17 Facts About Hirotaka Yokoi

Hirotaka Yokoi was born on June 8,1978 and is a Japanese former mixed martial artist and professional wrestler.

Hirotaka Yokoi originally started training in Judo in high school, but he was more interested in Universal Wrestling Federation and its offshoots.

Hirotaka Yokoi participated at a Shooto mixed martial arts tournament during his stay at the Kinki University, and later moved to Fighting Network RINGS.

Hirotaka Yokoi gained the nickname "Kaibutsu-kun" for his physical resemblance to the title character from the 1980s anime series Kaibutsu-kun.

Hirotaka Yokoi made his professional debut in 2000 and won his first eight fights, mostly fighting in the RINGS organization before moving to compete in PRIDE.

Hirotaka Yokoi made his debut for the organization on November 24,2002 at Pride 23 against Dutch kickboxer Jerrel Venetiaan, winning in the third round via armbar submission.

At PRIDE 28, Hirotaka Yokoi faced Heath Herring, but he was overwhelmed with a right hook and multiple knees, including illegal strikes to the back to the head that granted Herring a warning.

Hirotaka Yokoi eventually lost the fight by TKO in the same way.

Hirotaka Yokoi looked to make up for his defeat at the next event by taking on Mario Sperry, Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and Nogueira's trainer, but after an uneventful round of clinch striking Hirotaka Yokoi was again downed and hit with knees and soccer kicks for the TKO.

Hirotaka Yokoi's final fight in PRIDE was at PRIDE 30, where he faced Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

Hirotaka Yokoi showed himself active again, gaining dominant position with an early omoplata sweep, but Jackson used his superior strength to reverse him and threw heavy punches and kicks until the referee stopped the match.

Hirotaka Yokoi bounced back with a win via rear-naked choke submission win a year after last fight and then fought again a year later in Finland, losing via TKO.

Hirotaka Yokoi started teaming up with other shoot-style wrestlers, namely Wataru Sakata, Yuki Ishikawa and Yoshiaki Fujiwara, and enjoyed significant wins in the Fire Festival, beating Kohei Sato and Tetsuhiro Kuroda.

Hirotaka Yokoi spent the rest of the year in random tag team matches, as well as losing efforts to Shinjiro Otani and Kazuhiko Ogasawara.

Sato and Hirotaka Yokoi put their eyes in the All Asia Tag Team Championship, taking part in a special league for the vacated title.

From 2004 to 2006, Hirotaka Yokoi competed sporadically in Hustle as a member of the babyface Hustle Army, teaming up with "Hustle K" Toshiaki Kawada, while trying luck in Zero-One's Fire Festival tournaments and keeping his team with Kohei Sato.

Hirotaka Yokoi was released from Zero-One in February 2007, leaving pro wrestling altogether.