Shungo Oyama ( 峻護 ''Ōyama Shungo'' ; born April 11, 1974) is a Japanese former professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2001 to 2014, he competed 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 ...

, Pancrase, RINGS, DREAM,

K-1 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993, well known worldwide mainly for its heavyweight division fights and Grand Prix tournaments. In January 2012, K-1 Global Holdings Limited, a company registered in Hong Kong, acquired ...

, and

King of the Cage King of the Cage (KOTC) is a mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion based in Southern California, United States. History KOTC was founded in 1998 by Terry Trebilcock. KOTC features mostly amateur as well as up and coming MMA stars and former mainstr ...

Early life

Oyama was born in Nasu District in Tochigi Prefecuture,

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 ...

on April 11, 1974 as Toshiyuki Oyama. He started practicing

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 ...

when he was five years old, winning the All Japan Businessmen's Individual Championship, among other titles. He did not limit itself to a single grappling style, and also won the All Japan

Sambo , aka = Sombo (in English-speaking countries) , focus = Hybrid , country = Soviet Union , pioneers = Viktor Spiridonov, Vasili Oshchepkov, Anatoly Kharlampiev , famous_pract = List of Practitioners , oly ...

Championship and the All Japan Combat Wrestling Championship. Then, he began training MMA and won All Japan Amateur Shooto Championship, making a pro debut in 2001.

Mixed martial arts career

Background and fighting style

He is best known for being a student of Japanese

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 ...

superstar

Hidehiko Yoshida is a Japanese gold-medalist judoka and retired mixed martial artist. He is a longtime veteran of Japan's PRIDE Fighting Championships, competing in the Middleweight (93kg) and Heavyweight divisions. He won gold at the 1992 Summer ...

, and briefly trained with three-time King of Pancrase Bas Rutten. Shungo has also trained at the famed

Takada Dojo The Takada Dojo is a mixed martial arts academy in Tokyo, Japan. The dojo takes its name from Nobuhiko Takada its founder. Many members, including Takada, have participated in both professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. The dojo and it ...

, run by former

PRIDE Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) wh ...

General Director Nobuhiko Takada. Though his record is not impressive, Shungo has gained respect for his die hard spirit, and stubbornness to submit. On more than one occasion he has been injured or choked unconscious due to his refusal to tap out.

PRIDE

Oyama had his anticipated debut in

in 2001 against feared Wanderlei Silva. In a fight of 30 seconds, Oyama met a spirited striking exchange, but he was overwhelmed and knocked out while he tried to avoid Silva. Shungo followed with a bout against famed

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 ...

Wallid Ismail, but he underperformed again. The judoka met Ismail in his field of expertise by pulling guard early with a guillotine choke, which only allowed the Brazilian to pass guard, but Oyama escaped and contained Wallid until the second round. At the end, however, Ismail blocked a triangle choke attempt from Oyama and locked an arm triangle choke which Shungo refused to tap out to, rendering the Japanese unconscious. After the match, it was revealed that Oyama had suffered a

retinal detachment Retinal detachment is a disorder of the eye in which the retina peels away from its underlying layer of support tissue. Initial detachment may be localized, but without rapid treatment the entire retina may detach, leading to vision loss and blin ...

. His third match in PRIDE finally dissipated the negative criticism towards Oyama when he faced

Renzo Gracie Renzo Gracie (; born March 11, 1967) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. A member of the Gracie family of Brazil, Renzo is a 7th Degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Carlos Gracie Jr. He is the so ...

of the famed

Gracie Gracie may refer to: Names * Gracie (name), a given name and a family name (includes a list of people with that name) * Gracie family, a Brazilian family known for their practice and development of martial arts * Hurricane Gracie, a 1959 Atlantic ...

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 ...

family. With a combination of his own unorthodox striking style, a good takedown defense and a little

Kazushi Sakuraba is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and submission wrestler, currently signed to Rizin Fighting Federation and Pro Wrestling Noah, where he was formerly one-half of the former GHC Tag Team Champions with Takashi Sugiura. ...

imitation, Shungo was able to frustrate Gracie and dominate the fight to gain a unanimous decision. In a controversial moment, Gracie, irritated by his fight antics, spit in Shungo’s face. Shortly after, Ryan Gracie challenged him to a fight to avenge Renzo. Oyama and Ryan met in the main event of PRIDE 22-Beasts From The East 2, in a fight in which the BJJ specialist caught Oyama in an armbar. The judoka, in a last action of defiance, refused to submit and got his arm broken. After the fight, Ryan assaulted Oyama and verbally insulted him before being restrained. Oyama faced Dan Henderson in 2003, going to the fight with an arm injury. After being knocked out by punches, medical examination showed that his eye injury had reopened, and he had to go to hiatus. His last fight in PRIDE was against

Mirko Cro Cop Mirko Filipović (; born 10 September 1974), better known by his ring name Mirko Cro Cop, is a retired Croatian professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer and amateur boxer. He is mostly known for his time in Pride Fighting Championships. Cro ...

