Nationality Japanese Wins by knockout 5 Role Mixed martial artist | Name Satoru Kitaoka Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | |
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Other names Ai Senshi (Soldiers of Sorrow), The Catch Wrestling Koala Bear, The Crazy Koala, Weird But Strong Weight 154 lb (70 kg; 11.0 st) Division LightweightWelterweight Style Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Catch wrestling | ||
Satoru Kitaoka (北岡悟, Kitaoka Satoru, born 4 February 1980), is a Japanese shoot wrestler and mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Lightweight division of RIZIN. A professional competitor since 2000, he has also competed for DREAM, Pancrase, DEEP, and World Victory Road. Kitaoka is renowned for his Catch wrestling abilities which he learned studying under two of Japan's most respected shoot wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. In addition to mixed martial arts success, Kitaoka has also won several submission grappling tournaments, including being the reigning Brazilian jiu-jitsu and No-Gi Open Champion in both the 79.7-kilogram (176 lb) and Absolute divisions. In August 2008, he entered and won the 2008 Sengoku Lightweight Grand Prix. He is currently the DEEP Lightweight Champion.
Contents
- Satoru kitaoka vs daron cruickshank 480p
- Mixed martial arts career
- Sengoku
- Return to Pancrase
- DREAM
- Rizin FF
- Championships and accomplishments
- References
Satoru kitaoka vs daron cruickshank 480p
Mixed martial arts career
Kitaoka has fought the majority of his career as a Welterweight for Pancrase.
Sengoku
Dropping down to Lightweight, Kitaoka's first fight for Sengoku was a submission win over Ian James Schaffa at Sengoku 2 on 18 May 2008 before entering Sengoku's eight-man lightweight tournament. In the first round of the tournament at Sengoku 4 on 24 August 2008 he was put up against American Clay French. Kitaoka made short work of French, winning by submission due to an achilles lock at 1:21 of the first round. The win put him up against fellow Japanese fighter Eiji Mitsuoka in the tournament's semifinal taking place at World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku 6. Kitaoka again made short work of his opponent winning by a heel hook submission at 1:16 of the first round. The win earned him a place in the tournament's final taking place that same night against Kazunori Yokota. The fight proved longer than Kitaoka's three previous fights as it went the distance completing all three five-minute rounds with Kitaoka being awarded the unanimous decision, thus winning the 2008 Sengoku Lightweight Grand Prix.
The Lightweight tournament win set up Kitaoka to fight the last reigning PRIDE Lightweight Champion, Takanori Gomi, for Sengoku's newly created Sengoku Lightweight Championship. The two fought at Sengoku no Ran 2009 on 4 January 2009 and ended with Kitaoka defeating Gomi with an achilles lock at 1:41 of the first round.
In his first title defence, on August 2, 2009, at World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku 9, Kitaoka lost his lightweight championship to Mizuto Hirota.
Return to Pancrase
Following his title loss in Sengoku, Kitaoka returned to his home promotion Pancrase picking up wins over Jorge Rogrigues and Kuniyoshi Hironaka.
DREAM
Kitaoka faced former UFC fighter Willamy Freire at DREAM 17. Kitaoka entered the bout on a three fight win streak picking up victories in both Pancrase and DEEP. He won the fight via split decision.
Kitaoka faced teammate and fellow Yuki Nakai black belt Shinya Aoki at DREAM's year end event for the DREAM Lightweight Championship. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.
Rizin FF
Kitaoka made his debut for Rizin Fighting Federation in 2016. He faced Daron Cruickshank on December 29, 2016 at Rizin World Grand-Prix 2016: 2nd Round and won the fight via technical submission in the first round.
Kitaoka next faced Yusuke Yachi on July 30, 2017 at Rizin FF 6: RIZIN World Grand Prix 2017 Opening Round Part 1. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round.