39 Facts About Hidehiko Yoshida

Hidehiko Yoshida is a Japanese gold-medalist judoka and retired mixed martial artist.

Hidehiko Yoshida is a longtime veteran of Japan's PRIDE Fighting Championships, competing in the Middleweight and Heavyweight divisions.

Hidehiko Yoshida then took gold in the 1991 All Japan Judo Championships and 1992 A-Tournament in Sofia before entering the 1992 Summer Olympic Games.

Hidehiko Yoshida swept the competition in Barcelona, winning all six matches by Ippon en route to his first Olympic gold medal.

Hidehiko Yoshida went on to medal in the 1993,1995 and 1999 World Championships, but didn't win gold at the Olympics again.

Hidehiko Yoshida finished in fifth place at the 1996 Summer Games and ninth at the 2000 Summer Games.

Hidehiko Yoshida retired from Judo after the 2000 Summer Games.

In 2002, Hidehiko Yoshida turned fully his attention to the world of mixed martial arts, where he had already worked as a color commentator, and signed up with Pride Fighting Championship to become a fighter.

Hidehiko Yoshida accepted the premise of having to fight high level opponents, wanting to avoid implications that he was transitioning to MMA for not being competitive enough for judo anymore.

Hidehiko Yoshida vowed to compete in a judogi in order to draw interest to judo as a martial art.

Hidehiko Yoshida later founded the team Hidehiko Yoshida Dojo, which focuses both in judo and MMA.

Hidehiko Yoshida had his first appearance in Pride in a special grappling match against UFC pioneer Royce Gracie at PRIDE Shockwave.

The Brazilian fighter attempted an armbar from his back, but Hidehiko Yoshida blocked it and looked for a gi choke, so Gracie switched to a heel hook.

Gracie pulled guard again, but Hidehiko Yoshida turned the action into a daki age, advanced to Royce's half guard and tried a Kimura lock.

Secondly, Hidehiko Yoshida submitted former world karate champion Masaaki Satake by neck crank at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye.

At PRIDE Total Elimination 2003, Hidehiko Yoshida faced shoot-style ace Kiyoshi Tamura in the first round of the Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament.

Hidehiko Yoshida was dominated for most of the first round, receiving leg kicks and punches from the veteran Tamura and having his back taken on the ground, but he eventually managed to throw down Tamura with harai goshi and performed a sode guruma jime for the tap out.

Wanderlei had already knocked out Japanese fighters like Tamura and Kazushi Sakuraba, but Hidehiko Yoshida broke expectations when he gave a back-and-forth against Silva.

The match ended with Silva knocking down Hidehiko Yoshida and getting swept in return for a final assault.

In less than two months after his match with Wanderlei, still carrying injuries from the bout, Hidehiko Yoshida got in the rematch against Royce Gracie at PRIDE Shockwave 2003.

Royce, who fought this time without his gi top, caused controversy when he aimed three consecutive low blows on Hidehiko Yoshida, eventually scoring one that stopped the match for minutes.

Finally able to continue fighting, Hidehiko Yoshida knocked down Royce with a combination and attacked him on the ground, besieging his half guard and coming to capture his back once.

The second round saw an initial battle for an ankle lock, but it quickly returned to the last position, with Royce straddling a turtled down Hidehiko Yoshida and scoring strikes in the search of a submission.

At PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004, Hidehiko Yoshida faced the debuting Mark Hunt, kickboxing champion and K-1 veteran, and a much heavier opponent.

In 2004, after promoters failed at getting a rubber match with Royce Gracie as Hidehiko Yoshida wished, the judoka was left to face the similarly debuting Rulon Gardner.

Hidehiko Yoshida recovered from the defeat submitting Tank Abbott at the next event with the judo technique known as kata-ha-jime.

The next year, Hidehiko Yoshida took part in the PRIDE 2006 Heavyweight Grand Prix, being pitted first against boxing champion Yosuke Nishijima.

Hidehiko Yoshida was helped out of the arena by Cro Cop himself.

Hidehiko Yoshida chose to return to the fight, but the fall had taken its toll on him, and Thompson overwhelmed him with punches and knees until knocking him out.

In March 2008, Hidehiko Yoshida made his debut in World Victory Road at its inaugural show Sengoku against catch wrestling specialist and former training partner Josh Barnett.

The bout saw highlights like Barnett scoring a suplex on Yoshida and Hidehiko returning the favour with a flying Kimura, but it featured intensive ground action, as the two grappling experts exchanged submission attempts on the ground.

On January 4,2009 at World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku Rebellion 2009, Hidehiko Yoshida faced a fellow judoka and former Toshihiko Koga apprentice, Sanae Kikuta, who had defeated Hidehiko Yoshida's own trainee Makoto Takimoto in an earlier event.

At the second round, Kikuta opted for pulling guard and pursue an ankle lock, while Hidehiko Yoshida remained on top and landed several punches through his guard.

Hidehiko Yoshida was a significant underdog but came out in the first round and dominated the less-experienced Ishii, landing many punches including a right overhand that staggered Ishii, as well as a series of uppercuts and knees from the clinch.

Hidehiko Yoshida actually had to have his protective cup changed, but was ultimately able to demonstrate his heart by continuing to fight.

Hidehiko Yoshida was taken down at the end of the second round and then was not as effective in the third round, getting hit with numerous strikes from Ishii, but ultimately held his own and was able to pull off the upset win via unanimous decision.

Hidehiko Yoshida lost the fight via unanimous decision to Kazuhiro Nakamura, a long-time student of his dojo.

Hidehiko Yoshida is a graduate of Meiji University where he was part of the Judo Club.

Many members, including Hidehiko Yoshida, have participated in both judo and mixed martial arts.