Yasuhito Namekawa

(born October 27, 1974) is a Japanese mixed martial artist who competes in the light heavyweight division. Namekawa made his mixed martial arts debut for Fighting Network RINGS in 1998. He fought in mainly shootfighting bouts until 1999 when RINGS introduced the King of King Rules and transitioned into a modern MMA promotion. Throughout his career, Namekawa has fought for organisations such as RINGS, Deep and Pride FC. His last fight to date was in 2008, with a professional mixed martial arts career spanning ten years. He also briefly competed in shoot style professional wrestling, exclusively for Kiyoshi Tamura's U-STYLE promotion.

Mixed martial arts career

Fighting Network RINGS (1998–2002) Namekawa made his debut for RINGS on June 20, 1998, against Minoru Toyonaga, the bout ended in a draw. He then went on to submit Daniel Higgins and out point Ryuki Ueyama. Namekawa suffered his first loss on October 11, 1998, against Bakouri Gogitidze, he lost by submission. On October 23, 1998, Namekawa lost to Masayuki Naruse by submission at 4:50 of round 1. He ended the year with a draw against British fighter, Lee Hasdell. On January 23, 1999, Namekawa had a rematch with Hasdell, this time Hasdell was docked a point for an illegal punch. Namekawa won by decision. On March 7, 1999, Namekawa had their third and final match, this time in Milton Keynes, England, at Night of the Samurai 3. Hasdell won by KO in 5:55 of round 1.

During the rest of 1999, Namekawa picked up victories over fighters, Troy Ittensohn, Ryuki Ueyama, Sara Umer and Minoru Toyonaga. Also losing to Wataru Sakata, Ryuki Ueyama and Koba Tkeshelashvili. The year 2000 was a bad year for Namekawa as he failed to pick up a single win, losing to, Willie Peeters, Chris Haseman, Alistair Overeem and Volk Han.

2001 would be the complete opposite to the previous year as Namekawa was victorious in 4 out of 5 fights. He defeated Takashi Sonoda, Wataru Imamura, Masutatsu Yano and Dexter Casey, all by submission. On October 20, 2001, Namekawa lost to Egidijus Valavicius by TKO.

Yasuhito Namekawa's final fight for RINGS was on February 15, 2002, on the final ever Rings event. He was submitted by Sam Nest at 4:53 of round 2.

Deep (2002–2004) On March 30, 2002, Namekawa made his Deep debut at Deep - 4th Impact. He defeated Daisuke Watanabe by majority decision. He went on to win his next two fights in Deep with submission wins over Makoto Miyazawa and Yuki Ishikawa. On December 31, 2002, he lost to Wallid Ismail by decision at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2002. Namekawa ended the year with a 3–1 record with Deep. He began 2003 with a draw with Osami Shibuya at Deep - 8th Impact. Namekawa did not fight again until January 22, 2004. He defeated Yusuke Imamura by TKO at Deep - 13th Impact.

Pride FC (2004) On February 15, 2004, Namekawa made his Pride FC debut with a submission win over Egidijus Valavicius at Pride Bushido 2. He returned to Pride on October 14, 2004, he was defeated by Maurício Rua.

Return to Deep (2005–2008) In his second outing in the Deep organisation, Namekawa beat Kenji Akiyama by TKO, Jong Hyuk Moon by submission and lost to Ryuta Sakurai. He also drew with Jeong Ho Lee on December 2, 2005. On April 11, 2006, Namekawa was defeated by Cyrille Diabate by KO at Deep - 24 Impact.

Namekawa beat Peter Iryaku at VFX - Vale Tudo Fighters Mexico before losing to Cyrille Diabate in a rematch on July 30, 2006. He then defeated Mu Jin Na by submission.

Upon returning to Deep, Namekawa remained undefeated during the rest of his time there. Drawing with Fabiano Capoani and defeating Yuji Sakuragi, Hamish Robertson, Katsuhisa Fujii, Carlos Toyota and Claudio Silva. Namekawa's last fight to date was against Katsuyori Shibata at Deep - 38 Impact on October 23, 2008. The fight ended in a draw.

