Ikuhisa Minowa

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Profile

Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa (born January 12, 1976) is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist and professional wrestler.

He stands 5 ft. 9 in. (175cm) tall and fights primarily in the middleweight division (183 lbs.).

Minowa is a veteran of over 70 professional mixed martial arts bouts, having performed in organizations such as Pancrase, DEEP, UFC, PRIDE, K-1 and currently fights for Japanese promotion, DREAM.

For a long time Minowa went under the nickname, "The Punk" but midway through the 2000s he became the superhero, Minowaman.

Pancrase, UFC, DEEP

Ikuhisa Minowa made his professional mixed martial arts debut on March 30, 1996 in Japan under the Lumax Cup banner. He was defeated in his debut by Yuzo Tateishi via decision after two rounds.

Minowa picked up his first professional victory in his next bout when he submitted Haygar Chin in his first bout for the Pancrase organization with a kneebar.

In his next eight bouts - all under the Pancrase banner - spanning until April 26, 1998, Minowa went 0-7-1, losing to notable fighters, Yuki Kondo (toe hold), Takafumi Ito (toe hold), and Jason Delucia (choke).

Minowa finally put another win on the board on June 2, 1998 when he defeated Adrian Serrano via decision after 10 minutes. He would pick up a draw in his next bout before losing to future UFC middleweight champion, Evan Tanner via arm triangle choke in the first round.

After fighting to a draw with Travis Fulton, Minowa picked up five consecutive victories over lower level Japanese opponents. The win streak was halted with successive draws in April and May of 1999 before being snapped in a rematch to Jason Delucia in June, which he lost by decision.

Minowa entered Pancrase's 1999 Neo-Blood Tournament on August 1, 1999 and took out the tournament with three successive submission victories over Daiju Takase, Daisuke Watanabe and Minoru Toyonaga.

On September 18, 1999, Minowa faced off against 6 ft. 11 in. Semmy Schilt and was defeated by unanimous decision after 15 minutes.

Minowa rounded out 1999 with a heel hook submission win over Adrian Serrano and a 15 minute draw with Chris Lytle.

The year 2000 was a successful year for Minowa as he went 6-1 which included his UFC debut at UFC 25 against Joe Slick (a cut stoppage victory) and a toe hold submission win over future UFC competitor, Brian Gassaway.

Minowa kicked off 2001 with a three round draw with American Top Team trainer, Ricardo Liborio at DEEP's inaugural event. That draw was followed by a decision to loss to middleweight stand out, Paulo Filho in March.

He got back on track with consecutive victories before dropping a fight via cut stoppage to Sanae Kikuta in September. He closed out 2001 with two more victories.

2002 saw Minowa go 1-2-1 with a notable loss to Japanese standout, Kiyoshi Tamura and his second victory over Yuki Sasaki at a Pancrase event in November.

In February of 2003, Minowa was defeated by Renzo Gracie protege, Ricardo Almeida via unanimous decision. He followed that loss with a kneebar submission win, seven months later over Brazilian, Silmar Rodrigo for the Brazil Super Fight organization.

PRIDE

With a record of 23-18-8 and more importantly a reputation for putting on a show, Minowa was signed to fight for the premiere Japanese organization, the PRIDE Fighting Championships.

He made his PRIDE debut at PRIDE: Shockwave 2003 on New Year's Eve, 2003 against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. Minowa put up a valiant effort against his much larger opponent but was ultimately overwhelmed and stopped in the second round with punches.

In February of 2004, Minowa faced PRIDE middleweight champion, Wanderlei Silva as the main event of PRIDE: Bushido 2. The fight was quick and brutal as Silva knocked Minowa cold with ground and pound in 1:04 of round 1.

Minowa hoped to rebound from the loss at PRIDE: Bushido 3 when he faced Ryan Gracie in a bout that was labelled as a grudge match. The evening started with Gracie flipping Minowa off at the opening ceremony and ended with Gracie being awarded a dubious split decision victory after he controlled the fight early but was getting run over by a furious Minowa at the end of the fight.

After getting a win outside of PRIDE to get his confidence back up, Minowa arrived at PRIDE: Bushido 4 determined to get his first PRIDE win. And win he did, as he stopped Japanse fighter, Kenichi Yamamoto with punches at 3:23 of round 1.

Minowa was awarded a close split decision win over Ryuki Ueyama at PRIDE: Bushido 5 before being matched up against highly touted kickboxer, Stefan Leko at PRIDE: Shockwave 2004. In one of the most hilarious bouts in MMA history, Minowa started the bout with a flying dropkick which he somehow transitioned into a heel hook submission victory at just 27 seconds of round 1.

