(born June 25, 1972) is a Japanese semi-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 ...

and former K-1

kickboxer Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general ...

and

PRIDE FC 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 ...

fighter who has defeated the likes of

Don Frye Donald Frye (born November 23, 1965) is an American former mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, and actor. In MMA, he was one of the sport's earliest well-rounded fighters and won the ''UFC 8'' and ''Ultimate Ultimate 96'' tournaments ...

, Choi Mu-Bae, Jim York,

Wesley Correira Wesley John Correira Jr. (born November 11, 1978), nicknamed Cabbage, is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the heavyweight and super heavyweight divisions. An iron chinned brawler, Correira began his career in 2000 and came to p ...

and Edson Draggo. Nakao is a

World Victory Road World Victory Road (WVR) is a defunct Japanese mixed martial arts (MMA) organization which promoted the Sengoku Raiden Championship (SRC) in Japan. The organization was formed in 2007 following the purchase of PRIDE FC by Zuffa. It operated in ...

veteran and signed a contract with

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 ...

in 2011 before the promotion closed in mid-2012. Nakao lost to Antônio Silva at World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku Rebellion 2009 after suffering an

ACL injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

as a result of a leg kick from Silva in the first round. Nakao most recently fought Dave Herman at Sengoku: Soul of Fight, losing by unanimous decision. In 2012 Nakao has decided to briefly retire from mixed martial arts to let some of his recent injuries heal and focus on family more. Nakao earned the nickname "kiss" after he infamously kissed

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. ...

on the lips and was subsequently knocked out by Herring before their fight even began at

K-1 PREMIUM 2005 Dynamite!! ''K-1 PREMIUM 2005 Dynamite!!'' was an annual kickboxing and mixed martial arts event held by K-1 and Hero's on New Year's Eve, Sunday, December 31, 2005 at the Osaka Dome in Osaka, Japan. It featured 7 HERO'S MMA rules fights, and 4 K-1 rules ...

New Year's Eve kiss

On December 31, 2005, Nakao was involved in a memorable MMA moment during K-1's Dynamite 2005 show.Herring-Nakao Result Changed to No Contest
/ref> During the pre-fight staredown with opponent

, Nakao leaned in and kissed him on the lips. Herring reacted, delivering a right hook to the jaw of Nakao, knocking him out cold. Herring was immediately disqualified and Nakao was carried from the ring. Shortly thereafter, Nakao's cornermen attacked Herring and a brief melee ensued. The fight result has since been changed by K-1 from a disqualification loss for Herring to a no contest, as K-1 judges ruled that Nakao's kiss and Herring's subsequent knockout punch were both fouls.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 9–3 (2) , Dave Herman , Decision (unanimous) , World Victory Road Presents: Soul of Fight , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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 , , - , Win , align=center, 9–2 (2) ,

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical ref ...

, TKO (punches) , World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku Raiden Championships 12 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:27 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 8–2 (2) , Choi Mu-Bae , Decision (unanimous) , World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku 9 , , align=center, 3 , 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 , , - , Loss , align=center, 7–2 (2) , Antônio Silva , TKO (knee injury) , World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku no Ran 2009 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:42 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 7–1 (2) , Jim York , KO (punches) , World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku 2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:46 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 (2) , Edson Claas Vieira , Submission (neck crank) ,

PRIDE 34 ''Pride 34: Kamikaze'' was a mixed martial arts event held by Pride Fighting Championships on April 8, 2007 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Background This was the last Pride show promoted by Dream Stage Entertainment before the ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 9:51 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–1 (2) ,

Kazuhiro Nakamura Kazuhiro Nakamura ( , born July 16, 1979) is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist who competed as a Middleweight in DREAM, and is a former DEEP Middleweight Champion. He fought out of the Yoshida Dojo and also competed in the Pride Fighting ...

, Decision (unanimous) , Pride FC - Final Conflict Absolute , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 (2) , Lee Eun-Soo , TKO (doctor stoppage) , Pride FC - Critical Countdown Absolute , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:16 ,

, Japan , , - , NC , align=center, 4–0 (2) ,

, No Contest , K-1 Premium 2005 Dynamite , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:00 ,

, Japan , Nakao kissed Herring during the pre-match stare-down, after which Herring knocked him out with a punch rendering him unable to continue. Originally ruled a DQ and overturned to a NC. , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 (1) , Fai Falamoe , Submission (armbar) , Hero's 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:35 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 (1) ,

, Decision (unanimous) ,

K-1 Premium 2004 Dynamite K-1 PREMIUM Dynamite!! (or Dynamite!!) was an annual kickboxing and mixed martial arts event held in Japan by the Fighting and Entertainment Group. It began as a co-production between PRIDE Fighting Championships and K-1 held on August 28, 2002 ...

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

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 (1) ,

, Decision (split) , K-1 Rumble on the Rock 2004 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Honolulu, Hawaii 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 o ...

, United States , , - , NC , align=center, 1–0 (1) ,

, No Contest (accidental headbutt) ,

K-1 MMA ROMANEX This is a list of events held and scheduled by the K-1, a kickboxing promotion based in Hong Kong. The first event, K-1 Sanctuary I, took place on March 30, 1993 at Kōrakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. 2023 events 2022 events 2021 events ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 ,

David Khakhaleishvili David Rostomovich Khakhaleishvili ( ka, დავით როსტომის ძე ხახალეიშვილი, 28 February 1971 – 11 January 2021) was a heavyweight Georgian judoka, mixed martial artist and ...

, KO (punches) , K-1 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:13 ,

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 ,

K-1 kickboxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakao, Yoshihiro Living people Sportspeople from Tokyo Japanese male mixed martial artists Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing kickboxing Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Japanese male kickboxers Heavyweight kickboxers 1972 births Japanese male sport wrestlers Japanese male professional wrestlers Wrestlers at the 2002 Asian Games Japan Ground Self-Defense Force personnel Asian Games competitors for Japan