Japanese MMA Fighters To Watch Out For In 2025

 This is the annual list of Japanese prospects for 2025. Arisa Matsuda did not face strong opponents in 2024, but if she fights against stiffer competition this year then she will be back on the next list.

Kazuki Aimoto  (7-0-0)

 When Aimoto made his debut, I did not pay a lot of attention to him at that time. He did not have a martial arts background and began training with friends in tunnels or at parks. He doesn’t have a particular long-term gym yet, but he has improved his record to 7-0. I’m not sure how well he will fare against tougher opponents if he maintains his current training style, but I suspect that he will land himself in Rizin in the future if he can keep winning.

 

Yuto Suzuki  (6-0-0)

Having just turned 19 years old, Suzuki is a striker from Paraestra Hachioji, where former Rizin champion Chihiro Suzuki used to train. He is used to training with other strikers and has knocked out five straight opponents, including two within the first minute. Along with our next entry on this list, Suzuki is one of the best young prospects in the lightweight division.

Tenya Yoshimura  (4-1-0)

 Like Suzuki, 20-year-old Yoshimura is another bright young lightweight prospect. Three of his victories have come via first-round TKOs and his only defeat was as a result of an illegal grounded knee strike. With his aggressive striking style, taught to him by Kenji Osawa, we will see Yoshimura competing for a major promotion in the future.

Yannick Yuji Ephoeviga  (10-0-0)

Ephoeviga’s 2024 campaign was highlighted by a knockout win over Emmanuel Sanchez in August. He then won Shooto’s Pacific Rim lightweight title in November and will defend it against Shinsuke Nishio this month. I would like to see Ephoeviga matched up against more foreign opponents to test him, but we will see him in a larger promotion.

Yunosuke Minami  (4-0-0, 1 NC)

Minami has a Goju-ryu karate background and had a good record, but he wanted to be able to strike the head and so he chose to switch to MMA for his career. Minami knocked out Temuulen Algirmaa in July, which was important for him because he defeated an experienced foreign opponent so early in his career. He will aim to win a Gladiator title and that would catch the attention of a major promotion.

Shuya Kimura  (4-0-0)

 Kimura was a Nippon Kempo champion. Yusaku Nakamura is the best-known MMA fighter with that martial arts background, but Nakamura credits Kimura as being on a much higher level than him in terms of Nippon Kempo skill. In MMA, Kimura has quickly knocked out all four of his opponents so far, with his longest fight lasting only 76 seconds. My evaluation for Kimura’s potential is high.

 Big thanks to Robert Sargent  (MMA Rising) for English editing.

Japanese MMA Fighters To Watch Out For In 2024

 This annual Japanese prospects list for 2024 includes four fighters from DEEP, DEEP JEWELS, Pancrase and Shooto.

Arisa Matsuda  (4-0-0)

Arisa is a former professional baseball player who is now known for her undefeated MMA record. She first brought attention to herself when she defeated Mika Nagano in 2022. Arisa’s sprawl allowed her to stop Mika’s takedowns and she was effective with her own ground and pound when she got Mika down.

 
In 2023, Arisa fought Machi Fukuda for the DEEP JEWELS interim strawweight title. Arisa sprawled well in the first two rounds and bloodied Machi’s nose with punches. Machi won the third round with her grappling, but Arisa took a split decision for the belt. She will gain more attention with her title this year.


Tokitaka Nakanishi  (10-2-0)

Tokitaka is known for being a former featherweight King of Pancrase champion. He dropped down a division in 2023 and faced Yasuhiro Kawamura at Pancrase 340. Tokitaka escaped from a leg scissors choke from Yasuhiro and finished him with an arm-triangle choke to become bantamweight King of Pancrase.


Yannick Yuji Ephoeviga  (6-0-0)

We first featured Yuji in last year’s prospects list. He received an opportunity to fight for Combate Global with Abema TV support, which is a rare opportunity abroad for a Japanese fighter early in their career. Yuji TKOed Geralbert Castillo in that fight and finished 4-0 overall in 2023.


Kyoma Akimoto  (4-0-0)

Kyoma is only 17, but he has already scored two knockouts as a pro fighter. The DEEP flyweight division has many talented fighters, and Kyoma is still young in his career and life, but he plans to win the DEEP title before he turns 20. He is from the same gym as Hiromasa Ougikubo and Rei Tsuruya.

Japanese MMA Fighters To Watch Out For In 2023

This is the annual prospect list series for 2023. This edition has six prospects from Shooto, Pancrase, DEEP and Fighting Nexus.

Current Japanese MMA organizations can offer direct communication to fans with fight videos. This has especially been true with Mikuru Asakura's YouTube popularity, so this is the best time to enjoy a Japanese MMA rookie’s videos.
 

Rei Tsuruya  (6-0-0)

Rei was included in last year’s list, but he has not yet been picked up by a major organization. He chose Pancrase to build his career because he wanted stronger opponents, and he beat Satoru Enomoto to win the flyweight King of Pancrase title. Rei has become one of the faces of Pancrase, but he will surely land himself a spot in a major organization soon. His hope is to sign with the UFC, but he also has an interest in facing John Dodson, who fought at Rizin's NYE event.




Wataru Yamauchi  (5-0-0)

Wataru's 2022 ended with a TKO win against Kiyotaka Shimizu. That fight impressed me. Kiyotaka is a veteran who has had many fights against big name flyweights. Wataru's TKO of him was only Kiyotaka’s second KO/TKO loss in his long career. Defeating Kiyotaka at such a young age automatically placed Wataru on my rookie list.


Takeji Yokoyama  (4-0-0)

Takeji was known from the grappling scene where he was a rival of Kleber Koike (Kleber was the winner of this rivalry, though). This year, he beat Sora Yamamoto, who is one of the young up-and-comers in Rizin. The win earned Takeji the Fighting Nexus featherweight title. Takeji’s main focus is on jiu-jitsu, and I am curious whether he may have better jiu-jitsu than Rizin’s featherweight roster (except Kleber).


Hiroto Gomyo  (3-0-0)

Hiroto has a Shotokan Karate background. He was the 2019 All-Japan Karatedo Champion. Hiroto is a gym mate of Japanese MMA star Mikuru Asakura, and he has adapted takedowns well. He can choose to strike or take opponents down, and has clever distance making and counterattacks. Hiroto will next fight Kouya Kanda for the DEEP interim featherweight title.




Ayaka Watanabe  (2-1-0)

Ayaka is from the Japanese MMA gym AACC, which has a reputation for training and developing female fighters. She surprised many audience members at Shooto’s first event in 2023 when she KOed durable former champion Mina Kurobe, who had only been stopped by strikes once before this during her 25-fight career. Ayaka has taken on the hardest route for her career. Her second fight was against Emi Fujino, which is Ayaka’s only loss, and then she got her biggest win in only her third pro fight. I think she will have more big fights soon in her career.


Yannick Yuji Ephoeviga  (3-0-0)

Yuji scored a TKO win against Tatsuya Tanaka in just 80 seconds at Shooto’s first event of this year. He won the 2022 Shooto Rookie tournament at welterweight with that victory. Yuji declared that he will drop to lightweight, He already showed TKO power at 170, but dropping down a division will create more of a power advantage and more violence for sure.

Big thanks to Robert Sargent  (MMA Rising) for English editing.