Yusuke Kawaguchi

(born August 14, 1980) is a Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, who fights in the heavyweight division. He is the former DEEP Megaton Champion, and has also fought in DREAM, M-1 Global and KSW.

Judo Yusuke Kawaguchi came in third place at the high school-level national Judo championships and third place at the 1999 University Judo Championships in the 100 kg weight class.

Mixed martial arts DEEP Kawaguchi made his mixed martial arts debut on April 13, 2007, at DEEP: 29th Impact and defeated his opponent Hirotaka Fujiyama by majority decision. He went on to win his next two fights by way of knockout in the first round and in 2008, he took part in the DEEP Megaton Grand Prix. He TKO'd Nobuyoshi Takahara in the preliminary round and advanced to the quarter-finals where he faced former sumo wrestler Wakashoyo. Wakashoyo rushed Kawaguchi at the beginning of the fight and was knocked out after just 16 seconds. Kawaguchi then advanced to the final stage, where the semi-finals and final were held in one night. In the semis, he came up against Shunji Kosaka, and beat him after his corner threw in the towel within 45 seconds of the first round. Shunsuke Inoue was then to be his opponent in the final. After two four-minute rounds, Kawaguchi emerged the victor by way of split decision to become the DEEP Megaton Champion.

On October 23, 2008, Kawaguchi defended his title against Mongolian challenger Baru Harn Seryu at DEEP: 38th Impact. He blitzed Seryu with machinegun punches in the first round of the fight but could not finish him. With both men gassed by the second period, the fight quickly devolved into moments of sloppy punching and leaning on each other in the clinch. A majority decision for Kawaguchi resulted after two judges ruled in his favor, with one judge ruling it a draw.

Seigo Mizuguchi, who Kawaguchi already beat in 2007, then challenged him at DEEP: 44th Impact on October 10, 2009. Kawaguchi opened the bout with an initial barrage of machine gun punches, dropping Mizuguchi in a corner. Mizuguchi recovered, however, tossed the champ over his hip in the harai-goshi and landed in side control, where he squeezed Kawaguchi's head with a neck crank. Kawaguchi escaped and, as the visibly fitter of the two, proceeded to string together big punches for the rest of the bout. Gassed but still tough, Mizuguchi ate all of Kawaguchi's punches while throwing winging singles of his own. Though his face was red and swollen, Mizuguchi would not go down, prompting Kawaguchi to switch tactics midway through the bout, as he chopped him down with kicks. When Mizuguchi limped into a corner at the 1:27 mark of the third round, cornerman Kazuhiro Nakamura threw in the towel. Referee Yoshinori Umeki did not see the towel but stopped the bout soon after.

Another challenger then stepped up, this time in the form of Guam'sRoque Martinez. He, too, was unable to defeat Kawaguchi who won by unanimous decision after three rounds.

M-1 Challenge In 2009, he represented Team Japan in the M-1 Challenge. His first fight came against England's Rob Broughton on April 29, where he recorded the first loss of his career. Every time Kawaguchi stepped in to engage, Broughton's left hook was there to meet him, and every time Kawaguchi tried to retreat, Broughton's sharp left jab was there to chase him. Broughton also controlled Kawaguchi on the mat, as he shut him down in both rounds and won via unanimous decision.

Kawaguchi's second fight representing Japan was on April 16 in the Netherlands. He took on Cirio Tejera of Spain and won by unanimous decision after two rounds.

KSW On May 7, 2010, Kawaguchi faced 5-time World's Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowski at KSW XIII: Kumite in Katowice, Poland. Pudzianowski rushed Kawaguchi at the opening bell and took him down with a lateral drop, but Kawaguchi proved tougher than anticipated. A quickly gassing Pudzianowski had to dig deep to keep control of the fight after he failed to finish with the opening salvo. Kawaguchi got some strikes in on the Pole in the second round, but Pudzian scored two takedowns, likely the convincing factor for the judges, who ruled in favor of Pudzianowski, who won by unanimous decision.

