Sanae Kikuta is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division.
18 Facts About Sanae Kikuta
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Sanae Kikuta started training in Judo in his junior high school.
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Sanae Kikuta learned under Toshihiko Koga at the Nippon Sport Science University.
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Sanae Kikuta left college and went to train Kickboxing under Stan Longinidis in Australia.
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Sanae Kikuta had his MMA debut for the first tournament hosted in 1996 by Lumax Cup, which featured the use of keikogi.
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Sanae Kikuta then went to compete in the Vale Tudo Japan event, but was defeated by Mushtaq Abdullah by forearm choke.
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Sanae Kikuta made his worldwide MMA debut for the PRIDE promotion at its second event, where he faced Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert Renzo Gracie in a special rules match.
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Sanae Kikuta returned to PRIDE to face Takada Dojo understudy Daijiro Matsui.
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At UFO Legend, Sanae Kikuta fought PRIDE competitor Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
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Sanae Kikuta pressed from the top, but Nogueira regained full guard and scrambled to switch positions again, where the Japanese defended again from half guard.
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Sanae Kikuta fought again for PRIDE in the event Shockwave 2005, taking on Makoto Takimoto, judo gold medalist and apprentice to Hidehiko Yoshida.
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Kikuta opened the fight pulling guard, after which the two judoka traded positions and submission attempts with Sanae coming over in most of them.
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Sanae Kikuta scored big victories over veterans Minoru Suzuki and Ryushi Yanagisawa, and shortly after he founded the Grabaka team along with Genki Sudo, Eiji Ishikawa and Hiroo Matsunaga.
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Sanae Kikuta defeated Eugene Jackson in dominant fashion, taking him down and locking an armbar for the submission.
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On January 4,2009, at World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku Rebellion 2009, Sanae Kikuta faced fellow judoka Hidehiko Yoshida.
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The bout started characteristically slow, with Sanae Kikuta taking Yoshida down and tentatively exchanging strikes with him.
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At the second round, Sanae Kikuta opted for pulling guard and pursuing an ankle lock, but Yoshida remained on top and landed several punches through his guard.
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The third round saw Yoshida stunning Kikuta with a punch and scoring a judo throw, but Sanae took his back and kept striking on him for the rest of the match, eventually winning the decision.