Enson Shoji Inoue (; born April 15, 1967) is a

Japanese-American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asia ...

jiu-jitsu Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...

practitioner and retired professional

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 ...

. A professional competitor from 1995 until 2010, he fought for the

PRIDE Fighting Championships PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts even ...

, the

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

Shooto Shooto is a combat sport and mixed martial arts organization that is governed by the ''Shooto Association'' and the ''International Shooto Commission''. Shooto was originally formed in 1985, first as a particular fighting system and then in 198 ...

, and

Vale Tudo Japan is an annual mixed martial arts competition held in Japan. Originally arranged by promoter and former professional wrestler Satoru Sayama, he had previously created a hybrid martial art organization named Shooto in 1985. He arranged VTJ in 1994 w ...

. He was the first and only Shooto Heavyweight Champion, and was a finalist in the Lightweight category at

UFC 13 ''UFC 13: The Ultimate Force'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on May 30, 1997 in Augusta, Georgia. The event was seen live on pay-per-view in the United States, and later released on home video. History ...

. Born and raised in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, he has resided in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

since the 1990s. He is sometimes known by the moniker "

Yamatodamashii or is a Japanese language term for the cultural values and characteristics of the Japanese people. The phrase was coined in the Heian period to describe the indigenous Japanese 'spirit' or cultural values as opposed to cultural values of foreign ...

," a Japanese phrase meaning "the spirit of ancient Japan." His brother,

Egan Inoue Egan Inoue ( ja, イーゲン井上, born June 4, 1965) is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, former mixed martial artist and racquetball competitor. A two-time International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Champion, Inoue is a two-time Br ...

, is also a martial artist and a professional

racquetball Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velo ...

competitor.

Background

Inoue was born and raised in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

to third-generation Japanese immigrant parents, making him a '' Yonsei'' (fourth-generation Japanese-American). He attended University High School, and began practicing the martial arts

Hapkido Hapkido ( , , also spelled ''hap ki do'' or ''hapki-do''; from Korean 합기도 ''hapgido'' ) is a hybrid Korean martial art. It is a form of self-defense that employs joint locks, grappling, throwing techniques, kicks, punches, and other stri ...

and

Taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

in order to defend himself from bullies. Inoue also played

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, ran in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

, and also excelled in

, alongside his brother Egan. Inoue began learning Gracie

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

. He and his brother were awarded black belts in

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

by John Lewis. He subsequently demoted himself to purple belt in July 2016 citing that BJJ has moved on since attaining his black belt. He also holds a yondan (fourth degree black belt) in Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu..

Mixed martial career

Inoue competed professionally from 1995 to 2010, retiring with a 12-8-0 record. His first professional bout was against Shingo Shigeta at

: Vale Tudo Access 3 on January 21, 1995, which ended in a victory by total knockout. He won the Shooto Heavyweight Champion against Joe Estes at Shooto: Reconquista 4, on October 12, 1997. His other achievements include a victory over

UFC Hall of Fame The UFC Hall of Fame is a List of halls and walks of fame, hall of fame which honors mixed martial artists and MMA personalities, established and maintained by the U.S.-based mixed martial arts promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). In a ...

Randy Couture Randall Duane Couture (; born June 22, 1963) is an American actor, former United States Army, U.S. Army sergeant, former mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and former Collegiate wrestling, collegiate and Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman ...

, and giving

Frank Shamrock Frank Shamrock (born Frank Alisio Juarez III; December 8, 1972) is an American former professional mixed martial artist. Shamrock was the first to hold the UFC Middleweight Championship (later renamed the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship) and ...

one of his toughest matches. His final bout was against

Antz Nansen Anthony "Antz" Nansen (born 12 March 1983) is a New Zealand professional boxer, kickboxer, mixed martial artist Career Nansen practiced Kung Fu as a child and grew up playing rugby league. He began training in kickboxing at the age of 21. He ...

on April 25, 2010 in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, which he won by submission.

Other activities

Inoue runs several

MMA 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 strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

gyms located in

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

, and

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

under the name Purebred. He also has affiliated gyms located in Thailand, Canada and the USA. He appeared in the 2008 martial arts film ''

Redbelt ''Redbelt'' is a 2008 American martial arts film written and directed by David Mamet and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tim Allen, Alice Braga, Randy Couture, Ricky Jay, Joe Mantegna, Emily Mortimer, David Paymer, Rebecca Pidgeon, and Rodrigo Santoro ...

'' as a cameo role, and was featured in the documentary film ''Rites of Passage: The Rebirth of Combat Sports.''

Personal life

Inoue has a stepson (Erson) and is the brother of

, a mixed martial artist and a two time

World Champion player. He was married to the sister of

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

Bantamweight fighter

Norifumi Yamamoto was a Japanese mixed martial artist and kickboxer who competed in the bantamweight division of the UFC. He quickly gained popularity in the Shooto organization due to his aggressive, well-rounded style and controversial persona. He moved on to K ...

in which he took in and trained Norifumi in mixed martial arts after an incident with the

Yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...

. Enson has asserted that he is "not Yakuza" but admits to doing business with members of Yakuza. In the aftermath of the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...

