Yuji Sakuragi

is a Japanese mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and professional wrestler, currently associated with Real Japan Pro Wrestling (RJPW)'s team Seikendo. He has also worked in promotions like All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), Battlarts, Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) and Riki Choshu's Legend The Pro Wrestling.

Early life Yuji started training Kyokushin in middle school, and later joined the Japan Self-Defense Forces for a time. After his military tenure, he worked as a physical education teacher for the Nippon Sport Science University, where he met Satoru Sayama. Sakuragi moved to Sayama's Seikendo promotion and started training in order to be a professional mixed martial artist.

Mixed martial arts career In 2005, after some unimpressive fights abroad, Sakuragi made his debut in Seikendo's partner company Pancrase with a high note, knocking out Kengo Watanabe with a head kick. The victory, as well as his performance against veteran Kazuo "Yoshiki" Takahashi, made him shine in the indy MMA scene. He became famous for his Kyokushin background, exemplified by his refined striking and ability to score total KOs as opposed to TKOs or stoppages. Sakuragi was also famous for his flashy personal style, wearing hip hop and b-kei fashion, striking the military salute before his matches and paying his dues to the Yasukuni Shrine in special occasions.

In 2012, Sakuragi defeated Kazuo Takahashi at the promotion's Progress Tour event. The wrestling expert chose to trade strikes with Sakuragi, who landed a left hook at the second round and knocked him out cold, winning the fight.

On October 27, 2012, Sakuragi faced grappling expert Sanae Kikuta in a special fight in Grabaka under full vale tudo rules, without gloves and allowing elbows and headbutts. The bout was short, and saw Sakuragi landing a spinning back kick, sidestepping Kikuta's attempts to push him against the cage wall, and finally knocking him down with strikes.

Sakuragi's next matchups against grapplers wouldn't be so successful, as he was choked out by Daiju Takase at DEEP Haleo Impact and defeated by Ryuta Sakurai in an upset knockout by flying knee at Cage Impact 2013.

Professional wrestling career

Real Japan Pro Wrestling (2007–present) In 2007, Sakuragi made his transition to professional wrestling as part of Sayama's Real Japan Pro Wrestling (RJPW). He received the gimmick of Super Tiger II, the second incarnation of the character used by Sayama in Universal Wrestling Federation. Yuji wrestled under a purple and silver attire and mask, utilizing a style based around kicks and suplexes. His debut was against Ikuto Hidaka, a wrestler who had been especially approved by Sayama for Tiger II's debut, and later moved into a major feud with Tiger Shark.

Super Tiger challenged Alexander Otsuka for the RJPW Legend Championship in 2008, but he was defeated. Sakuragi then formed a steady team with Minoru Suzuki, getting victories over names like Yuki Ishikawa and Great Sasuke. In 2011, Super Tiger got finally the championship when he defeated Mitsuya Nagai in a title match. Tiger retained it successfully against Black Tiger V before trading the title once more with Nagai, and this time his reign was longer, defending it against Kazunari Murakami, Taka Kuno, Masashi Aoyagi and Great Tiger. However, he lost it in 2015, against Masakatsu Funaki.

Battlarts (2007–2011) The year of his debut, Super Tiger started wrestling in shoot-style promotion Battlarts as a RJPW representative. Tiger formed a tag team with Katsumi Usuda and competed extensely for the company, briefly feuding with Mitsuya Nagai and Yuki Ishikawa. In 2008, he participated in the B1 Climax 2009 Block B, where he got big wins over Munenori Sawa, Usuda and Bison Tagai, and went to face Ishikawa in the block's final match, but he was defeated. Super Tiger then teamed up with his long time rival Tiger Shark, though they broke up shortly after. His last match in Battlarts was a tag team match with Chocoball Mukai as a special referee, teaming up with Sanshu Tsubakichi to face Ryuji Walter and Alexander Otsuka in a losing effort.

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2016–2017) Sakuragi debuted in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) as a RJPW representative for the Champion Carnival 2016. He scored important victories over Jun Akiyama and Daisuke Sekimoto, but otherwise his success was little. He didn't stop appearing in AJPW after the league, however, aligning himself with Suwama's stable Evolution. On 27 August, he and Suwama challenged Daisuke Sekimoto and Yuji Okabayashi for the AJPW World Tag Team Championship, being defeated. In December, Super Tiger and fellow Evolution member Hikaru Sato competed at the Real World Tag League 2016, though scoring only one win.

Pro Wrestling Zero1 (2017–2019) In 2017, Sakuragi switched AJPW by Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1) as his main field. He participated in that year's Fire Festival, gaining high victories over Shogun Okamoto and Kohei Sato, but ultimately came short. He bounced back by winning the previously vacated Zero1 United National Heavyweight Championship against Hartley Jackson, which he retained until losing it in 2018 to Chris Vice. Super Tiger then repeated participation in the 2018 Fire Festival, achieving again important wins over names like Shinjiro Otani, Sugi and Hiroshi Yamato, and returned again after a hiatus at the 2019 edition, adding another win over Masato Tanaka.

