is a Japanese gold-medalist

judoka is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

and retired

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 ...

. He is a longtime veteran of Japan's

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 ...

, competing in the Middleweight (93kg) and

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

divisions. He won gold at the

1992 Summer Olympic Games The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

at 78 kg. Yoshida also had two famous fights with MMA pioneer

Royce Gracie Royce Gracie (; born 12 December 1966) is a Brazilian retired professional mixed martial artist, a UFC Hall of Famer, and a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. A member of the Gracie family, he is considered to be one of the most influential figures i ...

that resulted in a no-contest and a time-limit draw.

Judo career

Yoshida first came onto the

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

scene at the 1991 World Judo Championships in Barcelona, taking third place at 78 kg. He then took gold in the 1991 All Japan Judo Championships and 1992 A-Tournament in Sofia before entering the

. He swept the competition in Barcelona, winning all six matches by

Ippon is the highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts ''ippon-wazari'' contest, usually kendo, judo, karate or jujitsu. In Judo In Judo, an ippon may be scored for a throw, a pin, a choke or a jointlock. For throws, the four ...

en route to his first Olympic gold medal. He went on to medal in the 1993,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

and

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

World Championships, but didn't win gold at the Olympics again. He finished in fifth place at the 1996 Summer Games and ninth at the 2000 Summer Games. He retired from Judo after the 2000 Summer Games.

Mixed martial arts career

In 2002, Yoshida turned fully his attention to the world of

mixed martial arts 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, inc ...

, where he had already worked as a color commentator, and signed up with

Pride Fighting Championship 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 ...

to become a fighter. He accepted the premise of having to fight high level opponents, wanting to avoid implications that he was transitioning to MMA for not being competitive enough for judo anymore. He also vowed to compete in a

judogi ''Judogi'' (柔道着 or 柔道衣), also called keikogi or dogi, is the formal Japanese name for the traditional uniform used for Judo practice and competition. A judogi is somewhat similar to a karategi (空手着 or 空手衣, Karate uniform) ...

in order to draw interest to judo as a martial art. Yoshida later founded the team Yoshida Dojo, which focuses both in judo and MMA.

PRIDE Fighting Championships

Bout with Gracie

Yoshida had his first appearance in Pride in a special

grappling Grappling, in hand-to-hand combat, describes sports that consist of gripping or seizing the opponent. Grappling is used at close range to gain a physical advantage over an opponent, either by imposing a position or causing injury. Grappling i ...

match against

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 ...

pioneer

PRIDE Shockwave ''Pride Shockwave Dynamite!'' is the international PPV broadcast name for the mixed martial arts and kickboxing event co-promoted by the PRIDE Fighting Championships and K-1 on August 28, 2002. It was held at the Tokyo National Stadium in Tokyo, ...

. The rules of the match would feature limited striking to the body while standing and no judges decision, and would require both to use a gi. This ruleset had been proposed by Royce due to the 50th anniversary of the

Masahiko Kimura vs. Hélio Gracie The fight between Japanese judoka Masahiko Kimura and Brazilian jiu-jitsu founder Hélio Gracie was held at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on October 23, 1951. It was held as a special challenge, with no titles on the line: Gracie was t ...

fight, and as such the bout was touted as another "judo vs. Brazilian jiu-jitsu" contest.«Gracie Jiu-Jitsu versus Japanese Judo Revisited - Part 1: The Gathering Storm»
Global Training Report. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
Global Training Report. Retrieved 2017-01-03. As Yoshida wasn't a

ne-waza Grappling, in hand-to-hand combat, describes sports that consist of gripping or seizing the opponent. Grappling is used at close range to gain a physical advantage over an opponent, either by imposing a position or causing injury. Grappling i ...

expert, he prepared his submission skills with close friend and fellow judoka

Tsuyoshi Kohsaka is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist, submission grappler and professional wrestler who competed in the Heavyweight division. A professional MMA competitor from 1994 till 2022, he has competed for the UFC, PRIDE Fighting Championships ...

. Odds were stacked against him in popular perception, and

Mário Sperry José Mário Sperry (born 28 September 1966) is a Brazilian heavyweight mixed martial artist. His specialty is Brazilian jiu-jitsu, grappling and ground fighting. He is also one of the founders of the Brazilian Top Team, where he tr ...

predicted Royce would not have a problem with Yoshida on the ground. Started the fight, Royce immediately pulled guard in order to avoid Yoshida's powerful

nage-waza In martial arts, a throw is a grappling technique that involves off-balancing or lifting an opponent, and throwing them to the ground, in Japanese martial arts referred to as ''nage-waza'', 投げ技, "throwing technique". Throws are a subset o ...

, frustrating his initial gameplan of entering the ground through a throw. The Brazilian fighter attempted an

armbar An armlock in grappling is a single or double joint lock that hyperextends, hyperflexes or hyperrotates the elbow joint or shoulder joint. An armlock that hyper-extends the arm is known as an armbar, and it includes the traditional armbar, pr ...

from his back, but Hidehiko blocked it and looked for a gi choke, so Gracie switched to a

heel hook Heel hook may refer to: * Heel hook, in grappling * A climbing technique {{disambig