Yusuke Kawaguchi

Yusuke Kawaguchi (Japanese: 川口雄介, Kawaguchi Yusuke) (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.

Yusuke Kawaguchi
川口雄介
Born (1980-08-14) August 14, 1980
Akita, Japan
Native name川口雄介
Other namesCrusher
NationalityJapanese
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight253 lb (115 kg; 18 st 1 lb)
DivisionHeavyweight
StanceOrthodox
Fighting out ofAkita, Japan
TeamBlue Dog Gym
Rankblack belt in Judo
Years active2007–present
Mixed martial arts record
Total30
Wins18
By knockout8
By submission1
By decision9
Losses12
By knockout8
By submission1
By decision3
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
Last updated on: August 1, 2010

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.[1]

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 aka 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.[2]

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.[3]

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.[4]

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.[5]

DREAM

Kawaguchi made his DREAM debut against James Thompson at DREAM.16 and won via a controversial split decision.[6]

Professional wrestling

As a professional wrestler, Kawaguchi worked exclusively for the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF), where he performed under the ring name Crusher Kawaguchi (クラッシャー川口, Kurasshā Kawaguchi).[7] He retired in 2016.

Championships and accomplishments

Kickboxing record

Kickboxing Record
0 Wins, 1 Losses
Date Result OpponentEventLocation MethodRoundTimeRecord
2014-09-07LossIran Prince AliHEAT 33[8]Nagoya, JapanTKO30:470–1
Kickboxing bout
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw/No contest   Notes

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown
30 matches 18 wins 12 losses
By knockout 8 8
By submission 1 1
By decision 9 3
Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 18–10 Aori Gele TKO (punches) Road FC 34 November 19, 2016 1 2:38 Shijiazhuang, China
Win 18–9 Kozo Urita Decision (unanimous) Grachan / Blue Dog Gym – Grachan 25 / BFC Vol.2 October 10, 2016 2 5:00 Tokyo, Japan
Loss 17–9 Richard Odoms KO (knee) WSOF-GC 2 – World Series of Fighting Global Championship: Japan 1 February 7, 2016 1 3:29 Tokyo, Japan
Win 17–8 Yoon Seob Kwak Submission (arm-triangle choke) Real Fight Championship 3 December 5, 2015 1 3:18 Yokohama, Japan
Loss 16–8 Mu Bae Choi TKO (punches) Road FC 24 July 25, 2015 2 4:50 Tokyo, Japan
Win 16–7 Fumio Yoshimura TKO (punches) BFC: Blue Dog Fighting Charity Match Vol.1 June 29, 2014 1 1:17 Tokyo, Japan
Loss 15–7 Brett Rogers KO (punches) Inoki Genome Fight 1 April 4, 2014 1 0:28 Tokyo, Japan
Win 15–6 Se Yun Kim TKO Gladiator 61 – Bushido September 29, 2013 1 0:20 Tokyo, Japan
Win 14–6 Justin Morton Decision (Unanimous) Tenkaichi Fight – Tenkaichi Fight 68 September 8, 2013 2 5:00 Okinawa, Japan
Loss 13–6 Rolles Gracie Jr. Submission (arm-triangle choke) Inoki-Bom-Be-Ye 2012 December 31, 2012 1 2:00 Tokyo, Japan
Loss 13–5 Jörgen Kruth TKO (punches and elbows) Rumble of the Kings 6 November 26, 2011 1 3:18 Stockholm, Sweden
Loss 13–4 Soa Palelei TKO (punches) AFC Fight Nite 01 June 25, 2011 1 4:20 Melbourne, Australia
Loss 13–3 Peter Graham TKO (elbows) Xtreme MMA 3 November 5, 2010 1 N/A Sydney, Australia
Win 13–2 Edmund Cavalcante Jr. Decision (unanimous) Gladiator 11: G-1 October 9, 2010 2 5:00 Tokyo, Japan
Win 12–2 James Thompson Decision (split) DREAM.16 September 25, 2010 2 5:00 Nagoya, Japan
Loss 11–2 Mariusz Pudzianowski Decision (unanimous) KSW 13: Kumite May 7, 2010 2 5:00 Katowice, Poland
Win 11–1 Roque Martinez Decision (unanimous) Deep: Cage Impact 2009 December 19, 2009 3 5:00 Tokyo, Japan Defended DEEP Megaton title.
Win 10–1 Seigo Mizuguchi TKO (leg kicks) Deep: 44 Impact October 10, 2009 3 1:27 Tokyo, Japan Defended DEEP Megaton title.
Win 9–1 Cirio Tejera Decision (unanimous) M-1 Challenge 18: Netherlands Day Two August 16, 2009 2 5:00 Hilversum, Netherlands
Loss 8–1 Rob Broughton Decision (unanimous) M-1 Challenge 14: Japan April 29, 2009 2 5:00 Tokyo, Japan
Win 8–0 Baru Harn Decision (majority) Deep: 38 Impact October 23, 2008 2 5:00 Tokyo, Japan Defended DEEP Megaton title.
Win 7–0 Shunsuke Inoue Decision (split) Deep: Megaton Grand Prix 2008 Finals August 2, 2008 2 4:00 Tokyo, Japan Grand Prix final bout. Won DEEP Megaton title.
Win 6–0 Shunji Kosaka TKO (corner stoppage) Deep: Megaton Grand Prix 2008 Finals August 2, 2008 1 0:45 Tokyo, Japan Grand Prix semi-final bout.
Win 5–0 Wakashoyo TKO (punches) Deep: Megaton Grand Prix 2008 Semifinal May 24, 2008 1 0:16 Tokyo, Japan Grand Prix quarter-final bout.
Win 4–0 Nobuyoshi Takahara TKO (punches) Deep: Megaton Grand Prix 2008 Opening Round March 29, 2008 1 0:40 Tokyo, Japan Grand Prix prelim round bout.
Win 3–0 Seigo Mizuguchi TKO (punches) Deep: 32 Impact October 10, 2007 1 2:07 Tokyo, Japan
Win 2–0 Iro Zeki KO (punch) Deep: 31 Impact August 5, 2007 1 1:06 Tokyo, Japan
Win 1–0 Hirotaka Fujiyama Decision (majority) Deep: 29 Impact April 13, 2007 2 5:00 Tokyo, Japan

See also

References

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