Takayuki Okada (May 8, 1973 – August 8, 2003), more widely known as Giant Ochiai, was a Japanese

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Okada's MMA record was 3-3-2 (win–loss–draw).

Career

As a student, Okada won the All Japan Industrial High School Judo League Championship four times. After graduating from college, he went to train at the

Seidokaikan is a traditional full contact karate derived from Kyokushin by Kazuyoshi Ishii. Seidokaikan organized the first professional full contact karate tournament named the Karate World Cup. The Karate World Cup had special extension rounds; if the j ...

Tokyo Bom-Ba-Ye dojo with Naoyuki Taira. He also joined the amateur division of

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 ...

, placing second in its All Japan Amateur Shooto Championship in 1998 and 1999. In 2000, after Seidokaikan mainstay Masaaki Satake tried his luck in

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 ...

, Okada followed him in order to do his own debut. He gained the ring name of "Giant Ochiai", sporting shades and a large

afro The afro is a hair type created by natural growth of kinky hair, or specifically styled with chemical curling products by individuals with naturally curly or straight hair.Garland, Phyl"Is The Afro On Its Way Out?" ''Ebony'', February 1973. ...

wig over his actual afro hair during his entrances, which drew popularity among the fans. The origin of the name would be found in his large height and weight and his mother's maiden name, Ochiai. Ochiai trained with former Shooto founder

Satoru Sayama (born November 27, 1957) is a Japanese professional wrestling, Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, MMA and wrestling promoter and writer, best known as the original Tiger Mask (professional wrestling), Tige ...

and got to participate in his Ultimate Boxing event, a month later he debuted in PRIDE, fighting

Ricco Rodriguez Ricco Rodriguez (born August 19, 1977) is an American semi-retired mixed martial artist currently competing in the heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 1999, he has competed for the UFC, PRIDE Fighting Championships, EliteXC, I ...

in a losing effort. His performance, however, was remarkable, defending multiple submission attempts and only being taken down for a failed judo throw, until he was submitted by smother choke. He continued fighting for PRIDE, defeating karate stylist Soichi Nishida and professional wrestler Tomohiko Hashimoto, as well as

Pancrase Pancrase Inc. is a mixed martial arts promotion company founded in Japan in 1993 by professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. The name was based on pankration, a fighting sport in the Ancient Olympic Games. Suzuki and Funaki pr ...

exponent Kim Jong Wang. He would also fight in

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 ...

. Also in 2000, Ochiai debuted in

professional wrestling 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 o ...

, working sporadically in the stiff style

Battlarts , more commonly referred to as simply Battlarts was a professional wrestling promotion based in Koshigaya, Saitama, Japan. The promotion was formed in 1996 by Japanese wrestler Yuki Ishikawa and featured all of the wrestlers from the Fujiwara Gum ...

organizations. He joined

Riki Choshu , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler who is best known for his longtime work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as both a wrestler and a booker. He is considered one of Japan’s most influential wrestlers ...

's World Japan promotion for proper training.

Death

After an August 2003 training accident while training with

Kenzo Suzuki is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his appearances with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and in the United States with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he was a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion in the lat ...

at World Japan's dojo, Okada suffered an acute

subdural hematoma A subdural hematoma (SDH) is a type of bleeding in which a Hematoma, collection of blood—usually but not always associated with a traumatic brain injury—gathers between the inner layer of the dura mater and the arachnoid mater of the meninges ...

and entered a coma from which he never recovered.
Okada died on August 8, 2003. Okada's August 13 wake was attended by

Masaaki Satake is a Japanese former heavyweight karateka, kickboxer, professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is one of the pioneering heavyweight fighters in K-1, having been a member of Kazuyoshi Ishii's Seidokaikan school. ...

Nobuhiko Takada Nobuhiko Takada ( ja, 高田伸彦, ring name: ) (born April 12, 1962) is a Japanese former mixed martial artist, retired professional wrestler, actor, and writer. He competed in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Universal Wrestling Federation (UW ...

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. ...

and World Japan Management Director Katsuji Nagashima. A

moment of silence A moment of silence (also referred to as a minute's silence or a one-minute silence) is a period of silent contemplation, prayer, reflection, or meditation. Similar to flying a flag at half-mast, a moment of silence is often a gesture of ...

was held in PRIDE Grand Prix 2003 in his honor.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Draw , align=center, 3-3-2 , Memo Diaz , Draw , Deep - 9th Impact , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 3-3-1 , Kim Jong Wang , Submission (broken hand) , Pride FC: The Best, Vol. 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:24 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 2-3-1 , Tomohiko Hashimoto , KO (strikes) , Pride The Best Vol.2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:10 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 1-3-1 , Soichi Nishida , TKO (punches) , Pride The Best Vol.1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:00 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 0-3-1 ,

Zane Frazier Zane Troy Frazier (born July 16, 1966) is an American former karateka, kickboxer and mixed martial artist who competed in the heavyweight division. After a successful career in karate during the 1980s in which he won numerous international accol ...

, Decision (unanimous) , KOTC 10 - Critical Mass , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 7:00 , San Jacinto, California, USA , , - , Draw , align=center, 0-2-1 , Yoshinori Nishi , Draw , S - Samurai 2000 , , align=center, N/A , , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 0-2 ,

, Submission (smother choke) , Pride 10 - Return of the Warriors , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 6:04 , Saitama, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 0-1 , Igor Borisov , TKO (punches) , Ultimate Boxing - Pride vs Seikendo , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 7:07 , Yokohama, Japan ,

References

External links

*
PrideFC Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ochiai, Giant 1973 births 2003 deaths People from Oga, Akita Japanese male professional wrestlers Japanese male mixed martial artists Super heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Seidokaikan Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Japanese male judoka