On April 3, 2005, Minowa picked up his fifth successive victory and his fourth in PRIDE as he scored a toe hold submission win over dangerous Dutch striker, Gilbert Yvel at PRIDE: Bushido 6.

A little over a month later, Minowa faced PRIDE debutant and former UFC competitor, Phil Baroni. In a tough back and forth fight, Baroni came out on top, forcing the referee to stop the bout in the second round due to stomps.

Minowa rebounded from the loss with an achilles lock submission win over former UFC competitor, Kimo Leopoldo at PRIDE: Bushido 8.

At PRIDE: Bushido 9, Minowa entered PRIDE's 2005 Welterweight (183 lbs.) Tournament. He faced Phil Baroni in the opening round and would come out on top this time around as he scored a unanimous decision victory after two rounds.

Later that night, Minowa faced former UFC middleweight champion, Murilo Bustamante. Minowa gave a decent account of himself but was eventually stopped with strikes with nine seconds left in the first round.

At PRIDE: Shockwave 2005, Minowa faced Japanese legend, Kazushi Sakuraba. Minowa threatened on the ground but was caught with a kimura in the dying seconds of round 1 which forced the referee to stop the fight.

Minowa headed over to the British Cage Rage organization in February of 2006 where he picked up an achilles lock submission win over Dave Legeno. He returned to PRIDE at PRIDE: Bushido 10 where he faced 7 ft. 2 in. goliath, Giant Silva. Minowa scored a single leg takedown early and then rained down knees on the hapless Silva until the referee stopped the fight.

On May 5, 2006, Minowa was strangely included in PRIDE's 2006 Open Weight Tournament. The opening round was held at PRIDE: Total Elimination Absolute and Minowa faced highly ranked heavyweight and fearsome striker, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic. Unsurprisingly, Minowa was no match for Cro Cop as he was battered and stopped on strikes in just 1:10.

Just a few weeks later, Minowa submitted Hyun Gab Park at a DEEP event before returning to PRIDE at PRIDE: Bushido 12 where he submitted overweight boxer, Eric Esch with an armbar in 4:25 of round 1.

At PRIDE: Bushido 13, Minowa picked up his last ever PRIDE victory when he scored a unanimous decision victory over Mike Plotcheck after two rounds.

Minowa's last ever fight in PRIDE came a little over a month later when he was defeated by Kiyoshi Tamura for the second time at PRIDE: Shockwave 2006 by soccer kicks in just over a minute.

DREAM

Following the demise of PRIDE, Minowa kept busy in some smaller Japanese organizations - going 2-0 - before signing to fight for K-1. He had three fights under the K-1 banner, defeating Kevin Casey and Min-Soo Kim by TKO before facing unskilled man mountain, Zuluzinho at K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite!!. Outweighed by close to 200 lbs. Minowa's corner threw in the towel after two and a half rounds of punishment.

In early 2008, Minowa signed to fight with the newly created, DREAM promotion. He made his DREAM debut at their inaugural event - DREAM 1 - against MMA debutant and former Korean baseball player, Bum Chan Kang. Minowa submitted Kang in 1:25 with a kneebar.

At DREAM 2, Minowa entered DREAM's 2008 Middleweight (183 lbs.) Tournament and was defeated in the opening round by fellow Japanese fighter, Taiei Kin by unanimous decision.

Out of the tournament, Minowa returned to the DEEP promotion to keep himself active. He faced former UFC and PRIDE standout, Don Frye who he submitted with a kneebar in just under four minutes.

Minowa was back in DREAM at DREAM 6 where he faced Pancrase legend, Masakatsu Funaki. Minowa was surprisingly submitted by Funaki with a heel hook in just 52 seconds.

At K-1: Dynamite!! Power of Courage 2008 on New Year's Eve, 2008, Minowa faced K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 semi-finalist and MMA debutant, Errol Zimmerman. Minowa submitted the inexperienced Zimmerman with a toe hold in 1:01 of round 1.

Minowa kicked off 2009 with a bout against Japanese professional wrestler, Katsuyori Shibata at DREAM 8. Minowa was the favorite heading into the bout but was outworked by Shibata, losing a unanimous decision after two rounds.

Minowa will next compete at DREAM 9 as past of the crazy 8-man Super Hulk Tournament. He will face former NFL player and PRIDE and K-1 star, Bob Sapp in the opening round.