Yoshiyuki Yoshida

(born May 10, 1974) is a Japanese mixed martial artist competing in the welterweight division. A student of former Shooto competitor Noboru Asahi, he has competed in Shooto, Cage Force, and the UFC. On December 1, 2007, he became the first Cage Force welterweight tournament winner.

Career

Early career In 2007, Yoshida was entered into a Cage Force welterweight tournament sponsored by the Worldwide Cage Network. In the opening round of the tournament, Yoshida defeated two-time interim Pancrase champion Katsuya Inoue by knockout. He went on to defeat Matt Cain in the quarterfinals and former Shooto champion Akira Kikuchi in the semi-finals of the tournament. In the finals, Yoshida defeated Dan Hardy by disqualification after being struck by a kick to the groin, becoming the first Cage Force welterweight tournament winner.

Ultimate Fighting Championship After the tournament's closing, Yoshida was offered a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It was originally speculated that the winners of the Cage Force tournaments were to be selected to compete in the UFC's active roster. Yoshida made his debut in the UFC at UFC 84, choking The Ultimate Fighter 6 contestant Jon Koppenhaver unconscious by Anaconda choke submission. He was scheduled to meet Karo Parisyan in September at UFC 88 but Parisyan pulled out of the bout only two hours before the weigh-ins citing an injury. Yoshida then faced Josh Koscheck at UFC: Fight for the Troops on December 10, 2008, a fight which he lost by 1st round knockout. Unfortunately for Yoshida, the first knockout punch from Koscheck occurred with Yoshida's back against the cage, preventing Yoshida from falling down, allowing Koscheck to land another devastating haymaker on Yoshida's jaw, sending him crashing to the canvas in a motionless heap. UFC reported, "Yoshida, who remained on the canvas while being tended to by commission doctors, was removed from the Octagon on a stretcher as a precautionary measure. He was later treated and released from a local hospital for a concussion".

Yoshida then fought Brandon Wolff at UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida on May 23, 2009, and won the bout by guillotine choke in the first round.

Yoshida's fought against Anthony Johnson at UFC 104. The fight became a catchweight bout of 176 when Johnson missed weight by six pounds, Yoshida (weighed in at 170 lb) agreed to fight at catchweight. Yoshida lost by first round TKO.

Yoshida then faced Mike Guymon on May 8, 2010, at UFC 113. Yoshida lost to Guymon by unanimous decision, losing all three rounds.

After losing to Guymon and dropping his UFC record to 2-3, Yoshida was released from the UFC.

Bellator Fighting Championships Yoshida made his debut for Bellator Fighting Championships on September 30, 2010, against Chris Lozano. He lost via corner stoppage between rounds 2 and 3 due to a severely swollen eye.

ONE Championship On July 18 it was announced that Yoshida would be facing Pride FC, Elite XC, Strikeforce and UFC veteran Phil Baroni at ONE Fighting Championship: Champion vs. Champion at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on September 3. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

BAMMA Yoshida was expected to face Nate Marquardt in the main event of BAMMA 9 to determine an Inaugural World Welterweight Champion. However, on January 13, 2012, Marquardt was released from his contract with BAMMA officially due to the promotion pushing back BAMMA 9, and therefore his promotional debut, to March 24, 2012. Sources close to the situation believe that the release was due to the promotion not being able to afford the fighter's contract.

Titan Fighting Championship Yoshida was expected make his Titan Fighting Championships debut against Mike Ricci for the vacant Titan FC Lightweight Championship at Titan FC 31 on October 31, 2014. However, Ricci failed to make weight prior to the fight. Both men agreed to fight in a non-title 157 lb catchweight fight instead. However, Titan FC's Chief Operating Officer, Lex McMahon, announced that Yoshida was refusing to fight just hours before the event, forcing the cancellation of the fight entirely. Yoshida was immediately released from the promotion.

Championships and accomplishments Greatest Common Multiple (GCM) Communication Cage Force Welterweight Tournament Championship (One time) MMA Fighting 2008 #7 Ranked UFC Submission of the Year

Mixed martial arts record Loss

Yoshiyuki Katahira Decision (split) Deep: Cage Impact 2016: Deep vs. WSOF-GC

Tokyo, Japan Welterweight bout. Win

Kimihiro Eto TKO (punches) Deep: 73 Impact

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Kota Shimoishi Decision (unanimous) Deep: Osaka Impact 2015

Osaka, Japan Loss

Satoru Kitaoka Decision (unanimous) Deep - Dream Impact 2014: Omisoka Special

Saitama, Japan For Deep Lightweight Title Win

Shigetoshi Iwase Decision (unanimous) Deep: 65 Impact

Tokyo, Japan Win

Won Sik Park Submission (rear-naked choke) DEEP: Cage Impact 2013

Tokyo, Japan Lightweight debut. Win

Niko Puhakka Submission (guillotine choke) Fight Festival 32

Helsinki, Finland Catchweight (158 lb) bout. Win

Jeremy Hamilton Submission (rear-naked choke) CFX 33: Minnesota vs. Japan

Minneapolis, Minnesota United States Win

Phil Baroni Decision (unanimous) ONE Fighting Championship 1: Champion vs. Champion

Kallang, Singapore Win

Ferrid Kheder TKO (punches) Fighting Marcou Arena 2

Herault, France Loss

Chris Lozano TKO (corner stoppage) Bellator 31

Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States Loss

Mike Guymon Decision (unanimous) UFC 113

Montreal, Quebec, Canada Loss

Anthony Johnson TKO (punches) UFC 104

Los Angeles, California, United States |176 lb. catchweight bout Win

Brandon Wolff Submission (guillotine choke) UFC 98

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Loss

Josh Koscheck KO (punch) UFC: Fight for the Troops

Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States Win

War Machine Technical Submission (anaconda choke) UFC 84

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Win

Dan Hardy DQ (accidental kick to the groin) GCM: Cage Force 5

Tokyo, Japan GCM welterweight final Win

Akira Kikuchi TKO (elbows) GCM: Cage Force 4

Tokyo, Japan GCM welterweight semi-final Win

Matt Cain TKO (punches) GCM: Cage Force EX Eastern Bound

Tokyo, Japan GCM welterweight quarter-final Win

Katsuya Inoue KO (punches) GCM: Cage Force 2

Tokyo, Japan GCM welterweight qualifier Win

Asato Hashimoto TKO (elbow injury) GCM: Cage Force 1

Tokyo, Japan Win

Hossein Ojaghi Submission (armbar) GCM: D.O.G. 7

Tokyo, Japan Win

Luis Santos TKO (corner stoppage) Kokoro: Kill Or Be Killed

Tokyo, Japan Win

Mindaugas Smirnovas TKO (punches) Shooto: 3/24 in Korakuen Hall

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Keita Nakamura Technical Decision (majority) Shooto: 12/17 in Shinjuku Face

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Yoshitaro Niimi Decision (majority) Shooto: Shooter's Summer

Tokyo, Japan Win

Akihiro Yamazaki Decision (unanimous) Shooto: 2/6 in Kitazawa Town Hall

Tokyo, Japan

Submission grappling record KO PUNCHES Result Opponent Method Event Date Round Time