Hiroshi Izumi

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Hiroshi Izumi
泉浩
Born (1982-06-22) June 22, 1982 (age 42)
Shimokita District Aomori, Japan
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight203 lb (92 kg; 14 st 7 lb)
Division Light Heavyweight (205 lb)
Style Judo
Fighting out of Shimokita District Aomori, Japan
Years active2009 – present
Mixed martial arts record
Total6
Wins4
By knockout2
By decision2
Losses2
By knockout2
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
Judo career
Weight class 90 kg
Rank      6th dan black belt
Sports achievements and titles
Olympic Games Silver medal.svg (2004)
World Champ. Gold medal world centered-2.svg (2005)
Asian Champ. Gold medal asia.svg (2008)
Medal record
Men's judo
Representing Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
Olympic Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2004 Athens 90 kg
World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2005 Cairo 90 kg
Asian Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2006 Doha 90 kg
Asian Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2008 Jeju 90 kg
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2004 Almaty 90 kg
East Asian Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2007 Shenzhen 90 kg
Summer Universiade
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2003 Jeju 90 kg
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2002 Novi Sad 90 kg
Profile at external judo databases
IJF 52687
JudoInside.com 13540
Last updated on: July 7, 2011

Hiroshi Izumi (Japanese : 泉浩; born June 22, 1982, in Shimokita District Aomori) is a Japanese judoka and mixed martial artist. He has fought in World Victory Road and had a one-fight stint in the Dream promotion for the Dream Light Heavyweight Championship. Izumi also appeared in both Dynamite!! 2009 and Dynamite!! 2010 New Year's Eve events.

Contents

Background

Izumi was born in Aomori, Japan, and comes from a fishing family in the Shimokita Peninsula. His father, who can often be seen spectating his son's judo and MMA matches, still fishes for bluefin tuna at over 70 years of age. Izumi began judo at a young age and is known as a very accomplished judoka, winning the men's -90 kg category silver medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004 [1] and the gold medal at the World Judo Championship Games in Cairo, Egypt in 2005.

Mixed martial arts

Izumi made his mixed martial arts debut against New Zealand kickboxing specialist, Antz Nansen for Japan's Sengoku promotion in September 2009 after Izumi signed with World Victory Road. Instead of using his judo techniques to his advantage during his debut, Izumi attempted to trade punches with the world-class striker. Izumi was beaten badly in his debut and lost the fight by TKO.

After his poor performance in his debut, Izumi began turning his mixed martial arts career around. At Dynamite!! 2009, representing Sengoku, he won via unanimous decision over Katsuyori Shibata. After being dominated through the first few rounds, Izumi came back in the second half of the very final round, landing a great sequence of punches and controlling Shibata on the ground, where he utilized many hammerfists. This win was very significant because Izumi's father was vocal in saying that if Izumi was defeated again, that he would take his son out of MMA and return to judo.

Izumi followed this win up with 3 more wins, including one at Dynamite!! 2010, against former PRIDE veteran and Dream Super Hulk Tournament Champion Ikuhisa Minowa by TKO. This is perhaps the biggest win of Izumi's career to date.

Izumi then earned a title shot at Gegard Mousasi for the Dream Light Heavyweight Championship, but lost by TKO. [2]

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown
6 matches4 wins2 losses
By knockout22
By decision20
Res.RecordOpponentMethodEventDateRoundTimeLocationNotes
Loss4–2 Gegard Mousasi TKO (punches) Dream: Japan GP Final July 16, 201113:28 Tokyo, JapanFor Dream Light Heavyweight Championship
Win4–1 Ikuhisa Minowa TKO (punches) Dynamite!! 2010 December 31, 201032:50 Saitama, Saitama, JapanOpenweight bout
Win3–1James ZikicDecision (split) World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku Raiden Championships 15 October 30, 201035:00 Tokyo, Japan
Win2–1Chang Seob LeeTKO (punches) World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku Raiden Championships 13 June 20, 201014:37 Tokyo, Japan
Win1–1 Katsuyori Shibata Decision (unanimous) Dynamite!! 2009 December 31, 200935:00 Saitama, Saitama, Japan
Loss0–1 Antz Nansen TKO (punches) World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku 10 September 23, 200912:56 Saitama, Saitama, Japan

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References

  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Hiroshi Izumi". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2016-12-04.
  2. 8.2『戦極~第九陣~』全カード決定! 吉田は参戦見送り!! (in Japanese). 2009-07-07. Archived from the original on 2009-07-10. Retrieved 2009-07-07.