Nicky Ryan vs. Masakazu Imanari

The Young Prodigy Takes The Win At Polaris!

This past weekend in Cardiff, Wales, BJJ fans were treated to a match between BJJ “prodigy” 17 year old Nicky Ryan and Japanese MMA and leglock legend, Masakazu Imanari.  The match was an exciting back and forth match, with each competitors attacking each other’s legs, before Nicky was able to take Imanari’s back and win by Rear Naked Choke in the final minutes of their match to become the Polaris lightweight champion.

Masakazu Imanari Biography

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Masakazu Imanari is an accomplished grappler and mixed martial artist who is universally known for his skill and preference for leglocks, earning him the nickname of “Ashikan Judan”- the Great Master of Leg Submissions.  One of his favorite moves is the heel hook, which he has created a unique entry from the stand up position to a forward roll, aptly named the "Imanari Roll" - which is a popular technique in both grappling competitions, as well as MMA fights (BJJ black belt and UFC fighter Ryan Hall has used this technique with great success in the UFC).

Imanari currently competes in the Featherweight division of One Championships.  He has been a professional fighter since 2000, fighting in DEEEP, ZST, Pancrase, Pride Fighting Championships and Cage Rage.  He is a former Cage Rage Featherweight Champion, DEEP Bantamweight Champion, two time DEEP Featherweight Champion, and DREAM Japan Grand Prix Finalist.  

Imanari was born on February 10, 1976 in Hadano, Kanagawa, Japan.  He was afflicted with a spinal condition as a child which required surgery three times.  At the age of 18, he began to train kickboxing and catch wrestling at the Fujiwara Dojo. He later moved to Antonio Inoki’s Universal Fighting Arts and Kingdom Ehrgeiz, where he trained shoot fighting and MMA under Hidetada Irie.  

Imanari received his A-Level Shoot wrestler (catch wrestling) status from Yuki Nakai under the Paraestra team and later received his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under Marco Barbosa of Barbosa Jiu Jitsu.  In 2008, Imanari founded the Nippon Top Team with Japanese MMA stars Shinya Aoki and Satoru Kitaoka, and is currently a member of Team Roken.

Imanari’s Incredible MMA Career

Imanari has a MMA record of 57 total fights, with 37 wins (1 by knockout, 26 by submission, and 10 by decision), with 18 losses (4 by knockout, 14 by decision), and 2 draws.  

Through his 18 year fighting career, Imanari has had numerous fantastic wins and finishes, including defeating former UFC fighter Jorge Gurge and former WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Brown, both by heel hook.   He also became the Cage Rage World Featherweight Champion by defeating Robbie Olivier with a flying armbar, and defended his Cage Rage belt by winning by reverse heel hook against Jean Silva.

MMA Fights:  

10/26/2018	Win	Radeem Rahman	One Championship	Submission - Arm Bar
1/20/2018	Loss	Yusup Saadulaev	One Championship	Decision
3/18/2017	Win	Juri Ohara	Deep	Submission -Heel Hook
10/18/2016	Win	Yoshihiko Shinzato	Deep	Submission -Heel Hook
8/27/2016	Loss	Jae Eun Byeon	Deep	Decision
4/23/2016	Win	Nam Phan	Deep	Submission -Heel Hook
12/20/2015	Loss	Kazunori Yokota	Deep	Decision
8/29/2015	Win	Mun Hwan Yang	Deep	Submission - Ankle Lock
5/30/2015	Win	Cristian Binda	VFC	Submission
4/5/2015	Win	Daisuke Maku	Deep	Submission - Arm Bar
2/8/2015	Win	Kenichi Ito	GrandSlam 2	Submission - Rear Naked Choke
10/26/2014	Loss	Mizuto Hirota	Deep	TKO/RSC
8/23/2014	Win	Chan Jung Park	Deep	Submission - Heel Hook
6/22/2014	Loss	Haruo Ochi	Deep	TKO/RSC
3/22/2014	Loss	Yuki Motoya	Deep	Decision
2/16/2013	Win	Kenichi Ito	Deep	Decision
8/18/2012	Win	Masahiro Oishi	Deep	Submission - Toe Hold
6/23/2012	Loss	Leandro Thomas Issa	One FC	Decision
3/31/2012	Win	Kevin Belingon	One FC	Submission - Heel Hook
12/31/2011	Loss	Antonio Banuelos	Dream	Decision
9/24/2011	Win	Abel Cullum	Dream	Submission - Arm Bar
7/16/2011	Loss	Hideo Tokoro	Dream	Decision
5/29/2011	Win	Keisuke Fujiwara	Dream	Decision
5/29/2011	Win	Kenji Osawa	Dream	Submission - Ankle Lock
2/25/2011	Loss	Hiroshi Nakamura	Deep	Decision
10/24/2010	Win	Taiki Hata	Deep	Decision
8/27/2010	Win	Tomoya Miyashita	Deep	Decision
4/17/2010	Win	Isao Terada	Deep	Submission - Arm Bar
8/23/2009	Win	Tomohiko Hori	Deep	Decision
5/26/2009	Loss	Bibiano Fernandes	Dream	Decision
3/8/2009	Win	Atsushi Yamamoto	Dream	Decision
8/17/2008	Win	Hiroshi Umemura	Deep	Submission - Heel Hook
5/19/2008	Loss	Dokonjonosuke Mishima	Deep	Decision
3/8/2008	Win	Jean Silva	Cage Rage	Submission - Heel Hook
8/5/2007	Win	Jong Man Kim	Deep	Submission - Arm Bar
2/10/2007	Win	Robbie Olivier	Cage Rage	Submission - Arm Bar
10/10/2006	Win	Takeshi Yamazaki	Deep	KO
8/4/2006	Loss	Fredson Paixao	Deep	Decision
12/2/2005	Win	Mike Brown	Deep	Submission - Ankle Lock
12/2/2005	Win	Yoshiro Maeda	Deep	Submission - Ankle Lock
10/28/2005	Win	Fabio Mello	Deep	Decision
7/17/2005	Loss	Joachim Hansen	Pride	KO
2/12/2005	Draw	Yoshiro Maeda	Deep	Draw
12/18/2004	Win	Renato Tavares	Deep	Submission - Heel Hook
10/14/2004	Loss	Luiz Carvalho Jr.	Pride	Decision
1/11/2004	Loss	Marcus Aurelio	ZST	Decision
11/23/2003	Win	Jorge Gurgel	ZST	Submission - Heel Hook
7/13/2003	Loss	Dokonjonosuke Mishima	Deep	TKO/RSC
6/1/2003	Win	Danny Batten	ZST	Submission - Arm Bar
3/9/2003	Win	Erikas Petraitis	ZST	Decision
9/29/2002	Win	Yuji Oba	Pancrase	Decision
5/6/2002	Win	Tokusaburo Iwana	Premium Challenge	Submission - Heel Hook

 

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