Toby Imada

Timoteo Tobias Imada (born April 20, 1978) is a retired American mixed martial artist, grappler and kickboxer of Japanese and Mexican descent. A professional from 1998 until 2013, Imada competed for Bellator, King of the Cage, and the RFA. Imada won the 2009 Submission of the Year award for an inverted triangle choke, defeating Jorge Masvidal.

Mixed martial arts career Bellator In the first season Bellator Lightweight Tournament, Imada advanced to the finals after defeating Alonzo Martinez and Jorge Masvidal. The upset win over Masvidal was notable for Imada's bizarre inverse triangle choke while Masvidal was standing up. The submission has been acknowledged by many MMA mediums as the Submission of the Year for 2009. He was awarded a Bazzie award from Inside MMA on HDNet for the unorthodox submission victory and Submission of the Year Honors at the World MMA Awards.

At Bellator 12, Imada fought top five ranked Eddie Alvarez for the chance to become the first Bellator Lightweight Champion. Alvarez got the better of the battle and won the fight in the second round via rear-naked choke.

Imada returned to Bellator the following April, entering the Lightweight Tournament for the second time. His first fight was originally to be a rematch against Jorge Masvidal. He was then scheduled to fight against Ferrid Kheder at Bellator 15, but an injury forced Kheder out of the bout. Instead, at Bellator 14 Imada fought James Krause and won via armbar submission. With the win over Krause, Imada moved onto the semi-final round against Carey Vanier. In the second round after Vanier lost his footing, Imada capitalized and applied an armbar that caused Vanier to tap out.

Imada then moved on to the finals taking place at Bellator 22. There, Imada fought Pat Curran in the Season Two Lightweight Tournament finals to see who would advance to fight champion Eddie Alvarez. Curran defeated Imada via controversial split decision. Immediately following the decision, some in the crowd began booing. Bellator Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez weighed in on the decision, saying "It was a tough fight. It could’ve gone either way.”

Bellator again signed Imada for their Lightweight Tournament taking place during their fourth season. Imada had his quarterfinal fight at Bellator 36. He was originally set to fight Ferrid Kheder who was overweight and decided to leave the arena and not weigh-in. Imada instead fought replacement Josh Shockley. Imada won the fight in the first round after Shockley verbally submitted from Imada's reverse omaplata. The win moved Imada into the semifinals. In the semifinals Imada fought Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Patricky Freire at Bellator 39. He was knocked out at 2:53 of the first round with a flying knee followed by a left hook.

Imada has also fought professionally in kickboxing. In his most recent bout, he defeated Mostafa Abdollahi by majority decision (27–27, 29–27, 29–27) in a non-tournament bout at the Shoot Boxing World Tournament 2012 in Tokyo, Japan on November 17, 2012.

Championships and accomplishments Mixed martial arts Bellator Fighting Championships Bellator Season One Lightweight Tournament runner-up Bellator Season Two Lightweight Tournament runner-up Total Combat Total Combat Lightweight Championship (one time) Neutral Grounds Neutral Grounds 6 Four-Man Tournament runner-up Neutral Grounds 13 Four-Man Tournament runner-up Sports Illustrated 2009 Submission of the Year World MMA Awards 2009 Submission of the Year vs. Jorge Masvidal at Bellator 5 Sherdog 2009 Submission of the Year vs. Jorge Masvidal on May 1 Bloody Elbow 2009 Submission of the Year HDNet 2009 Bazzie Awards: Submission of the Year vs. Jorge Masvidal on May 1 FIGHT! Magazine 2009 Submission of the Year vs. Jorge Masvidal on May 1 Inside Fights 2009 Submission of the Year vs. Jorge Masvidal on May 1 Cagewriters 2009 Submission of the Year