Championships and accomplishments

Kickboxing Universal Kickboxing Federation UKF International Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Mixed martial arts World Absolute Fighting Championship WAFC Pankration Openweight Crown (2009)

Professional wrestling Pro Wrestling Illustrated PWI ranked him #400 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017 Pro Wrestling Zero1 NWA United National Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Real Japan/Strong Style Pro-Wrestling Legend Championship (5 times) SSPW World Tag Team Champion (1 time, current) – with Masashi Takeda Pro-Wrestling A-Team WEW Heavyweight Championship (2 times, current) WEW World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Tomohiko Hashimoto and Kota Nagashima

Mixed martial arts record Loss

Luis Santos TKO (punches) Real Fight Championship 4

Tokyo, Japan Win

Kang Chul Yoon TKO (punches) Real Fight Championship 3

Yokohama, Japan Return to Heavyweight. Loss

Alan Baudot TKO (punches) Grandslam MMA 3: Way of the Cage

Tokyo, Japan Openweight bout. Win

Shungo Oyama TKO (corner stoppage) Pancrase: 263

Tokyo, Japan Openweight bout. Loss

Aleksey Shapovalov TKO (punches) FEFoMP: Amur Challenge 6

Blagoveshchensk, Russia Loss

Kazuhiro Nakamura Submission (arm-triangle choke) DEEP: Cage Impact 2013

Tokyo, Japan Catchweight (88 kg) bout. Loss

Ryuta Sakurai KO (punch and flying knee) DEEP: Cage Impact 2013

Tokyo, Japan Middleweight debut. Loss

Daiju Takase Submission (guillotine choke) DEEP: Haleo Impact

Tokyo, Japan Win

Sanae Kikuta KO (knee and soccer kick) Grabaka Live 2

Tokyo, Japan Win

Kazuo Takahashi KO (punch) Pancrase: Progress Tour 9

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Shinso Anzai Decision (unanimous) Pancrase: Progress Tour 3

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Kazuhisa Tazawa Submission (rear-naked choke) DEEP: 52 Impact

Tokyo, Japan For the vacant DEEP Openweight Championship. Draw

Ryo Kawamura Draw Pancrase: Passion Tour 11

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Alexander Grinchuk Decision (unanimous) FEFoMP: Impact League 4

Khabarovsk, Russia Heavyweight bout. Win

Ryo Kawamura TKO (Punches) Pancrase: Passion Tour 8

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Christian M'Pumbu TKO (punches) Deep: 46 Impact

Tokyo, Japan Win

Alavutdin Gadjiev KO (knee) FEFoMP: Impact League 2

Khabarovsk, Russia Loss

Hans Stringer TKO (punches) DEEP: 43 Impact

Tokyo, Japan Win

Minoru Kato KO (punch) DEEP: 41 Impact

Tokyo, Japan Return to Light Heavyweight. Loss

Rogent Lloret Decision (unanimous) M-1 Challenge 8: USA

Kansas City, United States Loss

Stefan Struve Submission (triangle choke) M-1 Challenge 6: Korea

Seoul, South Korea Loss

Kamil Uygun TKO (punches) M-1 Challenge 5: Japan

Tokyo, Japan Light Heavyweight bout. Loss

Besiki Gerenava TKO (punches) M-1 Challenge 2: Russia

Saint Petersburg, Russia Win

Kenichi Shinohara TKO (punches) MARS 11: 2nd Anniversary

Tokyo, Japan Light Heavyweight bout. Draw

Hidetada Irie Draw DEEP: 33 Impact

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Yuki Kondo Decision (unanimous) Pancrase: Rising 8

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Katsuhisa Fujii Decision (majority) DEEP: Glove

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Basil Yamilkhanov TKO (doctor stoppage) FEFoMP: Mayor Cup 2007

Khabarovsk, Russia Lost the Mayor Cup Heavyweight Championship. Win

Nikolai Onikienko Decision (unanimous) FEFoMP: Mayor Cup 2007

Khabarovsk, Russia Return to Heavyweight. Won the Mayor Cup Heavyweight Championship. Loss

Yasuhito Namekawa Submission (heel hook) Deep: 29 Impact

Tokyo, Japan 90 kg bout. Win

Fabiano Aoki TKO (injury) MARS 6: Rapid Fire

Tokyo, Japan 97 kg bout. NC

Fabiano Aoki No Contest (accidental low blow) MARS 5: Marching On

Tokyo, Japan 97 kg bout. Loss

Tatsuya Mizuno Submission (rear-naked choke) Pancrase: Blow 7

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Riki Fukuda Decision (unanimous) Pancrase: 2006 Neo-Blood Tournament Finals

Yokohama, Japan Loss

Poai Suganuma TKO (punches) Pancrase: Blow 4

Yokohama, Japan Win

Hikaru Sato TKO (soccer kicks) Pancrase: Blow 1

Tokyo, Japan Win

Jimmy Akishige KO (punch) RJPW: Legend Championship

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Hideki Tadao Submission (arm-triangle choke) Pancrase: Spiral 8

Yokohama, Japan Win

Yuta Nakamura Decision (unanimous) Pancrase: Z

Kumamoto, Japan Win

Aslan Dzeboev KO (body kick) Pancrase: Spiral 6

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Kazuo Takahashi Submission (armbar) Pancrase: Spiral 5

Yokohama, Japan Win

Kengo Watanabe KO (high kick) Pancrase: Spiral 1

Tokyo, Japan Win

Sung Chu Kim TKO (punches) Gladiator FC: Day 2

Seoul, South Korea Loss

Eduard Churakov Decision (unanimous) Seikendo: SWA Ultimate Boxing

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