, losing again by KO.

Post-PRIDE

In 2006, Oyama faced another Gracie family member in the form of Rodrigo Gracie at the HERO'S 6 event. He got his second victory over the family, controlling Rodrigo and landing ground and pound for a unanimous decision. Oyama faced Handong Kong at Pancrase 257 on March 30, 2014. He won by first round heel hook. He participated "Martial Combat 10" as a substitute of

Daiju Takase is a Japanese mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He has fought as a middleweight and welterweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and PRIDE Fighting Championship. He is noted for being the second to defeat, and first to finish, former U ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

for the title of

Light Heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

(-87 kg) on September 16, 2010. He beat Brian Gassaway from USA with an inverted triangle choke and won the first professional title in his career. After winning, he proposed to Junko Kawada, with whom he had a four-year relationship while in the cage. They were married in his hometown.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 14–19 ,

Yuji Sakuragi is a Japanese mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and professional wrestler, currently associated with Real Japan Pro Wrestling (RJPW)'s team Seikendo. He is known for his Kyokushin Karate background and his ability to score KO wins. In MMA, he com ...

, TKO (corner stoppage) , Pancrase 263 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:03 ,

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 ...

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 14–18 , Ikkei Nagamura , KO (punch) , Pancrase 260 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:01 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 14–17 , Handong Kong , Submission (heel hook) , Pancrase 257 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:26 , Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 13–17 , Jordan Currie , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , Pancrase 252: 20th Anniversary , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:00 , Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 13–16 , Eun Soo Lee , KO (punches) , Road FC 10: Monson vs. Kang , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:48 ,

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

, South Korea , , - , Loss , align=center, 13–15 , Asif Tagiecv , TKO (knees and punches) , RINGS Vol. 2: Conquisito , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:44 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 13–14 , Ryo Kawamura , KO (soccer kick) , Pancrase: Progress Tour 7 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:19 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 13–13 , Hae Suk Son , TKO (punches) , Road FC 6: The Final Four , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:10 ,

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, South Korea , , - , Win , align=center, 12–13 , Jong Dae Kim , Submission (heel hook) , Road FC 6: The Final Four , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:44 ,

, South Korea , , - , Win , align=center, 11–13 , Denis Kang , TKO (knees) , Road FC 5: Night of Champions , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:30 ,

, South Korea , , - , Win , align=center, 10–13 , Kyu Suk Son , KO (punch) , Pancrase: Impressive Tour 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:11 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 9–13 , Brian Gassaway , Technical Submission (inverted triangle choke) , MC: Martial Combat 10 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:50 , Sentosa, Singapore , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–13 , Vitaly Shemetov , KO (punches) , X-1 Nations Collide , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:31 ,

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 ...

, Hawaii , , - , Win , align=center, 8–12 , Mike Wimmer , Submission (heel hook) , KOTC: Toryumon , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:07 , Ginowan, Okinawa, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 7–12 ,

Andrews Nakahara Andrews Nakahara (born March 12, 1983) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer and kyokushin karateka currently signed with K-1. He made his MMA pro debut against Kazushi Sakuraba at the Dream 2: Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 ...

, TKO (punches) ,

DREAM.8 ''Dream.8: Welter Weight Grand Prix 2009 First Round'' was a 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 ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:00 ,

Nagoya, Aichi 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 , , - , Loss , align=center, 7–11 , Yoon Dong-Sik , Decision (unanimous) , DREAM 2: Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 First Round , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Saitama, Saitama is the capital and the most populous city of Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Its area incorporates the former cities of Urawa, Ōmiya, Yono and Iwatsuki. It is a city designated by government ordinance. Being in the Greater Tokyo Area and lying 1 ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 7–10 ,

Carlos Newton Carlos Newton (born August 17, 1976) is an Anguillian-born Canadian retired mixed martial artist. He is a former UFC Welterweight Champion and Pride FC Japan MMA Legend. Known as "The Ronin", he competed worldwide in the biggest MMA organizatio ...

