Koya Urabe is a retired Japanese kickboxer, who competed professionally in the super featherweight and lightweight divisions of K-1.
64 Facts About Koya Urabe
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Koya Urabe is the former K-1 Lightweight champion, the former K-1 Super Featherweight champion and a two-time K-1 World Super Featherweight Grand Prix winner.
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Koya Urabe made his professional kickboxing debut against Shinichiro Ishii at Krush.
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Koya Urabe won the fight by a second-round technical knockout.
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Koya Urabe faced the one-time AJKF bantamweight title challenger Shota Takiya at Krush.
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Koya Urabe faced Toshiki Taniyama in a superfight at the 2009 K-1 Koshien FINAL 16, which took place on August 10,2009.
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Koya Urabe won the fight by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring every round of the bout for him.
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Koya Urabe faced Koichi Kaneda at MA Japan Kickboxing: TEKKEN in Kimitsu on September 6,2009, in his first fight outside of Krush.
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Koya Urabe returned to Krush to face Yukinori Nagano at Krush.
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Koya Urabe won the fight by split decision, after an extra fourth round was contested.
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Koya Urabe faced the 2009 RISE Super Featherweight Rookies Cup winner Fumiya Osawa at Krush-EX - Shinjuku Dog Fight on December 4,2009.
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Koya Urabe faced King Kohei in his final fight at super featherweight, before moving up to lightweight, at Krush-EX - New Generation on February 19,2010.
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Koya Urabe faced Shusuke Oishi in a non-tournament bout at the 2010 K-1 World MAX opening round event, which took place on May 2,2010.
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Koya Urabe faced the former two-time Martial Arts Japan Kickboxing Federation super featherweight champion Yuji Takeuchi on July 5,2010, in the reserve bout of the 2010 K-1 World MAX tournament.
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Koya Urabe faced the 2010 K-1 MAX Japan lightweight tournament winner Tetsuya Yamato at Krush.
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Koya Urabe knocked his opponent down in the first round with a right straight.
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Koya Urabe was awarded the unanimous decision victory following the extra fourth round.
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Koya Urabe failed to capture the championship however, as he lost by majority decision to Ryuji Kajiwara in the finals.
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Thanks to his prior success, Koya Urabe was place in the 2011 K-1 MAX Japan Lightweight Grand Prix, which took place on June 25,2011.
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Koya Urabe faced the reigning RISE super featherweight champion Yuki in the tournament quarterfinals.
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Koya Urabe came up short in a tournament final however, as he suffered a unanimous decision loss at the hands of Yuta Kubo.
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Two days later, it was confirmed Koya Urabe would take part in the 2011 Krush U-22 Lightweight Supernova Tournament.
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Koya Urabe faced Yuta Otaki in the opening round of the tournament on October 10,2011.
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Koya Urabe faced Keita Makihara in the tournament quarterfinals, which took place on the same day.
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Koya Urabe lost the fight by a career-first stoppage, as he was knocked out with a flying knee in the dying seconds of the opening round.
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Koya Urabe took part in the 2012 Krush U-22 Lightweight Supernova Tournament and was booked to face Kengo Sonoda in the quarterfinals, which took place on September 9,2012.
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Koya Urabe stopped Sonoda with a left straight to the body at the 2:37 minute mark of the second round.
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Koya Urabe faced Hiroto Yamaguchi in the tournament semifinals, which likewise took place on September 9,2012.
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Koya Urabe faced Hisaki Higashimoto in the tournament finals at Krush 24 on November 10,2012.
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Koya Urabe won the fight by technical knockout, 27 seconds into the third round.
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Koya Urabe faced Mikael Peynaud at Krush 25 on December 14,2012.
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Koya Urabe was disqualified in the first round, for punching after the referee had called for a break.
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Koya Urabe twice knocked Osawa down, with a head kick in the second round and with a left straight in the third round.
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Koya Urabe faced Xavier Bastard in the finals of the one-day tournament.