Kickboxing Shoot Boxing Shoot Boxing World Tournament 2010 runner-up

Mixed martial arts record Draw

Hiroyuki Takaya Draw (majority) Shoot Boxing: Ground Zero Tokyo 2013

Tokyo, Japan Featherweight debut. Loss

James Krause Decision (unanimous) Resurrection Fighting Alliance 6

Kansas City, Missouri, United States Loss

Luiz Firmino Decision (unanimous) CFA 08: Araujo vs. Bradley

Hollywood, Florida, United States Win

Sean Wilson TKO (punches) C3 Fights: Rumble at Red Rock

Red Rock, Oklahoma, United States Loss

Patricky Freire KO (flying knee and punches) Bellator 39

Newkirk, Oklahoma, United States Win

Josh Shockley Submission (armbar) Bellator 36

Shreveport, Louisiana, United States Win

Ludwing Salazar Submission (armbar) Fite Nite 14

San José, Costa Rica Loss

Pat Curran Decision (split) Bellator 21

Hollywood, Florida, United States Win

Carey Vanier Submission (armbar) Bellator 17

Boston, Massachusetts, United States Win

James Krause Submission (armbar) Bellator 14

Chicago, Illinois, United States Win

Daisuke Hanazawa KO (punch) KOTC: Toryumon

Okinawa Prefecture, Japan Loss

Eddie Alvarez Submission (rear-naked choke) Bellator 12

Hollywood, Florida, United States Win

Jorge Masvidal Technical Submission (inverted triangle choke) Bellator 5

Dayton, Ohio, United States Win

Alonzo Martinez Submission (rear-naked choke) Bellator 1

Hollywood, Florida, United States Win

Jason Meaders TKO (corner stoppage) UnleashedFIGHT

Alpine, California, United States Win

Shad Smith TKO (punches) Total Combat: Nevada

Laughlin, Nevada, United States Win

Preston Scharf TKO (submission to punches) Total Combat 26

San Diego, California, United States Win

David Gardner Submission (rear-naked choke) Total Combat 22

San Diego, California, United States Win

Zach Light Submission (armbar) Total Combat 21

San Diego, California, United States Welterweight bout. Win

Randy Velarde Submission (armbar) KOTC: Caged Chaos

Laughlin, Nevada, United States Loss

João Cunha Submission (armbar) Cage of Fire 5

Tijuana, Mexico Win

Brandon Adamson TKO (cut) TC 18: Nightmare

San Diego, California, United States Win

Danny Affleje KO (punches) Proving Ground

Yuma, Arizona, United States Loss

Tetsuji Kato TKO (punches) FFCF 6: Undisputed

Mangilao, Guam Loss

Hermes França Submission (armbar) TC 14: Throwdown

Del Mar, California, United States Return to Lightweight. Win

Akbarh Arreola Decision (unanimous) Total Combat 12

Tijuana, Mexico Win

Jerimiah Carson TKO (punches) Total Combat 11

Yuma, Arizona, United States Loss

Jake Shields Decision (unanimous) Kage Kombat

California, United States Win

Tim Carey Submission (rear-naked choke) Total Combat 10

San Diego, California, United States Win

Akbarh Arreola TKO (corner stoppage) Total Combat 9

Tijuana, Mexico Loss

Cassio Werneck Submission (triangle choke) WEC 15

Lemoore, California, United States Return to Welterweight. Loss

Antonio McKee Decision (unanimous) Ultimate Cage Fighting 1

Los Angeles, California, United States Lightweight bout. Loss

Jason Miller Decision Xtreme Pankration 2

Los Angeles, California, United States Loss

Dennis Asche Submission (triangle choke) IFC: Warriors Challenge 12

Friant, California, United States Middleweight debut. Loss

Joe Stevenson Decision KOTC 3: Knockout Nightmare

San Jacinto, California, United States Lightweight bout. Win

Sean McCaan Submission (armbar) IFC: Warriors Challenge 6

Friant, California, United States Loss

Dave Strasser Submission (armbar) Neutral Grounds 13

Lakeside, California, United States Win

David Harris Decision (unanimous) Neutral Grounds 13

Lakeside, California, United States Win

Brennan Kamaka Submission (armbar) Rage in the Cage 2

Honolulu, Hawaii, United States Lightweight bout. Win

Ken Tonaria Submission (armbar) Ready to Rumble

Woodland Hills, California, United States Loss

Steve Heath Decision (unanimous) Extreme Challenge 27

Fresno, California, United States Light Heavyweight debut. Loss

Adrian Serrano TKO (corner stoppage) Extreme Challenge 27

Davenport, Iowa, United States Welterweight debut. Win

Jason Von Flue Submission (armbar) IFC: Warriors Challenge 4

Jackson, California, United States Win

Johnny Molano Submission (triangle armbar) Kage Kombat 18

United States Win

Thiago De Fritas Submission (heel hook) Neutral Grounds 12

United States Win

Giovanni Francioso Submission (armbar) Neutral Grounds 11

Los Angeles, California, United States Win

Ken Kellenberger Submission (rear-naked choke) Neutral Grounds 9

United States Loss

Jason Dallas TKO (punches) Neutral Grounds 6

United States Win

Lee Cox Submission (armbar) Neutral Grounds 6

United States Kickboxing and shootboxing record

Submission grappling record Result Opponent Method Event Date Round Time