Hidetaka Monma is a Japanese welterweight fighter with a professional MMA record spanning back to 2001. He has fought in RINGS, DEEP, DEMOLITION, CAGE FORCE, HERO’S and DREAM.
Hidetaka Monma
Originally from the Wajutsu Keishukai Network of fighters, which have included Caol Uno, Daiju Takase (see his win over Anderson Silva here), Yushin Okami, amongst others, Monma explains how he got into MMA later than most.
Yoshihiro Akiyama fought Chris Leben at UFC 116, which turned out to be one of the most exciting cards of recent times.
Leben took the fight at short notice, Akiyama’s original opponent, Wanderlei Silva, having pulled out unable to fight.
Akiyama displayed superior takedown and grappling skills early in the fight, but had serious trouble knocking out Leben who seems to have a jaw made of steel! Akiyama himself took some quite hard strikes and did not go down but it was clear that his stamina was not what it should’ve been as he entered the second round looking the worse for ware.
Although Akiyama was caught in a triangle choke in the second round and tapped out, the fight was a battle the fans thoroughly enjoyed. See it here.
So, the question is where does Akiyama go from here?
Yesterday I paid a visit to Hidetaka Monma’s MMA gym, Brightness in Adachi Ward, Tokyo.
I joined the grappling class from 8 to 9pm and then sparring from 9 to 10pm. His teaching style is very clear and he spent time going round the students individually helping them with the techniques. We worked on a sweep and then to submissions from mount and side positions.
His gym, opened in October 2009 is new, clean and bright: very conducive to learning!
Monma’s blog has already been updated with a post-training photo with myself and young American, Joe LaChance, who tells me he found out about Monma’s dojo through MMA-in-Japan.com!
Monma-san, thank you for the great training! I’ll be back!
And look out for a video and interview of Hidetaka Monma coming soon here.
1992 Barcelona Olympic Games gold medalist, Hidehiko Yoshida, will fight his last MMA match on April 25th, 2010. In an event called ASTRA, he is set to fight Kazuhiro Nakamura, a long-time student of his dojo.
Both have fought and cornered each other in Pride FC so win or lose it will be an emotional event to mark Yoshida’s retire.
MMA-in-Japan was present at a recent training session at Alliance Square, where both Yoshida and Nakamura have trained with Tsuyoshi Kosaka (TK) over the years. Yoshida was open about, and clearly suffering from a cold virus, but he trained nonetheless with still time to recover before the event on Sunday the 25th.
Ensen Inoue will make a comeback appearance at the event, long awaited by many of his fans.
UFC Fight Night 21 tomorrow is headlined by two world class lightweight fighters.
Also, on the same card, two more Japanese fighters have bouts.
Caol Uno will face Gleison Tibau, also in the lightweight division. Both fighters have extensive fight experience.
And Yushi Okami fights Lucio Linhares in the 185lbs (84kg) division.
All three fights, amongst others on the card, look to be very exciting. Gomi promises an explosive fight and as we’ve seen from him in the past he is sure to deliver. Caol Uno has an all-round game, very technical, and capable of finishing with a good submission. I trained with Okami in his preparation for this fight so I know he’s in excellent shape; very hard to take down we could see a knockout or submission from him.
In a national first, TV Tokyo will broadcast highlights from the event on Thursday, April 8 at 10pm.
And here is what some of the pros say.
I caught up with Roxanne Modafferi, American MMA fighter currently living and fighting out of Tokyo, Japan. Under the Unified Women’s MMA Rankings, Roxanne is currently number 3 in the world at bantamweight. A lively and positive demeanor, it was a pleasure to do this interview. Please also check our exclusive video of Roxanne demonstrating a very useful MMA drill, hit & return.
When did you first become interested in martial arts and what got you into MMA?
I first got interested in Karate in middle school,
MMA-in-Japan would like to introduce a lesser known but very interesting fighter, Ryoji Suzuki. I first met Ryoji in Tokyo in 2001 where he was, and continues to be, a personal strength and conditioning trainer. With a professional boxing licence and a keen interest in the grappling arts, I was reminded that
The next ZST event will be held in Differ Ariake, Tokyo, on Monday November 23rd, 2009.
The lineup looks exciting and Sengoku fighter Masanori Kanehara, who I’ve trained with at Alliance Square, is set to fight. Also, an old friend and training partner of mine, Ryoji Suzuki, a highly underrated fighter who has
