is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

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 ...

and

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 or ...

referee, as well as professional wrestling booker,

authority figure In the fields of sociology and political science, authority is the legitimate power of a person or group over other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' is practiced in ways such a judicial branch or an executive branch of government.''The Ne ...

and occasional wrestler. He has refereed more than 1,000 contests in major MMA promotions including Pride Fighting Championships, Strikeforce, One,

M-1 Global M-1 Global (Mixfight-1) or MMA-1 (Mixed martial arts-1) is a mixed martial arts promotion based in St. Petersburg, Russia which organizes between 10 and 20 competitions per year. It hosted its first major show (rather than co-promoting with othe ...

Dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...

Deep Deep or The Deep may refer to: Places United States * Deep Creek (Appomattox River tributary), Virginia * Deep Creek (Great Salt Lake), Idaho and Utah * Deep Creek (Mahantango Creek tributary), Pennsylvania * Deep Creek (Mojave River tributary), ...

Super Fight League Super Fight League is a mixed martial arts promotion, based in India. The organisation was formed in 2012 by actor Sanjay Dutt and British-Indian businessman Raj Kundra, and is currently co-owned by British-Indian businessman Bill Dosanjh and ...

and Rizin Fighting Federation. He was formerly the head referee and head of the rules committee for Icon Sport.

Biography

He started his career in combat sports when he moved to United States to learn

catch wrestling Catch wrestling (originally catch-as-catch-can) is a classical hybrid grappling style and combat sport. It was developed by J. G. Chambers in Britain . It was popularised by wrestlers of travelling funfairs who developed their own submission ...

after graduating from

Tokyo University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

. Shimada trained under Masami Soranaka,

Karl Gotch Charles Istaz (August 3, 1924 – July 28, 2007) was a Belgian-born German-American professional wrestler and trainer, best known by his ring name Karl Gotch. In Japan, Gotch was known as the "God of Wrestling" due to his influence in shaping the ...

's student and son-in-law, who also taught him the job of refereeing.Yuji Shimada: The Number 1 Third Man
Asia MMA After returning to Japan, he started his referee career for Soranaka's promotion

Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Group (''Purofesshonaru-resuringu Fujiwara-Gumi'', プロフェッショナルレスリング藤原組) was a shoot style professional wrestling promotion based in Tokyo, Japan, operating from 1991 to 1996. It was formed ...

, moving to

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 Gu ...

after its demise. Around this time, he also worked for K-1, Fighting Network Rings and

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba ...

. With the establishing of Pride in 1997, Shimada became its main referee. He became known for his personal style, which included gesticulating and yelling his orders, demanding aggression from the fighters at all times (usually by giving the command "Action!"), and asking insistently "give up?" every time one of them attempted a submission move.PRIDE Before the Fall, part 2: on referees, commentators, and Kevin Randleman
Bloodyelbow.com He was booed in every introduction, although reasons were unclear but likely due to him playing villainous characters in Japanese professional wrestling.

Professional wrestling career

Hustle (2004-2008)

Shimada appeared in professional wrestling promotion Hustle from its starting in 2004. Playing a villainous character, he was introduced as a staff officer and spokesperson for the heel faction Takada Monster Army. He often appeared along with Commander An Jo and Generalissimo Takada, who typically ordered him to make plans against the heroic faction Hustle Army. After many failures, Shimada was demoted to private in February 2005. During this period, in order to save himself from dishonor, he claimed not to be Shimada himself, but a relative of his named Yuzo Shimada. He got to be chosen as Hustle's general manager in September 2008, passing his role as a soldier to Private Shoji, but he left the promotion in storyline due to a loss against Genichiro Tenryu in a special match. Shimada stopped working for Hustle shortly after.

Filmography

References

External links

List of bouts refereed by Yuji Shimada on Tapology
Pride Fighting Championships Living people 1966 births Mixed martial arts referees Professional wrestling referees Japanese catch wrestlers Japanese male professional wrestlers Sportspeople from Hiroshima Prefecture People from Fukuyama, Hiroshima {{mixedmartialart-bio-stub