Manabu Yamada

Manabu Yamada (山田学, born May 18, 1969, in Tochigi, Japan) is a retired Japanese mixed martial arts fighter. He is best known for his participation in Shooto and Pancrase fighting organizations. On December 17, 1994, Yamada advanced to the finals of the King of Pancrase Tournament where he lost to Ken Shamrock via unanimous decision.

Career Yamada started training with Satoru Sayama at the Super Tiger Gym after a background in karate, debuting in Shooto in 1990. He faced Kenji Kawaguchi twice in matches for the Shooto Middleweight Championship, but he was submitted in both occasions. After two important wins over Kazuhiro Kusayanagi and Naoki Sakurada, he left Shooto and joined Pancrase in 1993.

Manabu had his Pancrase debut against Katsuomi Inagaki, winning rapidly by submission. Shortly after, he got his first big win over Andre Van Den Oetelaar, a kickboxer and Dutch judo champion who sported a large weight advantage. Yamada lost points early due to a rear naked choke and a liver shot, but he came back knocking down Oetelaar with a high kick and then cutting him with a strike, winning the fight by doctor stoppage. Afterwards, Yamada suffered his first defeat in the promotion when he was caught in a heel hook by Takaku Fuke, despite having the points advantage for most of the match.

In December 1994, Yamada took part in the tournament for the first King of Pancrase championship. He eliminated Christopher DeWeaver in two minutes, moving forward to face rising star Frank Shamrock. Despite his opponent's superior strength and late comeback, Yamada caught him in an ankle hold early in the match and resisted all his submission attempts, which gave him the victory by points at the end.

The former Shooto fighter advanced to engage his biggest challenge to the point, the Pancrase co-founder and heavy favourite Minoru Suzuki. In the beginning of a classic fight, Yamada was taken down and had his back fastly taken, but his defensive acumen allowed him to avoid being submitted, and he stole a point from Suzuki with a scrambling rear naked choke. Minoru came back strong, getting several near-holds, but Manabu kept defending and seeking for openings, which granted him another point by ankle hold. He then overpowered Suzuki and controlled him until locked an armbar from side control, making Suzuki tap out for one of his biggest career wins.

The same night, Yamada came again to fight Ken Shamrock in the finals, giving another impressive exhibition by going to the distance with the much stronger Shamrock after 30:00. Yamada again resisted his opponent's grip while turtled up, threatening him with Kimura locks and rolling leglocks from the position, and he even threw a pro wrestling dropkick at the end of the bout, but he lost by decision at the end, with Shamrock being declared King of Pancrase.

Yamada's next match saw an upset when he was submitted by Bas Rutten. Despite his top control, Yamada was trapped in an arm triangle choke and was rendered unconscious due to his refusal to tap out. Manabu lost a match against Jason DeLucia by accidental eye gouge, but he got his course back defeating Pancrase founder Masakatsu Funaki and DeLucia in a revenge match. However, it would be short-lived, as Yamada dropped from main competition, losing to submission to DeLucia in only 1:13 and just getting an important win over Kiuma Kunioku.

Yamada retired in January 2000, after losing to Yuki Kondo, and currently works as MMA trainer and seitai teacher.

Championships and accomplishments Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling 1994 King of Pancrase tournament Runner Up Tokyo Sports Rookie of the Year (1994)

Mixed martial arts record Loss

Yuki Kondo Decision (unanimous) Pancrase - Trans 1

Tokyo, Japan Draw

Osami Shibuya Draw Pancrase - Breakthrough 10

Osaka, Japan Win

Tae Yoon Han Submission (armbar) Pancrase - Breakthrough 8

Sendai, Japan Loss

Jason DeLucia Decision (unanimous) Pancrase - 1999 Neo-Blood Tournament Second Round

Tokyo, Japan Win

Leon Dijk Decision (majority) Pancrase - Breakthrough 5

Nagoya, Japan Draw

Ryushi Yanagisawa Draw Pancrase - Breakthrough 3

Tokyo, Japan Win

David Moore Technical Submission (guillotine choke) Pancrase - Breakthrough 1

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Jason DeLucia Submission (armbar) Pancrase - Advance 12