DREAM Kawaguchi made his DREAM debut against James Thompson at DREAM.16 and won via a controversial split decision.

Professional wrestling As a professional wrestler, Kawaguchi worked exclusively for the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF), where he performed under the ring name . He retired in 2016.

Championships and accomplishments DEEP DEEP Megaton Champion (1 Time, First) Three Successful Title Defenses 2008 DEEP Megaton Grand Prix Tournament Winner

Kickboxing record

Mixed martial arts record Loss

Ryo Sakai TKO (punches) Deep: 84 Impact: Differ Ariake Final Day

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Aorigele TKO (punches) Road FC 34

Shijiazhuang, China Openweight bout. Win

Kozo Urita Decision (unanimous) Grachan / Blue Dog Gym – Grachan 25 / BFC Vol.2

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Richard Odoms KO (knee) WSOF-GC 2 – World Series of Fighting Global Championship: Japan 1

Tokyo, Japan Win

Yoon Seob Kwak Submission (arm-triangle choke) Real Fight Championship 3

Yokohama, Japan Loss

Mu Bae Choi TKO (punches) Road FC 24

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Justin Willis TKO (punches) Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2014

Tokyo, Japan Openweight bout. Win

Fumio Yoshimura TKO (punches) BFC: Blue Dog Fighting Charity Match Vol.1

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Brett Rogers KO (punches) Inoki Genome Fight 1

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Alex Huddleston KO (punches) IGF - Genome 29

Tokyo, Japan Win

Se Yun Kim TKO Gladiator 61 – Bushido

Tokyo, Japan Win

Justin Morton Decision (Unanimous) Tenkaichi Fight – Tenkaichi Fight 68

Okinawa, Japan Loss

Rolles Gracie Jr. Submission (arm-triangle choke) Inoki-Bom-Be-Ye 2012

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Jörgen Kruth TKO (punches and elbows) Rumble of the Kings 6

Stockholm, Sweden Loss

Soa Palelei TKO (punches) AFC Fight Nite 01

Melbourne, Australia Loss

Peter Graham TKO (elbows) Xtreme MMA 3

Sydney, Australia Win

Edmund Cavalcante Jr. Decision (unanimous) Gladiator 11: G-1

Tokyo, Japan Win

James Thompson Decision (split) DREAM.16

Nagoya, Japan Loss

Mariusz Pudzianowski Decision (unanimous) KSW 13: Kumite

Katowice, Poland Win

Roque Martinez Decision (unanimous) Deep: Cage Impact 2009

Tokyo, Japan Defended DEEP Megaton title. Win

Seigo Mizuguchi TKO (leg kicks) Deep: 44 Impact

Tokyo, Japan Defended DEEP Megaton title. Win

Cirio Tejera Decision (unanimous) M-1 Challenge 18: Netherlands Day Two

Hilversum, Netherlands Loss

Rob Broughton Decision (unanimous) M-1 Challenge 14: Japan

Tokyo, Japan Win

Baru Harn Decision (majority) Deep: 38 Impact

Tokyo, Japan Defended DEEP Megaton title. Win

Shunsuke Inoue Decision (split) Deep: Megaton Grand Prix 2008 Finals

Tokyo, Japan Grand Prix final bout. Won DEEP Megaton title. Win

Shunji Kosaka TKO (corner stoppage) Deep: Megaton Grand Prix 2008 Finals

Tokyo, Japan Grand Prix semi-final bout. Win

Wakashoyo TKO (punches) Deep: Megaton Grand Prix 2008 Semifinal

Tokyo, Japan Grand Prix quarter-final bout. Win

Nobuyoshi Takahara TKO (punches) Deep: Megaton Grand Prix 2008 Opening Round

Tokyo, Japan Grand Prix prelim round bout. Win

Seigo Mizuguchi TKO (punches) Deep: 32 Impact

Tokyo, Japan Win

Iro Zeki KO (punch) Deep: 31 Impact

Tokyo, Japan Win

Hirotaka Fujiyama Decision (majority) Deep: 29 Impact

Tokyo, Japan