Mixed martial arts record Draw

Katsuyori Shibata Draw Deep: 38 Impact

Tokyo, Japan Catchweight (189.6 lb) bout. Win

Cláudio Silva Submission (armbar) Deep: 37 Impact

Tokyo, Japan Catchweight (198.4 lb) bout. Win

Carlos Toyota Submission (achilles lock) Deep: 34 Impact

Tokyo, Japan Openweight bout. Win

Katsuhisa Fujii Decision (majority) Deep: 32 Impact

Tokyo, Japan Win

Hamish Robertson Submission (half crab lock) Deep: Glove

Tokyo, Japan Win

Yuji Sakuragi Submission (heel hook) Deep: 29 Impact

Tokyo, Japan Draw

Fabiano Capoani Draw Deep: 28 Impact

Tokyo, Japan Win

Mu Jin Na Submission (armbar) Heat: Heat 2

Aichi, Japan Loss

Cyrille Diabaté KO (flying knee) Real Rhythm: 4th Stage

Osaka, Japan Win

Peter Iryaku KO VFX: Vale Tudo Fighters Mexico

Tláhuac, Mexico Loss

Cyrille Diabaté KO (punches) Deep: 24 Impact

Tokyo, Japan Return to Light Heavyweight. Draw

Jeong Ho Lee Draw Deep: 22 Impact

Tokyo, Japan Win

Jong Hyuk Moon Submission (forearm choke) Deep: 21st Impact

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Ryuta Sakurai Submission (armbar) Deep: 19th Impact

Tokyo, Japan Win

Kenji Akiyama TKO (punches) Deep: Hero 1

Nagoya, Aichi, Japan Loss

Maurício Rua TKO (punches) Pride Bushido 5

Osaka, Japan Return to Middleweight. Win

Fabiano Capoani DQ (knee to the groin) Gladiator FC: Day 1

South Korea Win

Egidijus Valavicius Submission (guillotine choke) Pride Bushido 2

Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan Win

Yusuke Imamura TKO (punches) Deep: 13th Impact

Tokyo, Japan Openweight bout. Draw

Osami Shibuya Draw Deep: 8th Impact

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Wallid Ismail Decision (unanimous) Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2002: K-1 vs. Inoki

Saitama, Japan Middleweight bout. Win

Yuki Ishikawa Submission (punches) Deep: 7th Impact

Tokyo, Japan Openweight bout. Win

Makoto Miyazawa Submission (guillotine choke) Deep: 6th Impact

Tokyo, Japan Win

Daisuke Watanabe Decision (majority) Deep: 4th Impact

Nagoya, Aichi, Japan Loss

Sam Nest Submission (rear-naked choke) Rings: World Title Series Grand Final

Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan Loss

Egidijus Valavicius TKO (corner stoppage) Rings: World Title Series 4

Tokyo, Japan Heavyweight bout. Win

Dexter Casey Submission (guillotine choke) Rings: Battle Genesis Vol. 8

Tokyo, Japan Win

Masutatsu Yano Submission (guillotine choke) Rings: World Title Series 2

Tokyo, Japan Win

Hiroshi Imamura Submission (kneebar) Rings: World Title Series 1

Tokyo, Japan Win

Takashi Sonoda Submission (armbar) Rings: Battle Genesis Vol. 7

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Chris Haseman Submission (kimura) Rings USA: Rising Stars Final

Moline, Illinois, United States Win

Chris Munsen Decision (majority) Rings USA: Rising Stars Block B

Honolulu, Hawaii, United States Win

Falaniko Vitale Submission (guillotine choke) Rings USA: Rising Stars Block B

Honolulu, Hawaii, United States Return to Light Heavyweight. Loss

Volk Han Decision Rings Russia: Russia vs. The World

Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia Loss

Alistair Overeem Submission (armbar) Rings: Millennium Combine 1

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Chris Haseman Submission (guillotine choke) Rings Australia: NR 4

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Loss

Willie Peeters TKO (knee to the body) Rings Holland: There Can Only Be One Champion

Utrecht City, Netherlands Loss

Koba Tkeshelashvili Submission (rear-naked choke) Rings: Rings Georgia

Georgia (country) Return to Heavyweight. Loss

Ryuki Ueyama Decision (lost points) Rings: Rise 5th

Japan Win

Minoru Toyonaga Submission (guillotine choke) Rings: Rise 4th

Japan Win

Sara Umer Submission (rear-naked choke) Rings: Rise 3rd

Japan Return to Light Heavyweight. Loss

Chris Haseman Submission (arm-triangle choke) Rings: Rise 1st

Japan Loss

Lee Hasdell KO (knee) NOTS 3: Night of the Samurai 3

Milton Keynes, England Win

Ryuki Ueyama Decision Rings: Final Capture

Japan Middleweight bout. Win

Lee Hasdell Decision Rings: World Mega Battle Tournament 1998 Grand Final

Tokyo, Japan Return to Heavyweight. Win

Ryuki Ueyama Decision Rings: Sixth Fighting Integration

Yokohama, Japan Middleweight debut. Win

Daniel Higgins Submission (achilles lock) Rings: Fifth Fighting Integration

Niigata, Japan Light Heavyweight debut. Win

Troy Ittensohn TKO (knees) Rings: Fourth Fighting Integration

Tokyo, Japan Draw

Minoru Toyonaga Draw Rings: Battle Genesis 4

Tokyo, Japan