Urayasu, Japan Win

Daisuke Watanabe Submission (rear-naked choke) Pancrase - Advance 10

Tokyo, Japan Draw

Katsuomi Inagaki Draw Pancrase - 1998 Anniversary Show

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Bas Rutten Submission (ankle lock) Pancrase - Truth 7

Nagoya, Japan Win

Kiuma Kunioku Submission (guillotine choke) Pancrase - 1996 Anniversary Show

Urayasu, Japan Loss

Frank Shamrock Submission (rear-naked choke) Pancrase - 1996 Neo-Blood Tournament, Round 1

Tokyo, Japan Draw

Kazuo Takahashi Draw Pancrase - Truth 6

Fukuoka, Japan Loss

Semmy Schilt Submission (rear-naked choke) Pancrase - Truth 5

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Guy Mezger TKO (doctor stoppage) Pancrase - Truth 3

Tokyo, Japan Win

Leon Dijk Submission (ankle lock) Pancrase - Truth 3

Tokyo, Japan Win

Vernon White Submission (heel hook) Pancrase - Eyes Of Beast 5

Sapporo, Japan Win

Jason DeLucia Submission (heel hook) Pancrase - Eyes Of Beast 4

Urayasu, Japan Win

Masakatsu Funaki Submission (heel hook) Pancrase - Eyes Of Beast 3

Nagoya, Aichi, Japan Loss

Jason DeLucia TKO (doctor stoppage) Pancrase - Eyes Of Beast 2

Yokohama, Japan Loss

Bas Rutten Technical Submission (arm-triangle choke) Pancrase - Eyes Of Beast 1

Nagoya, Japan Loss

Ken Shamrock Decision (unanimous) King of Pancrase tournament second round

Tokyo, Japan Win

Minoru Suzuki Submission (armbar) King of Pancrase tournament second round

Tokyo, Japan Win

Frank Shamrock Submission (ankle lock) King of Pancrase tournament opening round

Tokyo, Japan Win

Christopher DeWeaver Submission (heel hook) King of Pancrase tournament opening round

Tokyo, Japan Win

Alex Cook Submission (armbar) Pancrase - Road To The Championship 5

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Takaku Fuke Submission (heel hook) Pancrase - Road To The Championship 4

Osaka, Japan Win

Matt Hume Submission (heel hook) Pancrase - Road To The Championship 3

Tokyo, Japan Win

Andre Van Den Oetelaar TKO (doctor stoppage) Pancrase - Road To The Championship 2

Amagasaki, Japan Win

Katsuomi Inagaki Submission (kneebar) Pancrase - Road To The Championship 1

Tokyo, Japan Win

Chad Stahelski Submission (kneebar) Shooto - Shooto

Tokyo, Japan Win

Naoki Sakurada Submission (kneebar) Shooto - Shooto

Tokyo, Japan Win

Kazuhiro Kusayanagi Submission (armbar) Shooto - Shooto

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Kenji Kawaguchi Submission (kneebar) Shooto - Shooto

Tokyo, Japan Win

Satoshi Honma Submission (armbar) Shooto - Shooto

Tokyo, Japan Win

Yutaka Fuji Submission (kneebar) Shooto - Shooto

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Satoshi Honma Submission (armbar) Shooto - Shooto

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Kenji Kawaguchi Submission (kneebar) Shooto - Shooto

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Yasuto Sekishima KO (punch) Shooto - Shooto

Tokyo, Japan Win

Yoshimasa Ishikawa TKO (punches) Shooto - Shooto

Tokyo, Japan Win

Tomonori Ohara KO (punch) Shooto - Shooto

Tokyo, Japan Draw

Takashi Ishizaki Draw Shooto - Shooto

Tokyo, Japan Draw

Takashi Tojo Draw Shooto - Shooto

Tokyo, Japan Mixed martial arts exhibition record Draw

Noboru Asahi Technical Draw Pancrase - Proof 3

Tokyo, Japan Draw

Sanae Kikuta Technical Draw DEEP 2001

Tokyo, Japan

Kickboxing record