmaster Michael “Lightning Bolt!” Dealy.

His back now firmly planted against the wall, Yamamoto will be given one of his toughest tests to date in what is surely his do-or-die fight with the UFC. “Kid” will face Ivan Menjivar at UFC 165: Jones vs. Gustafsson. TVA Sports was the first to announce the booking yesterday:


(Darren Uyenoyama mocks Yamamoto after giving him the worst wet willy in MMA History at UFC on FOX 1.) 

One of the more notorious UFC busts in recent memory, Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto has yet to taste victory in three UFC bouts, dropping decisions to Demetrious Johnson (fair enough) and Darren Uyenoyama (understandable) before getting submitted by Vaughan Lee (COME ON!) in the first round of their UFC 144 scrap last February. Since then, we haven’t heard much from the former K1 star and could only assume that he was diligently working on his kata with headmaster Michael “Lightning Bolt!” Dealy.

His back now firmly planted against the wall, Yamamoto will be given one of his toughest tests to date in what is surely his do-or-die fight with the UFC. “Kid” will face Ivan Menjivar at UFC 165: Jones vs. Gustafsson. TVA Sports was the first to announce the booking yesterday:

On the heels of a first round submission via rear-naked choke loss to Urijah Faber at UFC 157 (his second loss in his past three fights), it’s safe to say that this could be a must win for “The Pride of El Salvador” as well. Although his UFC record currently stands at a respectable 4-3, you have to imagine that dropping a second straight contest to a winless (as far as the UFC is concerned) fighter like Yamamoto would spell disaster for the WEC veteran.

Who do you like for this bantamweight sure-to-be-slugfest, Nation?

–J. Jones