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Koya Urabe faced Kimimura at Big Bang - Road to Unity 14 on September 1,2013.
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Koya Urabe challenged the ISKA Super Lightweight World K-1 Rules champion Yetkin Ozkul at Best of Fight on May 1,2014, in Gueret, France, his first fight outside of Japan.
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Koya Urabe stopped Shota with a head kick in the finals seconds of the third round.
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Koya Urabe faced Denis Puric in the quarterfinals of the 2015 K-1 World Super Featherweight Grand Prix, which took place on January 18,2015.
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Koya Urabe knocked Puric down with a right hook early on in the opening round and dropped him with a knee strike to the body soon after, which resulted in an automatic technical knockout victory for him under the K-1 tournament rules.
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Koya Urabe stopped Yamamoto with a low kick at the 2:44 minute mark of the first round.
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Koya Urabe faced his brother Hirotaka in the Grand Prix finals.
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Koya Urabe faced Javier Hernandez in a non-title bout at K-1 World GP 2015 -55kg Championship Tournament on April 19,2015.
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Koya Urabe faced Konstantin Trishin in another non-title bout at K-1 World GP 2015 -70kg Championship Tournament on July 4,2015.
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Koya Urabe made his maiden K-1 Super Featherweight Championship defense against his brother Hirotaka Koya Urabe at K-1 World GP 2015 The Championship on November 21,2015.
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Koya Urabe had previously beaten Hirotaka by unanimous decision in the finals of the 2015 K-1 World Super Featherweight Grand Prix.
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Koya Urabe was knocked down with a knee strike in the second round and was knocked out with another knee strike in the third round.
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Koya Urabe faced Kouzi in the quarterfinals of the 2016 K-1 World Super Featherweight Grand Prix, which took place on April 24,2016.
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Koya Urabe faced the one-time Krush Super Featherweight title challenger Kotaro Shimano in the tournament semifinals.
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Koya Urabe stopped Shimano with low kicks near the beginning of the second round.
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Koya Urabe was booked to face the former It's Showtime World -61 kg champion Karim Bennoui in the quarterfinals of the 2016 K-1 World Super Featherweight Grand Prix, which took place on September 19,2016.
51.
Koya Urabe twice knocked Tebar down in the second round, both times with a left straight, which resulted in an automatic technical victory for him 51 seconds into the round.
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Koya Urabe fought a rematch with Taiga Kawabe, who had beaten him by decision in the 2016 K-1 Japan Super Featherweight Grand Prix, in the finals.
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Koya Urabe needed just 90 seconds to knock Taiga down three times and capture the tournament title.
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Koya Urabe faced Kongnapa Weerasakreck in the quarterfinals of the 2017 K-1 World Lightweight Grand Prix on February 25,2017.
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Koya Urabe next faced Cristian Spetcu at K-1 World GP 2017 Heavyweight Championship Tournament on November 23,2017.
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Koya Urabe challenged the K-1 Lightweight champion Wei Rui at K-1 World GP 2018: K'FESTA.
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Koya Urabe floored Rui with a straight left midway through the second round, which left the titleholder unable to rise from the canvas.
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Koya Urabe was stopped with a right cross 55 seconds into the fight.
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Koya Urabe faced the former Krush Super Lightweight champion Yuto Shinohara at K-1 World GP 2020 in Osaka on September 22,2020.
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Koya Urabe was awarded the unanimous decision after an extra fourth round was contested.
61.
Koya Urabe faced Hikaru Hasumi at K-1: K'Festa 4 Day 1 on March 21,2021.
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Koya Urabe faced Fumiya Osawa at K-1 World GP 2021 in Fukuoka on July 17,2021.
63.
Koya Urabe faced Hayato Suzuki at K-1 World MAX 2024 - World Tournament Opening Round on March 20,2024, in his return to the super lightweight division.
64.
On June 8,2024, Koya Urabe announced his retirement from competition on social media.