Hideo Tokoro

From CageWiki

1 Profile
2 Early Career and ZST
3 K-1 Hero's
4 DREAM
5 Mixed martial arts record
6 Gallery
7 External links

Profile

Hideo Tokoro (born August 22, 1977) is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist training out of the Reversal Gym.

He stands 5 ft. 7 in. (170 cm) tall and fights in the featherweight division (139 lbs.).

Hata is a veteran of the K-1 Hero's and DREAM organizations and is currently a participant in DREAM's 2009 Featherweight (139 lbs.) Grand Prix.

Early Career and ZST

Hideo Tokoro made his professional mixed martial arts debut at a Rings event on September 21, 2001. He faced future PRIDE and UFC competitor, Naoyuki Kotani and went down via majority decision after three rounds.

Tokoro won his next four fights in a variety of promotions with the last two wins coming in the Japan based, ZST promotion.

He dropped two bouts after that winning streak to Lithuanians, Antanas Jazbutis and Remigijus Morkevicius.

On November 23, 2003, Tokoro entered ZST's 16-man lightweight grand prix. He faced Masahiro Oishi in the opening round and submitted him with an armbar at 3:13 of round 1.

The quarter finals would be as far as Tokoro got however, as he was TKO'd with kicks two months later against Tomomi Iwama.

Tokoro won his next three, including a revenge triangle choke submission over Remigijus Morkevicius, before dropping a rematch to Naoyuki Kotani via heel hook submission.

He split his next four fights, going 2-2 against opponents while competing in both the ZST promotion and Shooto.

K-1 Hero's

On July 6, 2005, Tokoro moved into the K-1 Hero's promotion where he made his debut against former Shooto lightweight champion, Alexandre Franca Nogueira. Tokoro surprised many as he KO'd Nogueira with a spinning back fist to begin the third round.

Two months later, Tokoro entered Hero's middleweight tournament which featured such competitors as Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto, Caol Uno, Royler Gracie, and Genki Sudo. Tokoro faced Uno in the opening round and was defeated via unanimous decision.

After submitting Gabe Lemley in October, 2005, Tokoro had the highest profile bout of his career when he faced UFC and MMA legend, Royce Gracie at K-1: Premium 2005 Dynamite!!. The two fought to a draw after two 10 minute rounds.

Tokoro split his next two fights before entering the K-1 Hero's 2006 middleweight tournmaent at K-1 Hero's 6. He faced Kultar Gill in the opening round and was knocked out with a knee in just 43 seconds.

In the second round of the middleweight tournament, Tokoro went down again, this time via majority decision to UFC veteran, Ivan Menjivar.

Tokoro went on to pick up four victories in his next four fights which included a unanimous decision victory over Royler Gracie.

The streak was broken when he was stopped by Kultar Gill in July of 2007. He won his next bout but was then submitted via Kimura by Kiyoshi Tamura at K-1: Premium 2007 Dynamite!!.

DREAM

In June of 2008, Tokoro entered the newly created, DREAM organization at DREAM 4. In the promotion's first ever featherweight bout, Tokoro faced Darren Uyenoyama. In a very exciting bout, Tokoro pulled out a unanimous decision victory.

Tokoro returned just over a month later when he scored another unanimous decision victory, this time over Takeshi Yamazaki.

At DREAM 6 on September 23, 2008, Tokoro went down in a unanimous decision to talented Japanese fighter and future featherweight tournament competitor, Atsushi Yamamoto.

On New Year's Eve, Tokoro faced the much larger Daisuke Nakamura at K-1: Dynamite!! Power of Courage 2008. Tokoro tried hard but was ultimately outsized and submitted with an armbar at 2:23 of round 1.

In early 2009, Tokoro was selected as a competitor for DREAM's 2009 Featherweight (139 lbs.) Grand Prix. He will face Daiki Hata in the opening round at DREAM 8.