, Enson travelled to northeast Japan to directly help the victims. In 2020, news broke that the

IBJJF The International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) is a for-profit company that hosts several of the biggest Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) tournaments in the world, including the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship, World No-Gi Championship, Pan Jiu ...

had refused to recognize Inoue's official rank as a BJJ black belt, despite him competing at the highest levels of the sport as early as 1999. Enson is currently married to Sarah Jane McCann, who is from New Zealand of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

descent.

Legal issues

In October 2008, Inoue was arrested in

for marijuana possession and spent 28 days in prison before being released on November 14, 2008. He was charged with a two-year

suspended sentence A suspended sentence is a sentence on conviction for a criminal offence, the serving of which the court orders to be deferred in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation. If the defendant does not break the law during that ...

with four years

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

. During his probation period he was not allowed to leave the country.

Championships and accomplishments

** Heavyweight Championship (One time) *

** UFC 13 Lightweight Tournament Finalist *

ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship The ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship, is an international submission wrestling, submission grappling competition, organised by the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC). The inaugural tournament was held in Abu Dhabi, UAE in 1998. It has been ...

** 1999 ADCC Superfight Champion, Second Place

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 12–8 ,

, Submission (armbar) , Astra: Yoshida's Farewell , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:10 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 11–8 ,

Tommy Sauer Thomas Sauer (November 11, 1970 — March 24, 2020) was an American retired mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 1998 to 2012, he competed for RINGS and the World Fighting Alliance. Background A native of Cleveland, Sauer move ...

, TKO (punches) , SB 35: SuperBrawl 35 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:14 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–7 , Soichi Nishida , Submission (choke) , FFCF 1: Fury Full Contact Fighting 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:00 ,

, , - , Loss , align=center, 10–7 ,

Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira (, born 2 June 1976), better known as Minotauro or Big Nog, is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist. He competed in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former Inter ...

, Technical submission (triangle choke) ,

PRIDE 19 The year 2002 is the 6th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2002 had 10 events beginning with, ''Pride FC: The Best, Vol. 1''. Title fights Debut Pride FC fighters The ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 6:17 , Saitama, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–6 ,

Heath Herring Heath Herring (born March 2, 1978) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Heavyweight division of Rizin. While perhaps best known for competing in PRIDE, he has also formerly competed for the UFC and K-1. ...

, TKO (knees) , PRIDE 12 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:52 , Saitama, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–5 ,

Igor Vovchanchyn Igor Yaroslavovych Vovchanchyn (, uk, Ігор Ярославович Вовчанчин; born August 6, 1973) is a retired Ukrainian mixed martial artist and kickboxer, who competed in early no holds barred MMA contests. After making his profess ...

, TKO (doctor stoppage) , PRIDE 10 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 10:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–4 , Mark Kerr , Decision (unanimous) , PRIDE Grand Prix 2000: Opening Round , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 15:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 10–3 , Soichi Nishida , Submission (rear-naked choke) , PRIDE 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:24 ,

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 9–3 ,

, Submission (armbar) , VTJ 1998: Vale Tudo Japan 1998 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:39 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–3 ,

, TKO (punches) , VTJ 1997: Vale Tudo Japan 1997 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 7:17 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 8–2 , Joe Estes , TKO (submission to punches) , Shooto: Reconquista 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:06 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 7–2 ,

Royce Alger Iowa Hawkeyes Royce Alger (born 1965) is an American wrestler and retired mixed martial artist. A student of wrestling icon Dan Gable, he went on to become a three-time All-American, three-time Big Ten champion, and two-time NCAA ...

, Technical Submission (armbar) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:36 ,

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–2 , Rei Zulu , TKO (elbows) , Shooto: Reconquista 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:45 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 5–2 , Mushtaq Abdullah , TKO (submission to punches) , Shooto: Let's Get Lost , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:38 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–2 , Igor Zinoviev , TKO (punches) , VTJ 1996: Vale Tudo Japan 1996 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:44 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–1 , Joe Estes , Decision (majority) , Shooto: Vale Tudo Junction 3 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 8:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 ,

Andre Mannaart Andre Mannaart (born November 2, 1960, in Krommenie) is a Dutch former kickboxer and mixed martial artist. He was four times world champion in kickboxing and Muay Thai, having fought against K-1 legends such as Ernesto Hoost, Branko Cikatić, ...

, TKO (punches) , Shooto: Vale Tudo Junction 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:20 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Ed de Kruijf , Technical Submission (armbar) , Shooto: Complete Vale Tudo Access , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:40 , Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 ,

Rene Rooze Rene Rooze (born 26 January 1969) is a Dutch former kickboxer and mixed martial artist. Biography and career As a member of Team Aerts, he was an active fighter competing in mainly European events and accumulating (as of 2004) a kickboxing rec ...

, Submission (rear naked choke) , VTJ 1995: Vale Tudo Japan 1995 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 6:41 , Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Shingo Shigeta , TKO (punches) , Shooto: Vale Tudo Access 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:10 ,

, Japan ,

Submission grappling record

KO PUNCHES , - style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0f0;" , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Result , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Opponent , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Method , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Event , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Date , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Round , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Time , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Notes , - , Win, , Tully Kulihaapai , , Submission (armbar) , , PRIDE 7, , 1999, , 1, , , , , - , Loss, ,

Mario Sperry is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his cre ...

, , Points , , ADCC 1999 Absolute, , 1999, , 1, , , , , -