, Submission (punches) , HERO'S 2007 in Korea , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:42 ,

, South Korea , , - , Loss , align=center, 6–10 , Melvin Manhoef , TKO (punches) , HERO'S 7 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:04 , Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 6–9 ,

Rodrigo Gracie Rodrigo Gracie (born March 11, 1974) is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. A member of the famous Gracie family, Rodrigo is a 6th Degree Black Belt in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and a Gold Medalist in t ...

, Decision (unanimous) , HERO'S 6 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–9 , Melvin Manhoef , TKO (doctor stoppage) , HERO'S 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:51 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 5–8 ,

Peter Aerts Peter Aerts (born 25 October 1970) is a Dutch semi-retired kickboxer. Known for his devastating high kicks, which earned him the nickname "The Dutch Lumberjack", he is widely considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight kickboxers of all time ...

, Submission (heel hook) , K-1-Premium 2005 Dynamite , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:30 ,

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 4–8 , Yun Seob Kwak , Submission (achilles lock) , HERO'S 2005 in Seoul , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:14 ,

, South Korea , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–8 ,

Sam Greco Salvatore "Sam" Greco (born 3 May 1967) is an Australian retired full contact karateka, heavyweight K-1 kickboxer, mixed martial artist. He was the 1994 Karate World Cup champion and holds notable kickboxing victories over Branko Cikatic, Ern ...

, KO (knees and punches) , HERO'S 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:37 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 3–7 , Valentijn Overeem , Submission (toe hold) , HERO'S 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:28 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–7 , Sean O'Haire , TKO (punches) , K-1 Fighting Network Rumble on the Rock 2004 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:31 ,

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 ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–6 ,

, TKO (punches) , PRIDE Bushido 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–5 ,

Dan Henderson Daniel Jeffery Henderson (born August 24, 1970) is an American retired mixed martial artist and Olympic wrestler, who last competed as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was the last Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champi ...

, TKO (punches) ,

PRIDE 25 The year 2003 is the 7th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2003 had 6 events beginning with, ''Pride 25 - Body Blow''. Title fights Debut Pride FC fighters The follow ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:28 , Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–4 , Ryan Gracie , Submission (armbar) , PRIDE 22 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:37 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 2–3 ,

, Decision (unanimous) ,

PRIDE 21 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, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–3 , Wallid Ismail , Submission (triangle choke) ,

PRIDE 15 The year 2001 is the 5th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2001 had 6 events beginning with, ''Pride 13 - Collision Course''. Title fights Debut Pride FC fighters The ...

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:30 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–2 , Wanderlei Silva , TKO (punches) , PRIDE 14: Clash of the Titans , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:30 , Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–1 , Phillip Miller , TKO (strikes) , KOTC 8: Bombs Away , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:00 ,

Williams, California Williams (formerly Central) is a city in Colusa County, California. The population was 5,643 at the time of the 2010 census, up from 3,670 at the 2000 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Mike Bourke , KO (punch) , KOTC 7: Wet and Wild , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:17 , San Jacinto, California, United States ,

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

K-1 Hero's Hero's was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion operated by Fighting and Entertainment Group, the parent entity behind kickboxing organization K-1. Grown from and branched off of K-1's earlier experiments in MMA, including the ''K-1 Romanex' ...

** 2006 K-1 Hero's Light Heavyweight Grand Prix Semifinalist * Martial Combat ** Martial Combat Light Heavyweight Championship (1 Time) * ROAD FC **

ROAD FC Middleweight Championship List of Road FC (Road Fighting Championship) champions is a list of fighters who have won Road FC Road Fighting Championship (Road FC; ) is a South Korean-based mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion which was officially launched in 2010. Prior to D ...

(1 Time, first) * Shooto ** 7th All Japan Amateur Shooto Championship,

Light heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

winner (September 10, 2000)

Judo

** 28th All Japan Business Groups Judo Individual Championship, Men 81 kg class winner

Sambo

** 21st All Japan Sambo Championship, Men Senior 82 kg class runner-up (1997) ** 22nd All Japan Sambo Championship, Men Senior 82 kg class winner (1998) ** 24th All Japan Sambo Championship, Men Senior 82 kg class winner (June 28, 1998) ** 25th All Japan Sambo Championship, Men Senior 82 kg class winner (1999) ** 26th All Japan Sambo Championship, Men Senior 82 kg class winner (July 16, 2000)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oyama, Shungo 1974 births Living people Japanese male mixed martial artists Middleweight mixed martial artists Sportspeople from Tochigi Prefecture Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Japanese male judoka Japanese sambo practitioners Road Fighting Championship champions Mixed martial artists utilizing sambo 20th-century Japanese people 21st-century Japanese people