, better known by her stage name , was a Japanese female

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

and a

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

. She started her career as a pro wrestler in 1996 before starting to compete in mixed martial arts from 2001. Aya Koyama died on 27 August 2018 at the age of 45 due to

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

Career

She debuted in 1996 as a professional wrestler with

JDStar JDStar (also spelt Jd'), was a women's professional wrestling promotion based in Tokyo, Japan. In the wake of the joshi puroresu boom of the early 1990s, several different groups opened with distinct approaches. The Jd'Star promotion, with its su ...

and later competed for promotions such as

All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling , nicknamed Zenjo (全女: 全 meaning "All", 女 meaning "Woman") was a ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) promotion established in 1968 by Takashi Matsunaga and his brothers. The group held their first card on June 4 of that y ...

and

Big Japan Pro Wrestling (BJW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established in 1995. It is most famous for its deathmatch style contests. History Big Japan Pro Wrestling was founded in March 1995 by former AJPW wrestlers Shinya Kojika and Kendo Nagasak ...

. In 2001, she took a brief break from professional wrestling to focus in the mixed martial arts. However, she returned to wrestling in 2005 by using the name "Aliya". She began competing professionally in MMA from May 2001 and lost her opening match to Anna Kopyrina (on 3 May 2001). She faced disastrous start during her mixed martial arts career by losing her first five consecutive matches and ended her career with 4 wins, 10 losses and 1 draw (4-10-1). She fought her last MMA match while she was battling with level 4 cancer on 10 October 2010 following her comeback to mixed martial arts after six years and lost it to Miki Morifuji.

Mixed martial arts record

References

1973 births 2018 deaths Japanese female mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing kickboxing Japanese female professional wrestlers Deaths from cancer in Japan People from Wakayama (city) {{Authority control

Career

Mixed martial arts record

See also

References