Nobuhiko Takada

Nobuhiko Takada (, 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 (UWF) and the Union of Wrestling Forces International (UWFI) in the 1980s and 1990s, becoming one of the highest figures of the "shoot-style" movement.

Takada later turned to mixed martial arts (MMA) where, despite his controversial match fixing ventures and lack of competitive success, he was credited with the existence and development of global MMA promotion Pride Fighting Championships,

In August 1983, Takada accompanied Inoki to Canada for a special appearance in Stampede Wrestling. He replaced the retiring Satoru Sayama in the event, and had his first worldwide match, defeating Athol Foley.

In March 1987, Takada amplified the feud with Koshinaka to a tag team when he and Maeda defeated Koshinaka and Keiji Mutoh to capture the vacant IWGP Tag Team Championship. They retained it for months until they lost it to Fujiwara and Yamazaki. Takada spent the rest of the year in tag team fights, except for a tenure in the Top of The Super Junior I and two challenges for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title before Kuniaki Kobayashi and Hiroshi Hase. In March 1988, Takada left NJPW with Maeda and most of the original UWF wrestlers to form the second incarnation of the UWF called UWF Newborn.

UWF Newborn (1988–1990) Takada debuted in UWF Newborn in an exhibition match with rookie Shigeo Miyato, but he soon climbed the rankings to become the promotion's top wrestler second only to Maeda, who he defeated by TKO in their second match. The promotion's run was highly successful, and they broke records on the professional wrestling/shoot-fighting event U-COSMOS, where he defeated Greco-Roman wrestling champion Duane Koslowski, twin brother of Olympic medalist Dennis Koslowski. After the event, Takada was almost unbeaten in singles matches until the promotion's closure in December 1990.

Union of Wrestling Forces International (1991–1996) After UWF Newborn shut down, Takada formed the Union of Wrestling Forces International (UWFI), using former UWF wrestlers, while Maeda formed Fighting Network Rings, and Fujiwara formed Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi. Takada opened his run as the top star of the company beating Tatsuo Nakano, Yamazaki, and American wrestler Bob Backlund, whom he fought in a pair of publicized matches. The first of them was controversial, as Takada ended the bout in 1:15 when Backlund fell to a body kick, and it almost caused a riot in the stadium; it is believed that it was an accidental KO instead of a pre-planned match. They held a rematch after two months, with Takada winning by submission after 15 minutes.

Fight with Trevor Berbick Immediately after his affair with Backlund, Takada was put in a bout against former heavyweight champion boxer Trevor Berbick, the last man to fight Muhammad Ali. Sources disagree about whether it was meant to be a worked match or a real fight, or even whether Berbick himself knew it before the bout.

Takada landed a low kick to the left leg seconds into the match, to which Berbick immediately protested to the referee while signaling that kicking below the waist was not allowed. However, although he had been believed to be a strong legitimate contender for most of his career, but after stopping sparring during his stardom, and with the arrival of injuries and ring wear, his skills waned over time. His placement in the main event scene also forced him to fight only high-level opponents, which included several of the greatest fighters of the period, like Igor Vovchanchyn, Mark Kerr, and Mirko Cro Cop.

Despite these considerations, Takada was able to hold a limited amount of in-ring competence. As described by Jack Slack from Fightland: "It would be easy to remember Nobuhiko Takada as some kind of bum. [...] But this might be doing a disservice to what Takada was able to accomplish in the ring despite inexperience, age and a lack of athletic prowess. For one thing, in legitimate fights Takada was able to scramble up from beneath Mark Kerr, take down Igor Vovchanchyn, and indeed take the latter's notoriously powerful punches." Although Takada tried to hold him down from the bottom, Gracie captured his arm and executed an armbar for the win at the 2:32 mark. He was likened to a war criminal to Japan by specialized press. and the rematch was held at Pride 4.

Gracie opened the fight shooting for a takedown, but Takada blocked it and held Gracie away from the ground with a tight clinch. Despite outweighing Takada by 40 pounds, As such, Kerr went to claim he would defeat Takada by a submission move in less time than Rickson Gracie had done in Takada's debut. The fight was also promoted as Kerr taking revenge for Coleman.

Started the match, Takada came out with punches, driving Kerr to clinch. though is in his PRIDE official record. The match saw Otsuka landing a fisherman suplex before Takada locked a rear naked choke for the tap out.

PRIDE Grand Prix and competition against strikers Takada competed in the PRIDE Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round, where he was pitted against his second opponent in the Gracie family, Rickson's brother Royce, who returned from a hiatus after his career in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). At the beginning of the match, Royce immediately clinched Takada and pulled guard, but action stopped right there, as none of the fighters followed with any action. For the rest of the 15 minute match, Takada lied on Royce's guard, Takada visibly limped to his corner, and particularly to Shamrock's own bout against Royce Gracie at the same year. Takada was acknowledged to have improved his performance. However, Vovchanchyn overpowered Takada in the second round, when he caught him with a counterpunch and gained full mount after a restart. Vovchanchyn landed hard strikes, making Takada tap out. During the match, Takada broke his foot, forcing him to depend solely on defensive tactics.

Retirement fight Takada's final match was against his former student Kiyoshi Tamura. There was both story and controversy between them, as Tamura had challenged Takada several times without an answer, and then walked out of UWF International in 1995 to work for Fighting Network Rings.

The bout was followed by a reconciliation between Takada and Tamura, the latter of whom cried and stated: "Thank you for giving the people their dream and hope for twenty-two years." Takada later revealed he had a stress-related heart condition, undergoing surgery in July 2024.