Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto

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Profile

Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto (born March 15, 1977) is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist who trains out of the Krazy Bee academy.

He stands 5 ft. 4 in. tall and has fought primarily in the lightweight division (155 lbs.) but reportedly walks around at 143 lbs..

He was the K-1 Hero's 2005 middleweight grand prix champion and currently fights as a featherweight (139 lbs.) for Dream.

Shooto

Norifumi Yamamoto made his professional mixed martial arts debut on March 2, 2001 as a part of Shooto: To The Top 2. He faced Japanese fighter, Masato Shiozawa and defeated him via unanimous decision after two rounds.

Once known as an Olympic gold medal hopeful in wrestling, "Kid" showed off his dangerous striking in his next bout as he KO'd Masashi Kameda 4:17 into round 1 at Shooto: To The Top 6.

Another TKO victory followed in his next bout, also under the Shooto banner. "Kid" then travelled to Hawaii to face future UFC veteran, Josh Thomson. The fight was halted in the second round due to a kick to the groin by Thomson. The fight was ruled a no contest.

In May of 2002, Yamamoto suffered the first professional loss of his career as he was stopped on cuts in just 30 seconds against Stephen Palling at Shooto: Treasure Hunt 6.

At Shooto: Treasure Hunt 10, "Kid" bounced back with devastating furiosity as he drew the ire of fans with a TKO over Japanese fighter, Tetsuo Katsuta. After the referee had called the fight in "Kid"'s favor for the TKO stoppage, Yamamoto continued raining down punches causing Katsuta to suffer several face fractures.

"Kid" headed back to Hawaii for another fight 8 months later, where he scored a unanimous decision victory over future UFC and WEC veteran, Jeff Curran.

Just under four months later, Yamamoto was back in Japan and under the Shooto banner as he knocked out Caleb Mitchell in just 40 seconds.

K-1

In 2004, "Kid" left Shooto for the also Japanese based, K-1 organization. For his first three bouts under the K-1 banner he fought almost exclusively as the only MMA bout on what was otherwise a K-1 kickboxing card.

In those three fights he defeated, Tony Valente (rear naked choke), Kazuya Yasuhiro (armbar) and Jadamba Narantungalag (KO).

Following those three bouts, "Kid" fought for the K-1 Hero's promotion. His first bout for that section of K-1 came against Australian, Ian James Schaffa. After just over two rounds, "Kid" prevailed via TKO stoppage.

At K-1 Hero's 3, Yamamoto entered the K-1 Hero's 8-man middleweight tournament which featured the quarter finals and semi finals on that night while the final would be held a little over three months later at the New Year's Eve show, K-1: Premium 2005 Dynamite!!.

In the opening round, Yamamoto faced legendary grappler, Royler Gracie. Early in the second round "Kid" caught Gracie with a punch that knocked him cold.

A little later that night, Yamamoto faced former two time UFC lightweight title challenger, Caol Uno. With less than a minute left in the second round the fight was called on a cut stoppage sustained to Uno's face, moving Yamamoto into the final.

At K-1: Premium 2005 Dynamite!!, Yamamoto faced UFC veteran, Genki Sudo for the middleweight tournament title. Yamamoto impressed as he scored a TKO, 4:39 in to round 1 to grab the title.

Yamamoto followed the tournament victory with the fastest knockout in K-1 Hero's history four months later as he dispatched Kazuyuki Miyata with a flying knee just four seconds into the bout.

"Kid" fought sporadically over the next two years, winning all three of his fights. He stopped Istvan Majoros with punches at the 2006 New Year's Eve show, decisioned Bibiano Fernandes in September of 2007 and scored a TKO victory over WEC veteran, Rani Yahya at the 2007 New Year's Eve show.

DREAM

In February of 2008, it was announced by Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG)- the controlling body behind K-1 Hero's - and former PRIDE executives from Dream Stage Entertainment that a new MMA organization entitled, DREAM, would replace K-1 Hero's. "Kid" Yamamoto was named as one of the possible competitors in the new organization.

"Kid" was set to make his DREAM debut at Dream 5 against Joseph Benavidez but a knee injury sustained by "Kid" had the fight called off just three days before it was scheduled to go ahead.

Yamamoto will instead make his DREAM debut in the second round of DREAM's 2009 featherweight grand prix. Initially meant to take his place in the first round on March 8, 2009, the knee injury sustained before the Benavidez fight ruled him out. However, due to his stature in the Japanese MMA community he was given a bye into the second round.