Kenichi Yamamoto

Kenichi Yamamoto (山本 喧一) is a Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. Known for his career in UWF International, Yamamoto competed against some of the best fighters in his era with RINGS, Pride and the UFC, taking on Kevin Randleman, Genki Sudo and Pat Miletich, among others.

He returned to the ring against former Pancrase Light Heavyweight titlist Keiichiro Yamamiya on Oct. 27, 2012. He lost via unanimous decision.

Career
A fan of Akira Maeda, Yamamoto started to train in karate since his chilhood, entering the Seidokaikan school before turning his attention to professional wrestling. In 1993, he was accepted in Union of Wrestling Forces International and debuted on October 14 in a match against Kazushi Sakuraba. After two years on the mid card, he joined Yoji Anjo and Yoshihiro Takayama to form the Golden Cups stable, in which he gained fame. In 1996, UWF International closed and Yamamoto moved to Kingdom, before eventually joining Fighting Network Rings in 1998. While in Rings, he had to skipe several months of action due to a surgery to remove a benign tumor, and ended leaving the company in 1999.

In November 1999 Yamamoto had his Ultimate Fighting Championship at the UFC 23 event, taking part on the night's tournament. His first opponent was Wajutsu Keishukai representative Daiju Takase. The fight was slow, with Yamamoto being the superior striker and Takase constantly pulling guard to stop the action, so Kenichi resorted to headbutts to the midsecion to damage him and even performed a cartwheel guard pass inspired on his training partner Sakuraba. Takase tried some high kicks and a triangle choke, but Yamamoto blocked them and landed punches and elbow strikes to the body, winning the decision. The final fight was against Katsuhisa Fujii, which proved to be a tougher bout. Fujii took Yamamoto down several times and attacked with ground and pound, consistently endangering the former Rings wrestler. At the end, however, Kenichi surprised Fujii with a kneebar from the guard and made him tap, winning the fight and the tournament.

In wrestling

 * Finishing moves
 * Cross armbar
 * Capture suplex
 * Signature moves
 * Kneebar
 * Rear naked choke
 * Roundhouse kick

Championships and accomplishments

 * Ultimate Fighting Championship
 * UFC 23 Middleweight Tournament Champion
 * Wrestle Association "R"
 * WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Yoji Anjo & Yoshihiro Takayama