(born March 15, 1973) is a Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, competing in the

light heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

division who fought most of his career in Fighting Network RINGS (RINGS). As a professional wrestler, he notably competed in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). In MMA, Naruse was the first and only RINGS Light-Heavyweight Champion and a former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion in professional wrestling.

Mixed martial arts career

Naruse started practising shotokan karate in high school before turning his attention to puroresu. He was eventually accepted in Fighting Network RINGS and trained under his chairman

Akira Maeda (born Go Il-myeong (Hangul: 고일명, Hanja: 高日明), January 24, 1959) is a Japanese mixed martial arts promoter, writer and retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist of Korean descent. Maeda was also known by the ring name K ...

Fighting Network RINGS

A longtime competitor in RINGS before the organization began hosting MMA bouts. Naruse experienced little success early in his shootfighting career, dropping six of his first seven mixed martial arts bouts, including fights against Valentijn Overeem and

Magomedkhan Gamzatkhanov Magomedkhan Amanulayevich Gamzatkhanov (russian: Магомедха́н Аманула́евич Гамзатха́нов; born April 15, 1961), is a Russian retired mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, sambo wrestler and former military ...

(commonly referred to by his nickname Volk Han). He turned things around as a participant in the eight-man Light Heavyweight title tournament in 1997, defeating Lee Hasdell, Wataru Sakata and Chris Haseman en route to becoming the first RINGS Light Heavyweight Champion. He then went 3–6 over his next nine fights before RINGS dissolved in 2002.

After RINGS

After wrestling for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Naruse decided to go back to competing in MMA. On December 31, 2003, he defeated Jan Nortje by rear-naked choke at K-1 PREMIUM 2003 Dynamite!!. He then defeated Tommy Williams via armbar at Jungle Fight 3 in Brazil.

Return to MMA

Nine years after retiring in 2004, Naruse returned to MMA on October 27, 2013, as he lost to Sanae Kikuta via armbar at Grabaka Live! 3. Naruse then faced Japanese MMA legend Yuki Kondo at Pancrase: 257 on March 30, 2014. He lost the fight via majority decision.

Professional wrestling career

Fighting Network RINGS

Naruse debuted for Fighting Network RINGS in 1992 where he was billed as a scrappy junior heavyweight. Among the wrestlers he took on during the organization's puroresu days include Heavyweight wrestler Yoshihisa Yamomoto, kickboxer Nobuaki Kakuta, UFC 10 participant Dieseul Berto, Volk Han, MMA veteran Satoshi Honma and future tag team partner Mitsuya Nagai. Naruse and other RINGS wrestlers made the transition to mixed martial arts with the promotion in 1995.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling

In 2001 with RINGS on the verge of collapse, he moved to New Japan Pro-Wrestling. It was a well timed move as owner

Antonio Inoki Muhammad Hussain Inoki (born ; February 20, 1943 – October 1, 2022) was a Japanese professional wrestler, martial artist, politician, and promoter of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. He was best known by the ring name , a homag ...

was giving former MMA fighters immediate pushes & he was immediately placed into a feud with Minoru Tanaka, who used to work for BattlARTS, RINGS' rival promotion. Within 4 months of his debut, Naruse captured the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship from his rival Tanaka. He fought for NJPW from 2001 to 2006, defending his Junior Heavyweight title against Shinya Makabe and El Samurai before losing his belt to Tokimitsu Ishizawa, later Kendo Kashin. His next chance at the title was as one of 11 competitors in a Battle Royal on October 13, 2003 which as won by Jado. Naruse paired with Mitsuya Nagai to win the All Asia Tag Team Championship on July 26, 2004 against

Genichiro Tenryu , better known as is a retired Japanese professional wrestler and professional wrestling promoter. At age 13, he entered sumo wrestling and stayed there for 13 years, after which he turned to Western-style professional wrestling. "Tenryu" was his ...

and Masanobu Fuchi. They defended the belt three times before losing to Barry Buchanan and Rico Constantino on February 2, 2005. His last bout came on January 8, 2006 against Takashi Iizuka, his 375th career match for New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

Championships and accomplishments

Professional wrestling

* All Japan Pro Wrestling :* All Asia Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Mitsuya Nagai * New Japan Pro-Wrestling :* IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) :*G1 Jr. Six Man Tag Team Tournament (2001) – with Minoru Tanaka and Masahito Kakihara

Mixed martial arts

* Fighting Network RINGS ** First and only RINGS Light Heavyweight Champion

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 9–14 , Yuki Kondo , Decision (majority) , Pancrase: 257 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 , Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–13 , Sanae Kikuta , Submission (armbar) , Grabaka: Grabaka Live! 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:25 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 9–12 , Tony Williams , Submission (armbar) ,

Jungle Fight 3 The year 2004 is the second year in the history of Jungle Fight, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Brazil. In 2004 Jungle Fight held 2 events beginning with, ''Jungle Fight 2''. Events list Jungle Fight 2 Jungle Fight 2 was an event ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:21 ,

Manaus Manaus () is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. It is the seventh-largest city in Brazil, with an estimated 2020 population of 2,219,580 distributed over a land area of about . Located at the east center of the s ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 8–12 , Jan Nortje , Submission (rear-naked choke) , K-1 PREMIUM 2003 Dynamite!! , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:40 , Nagoya, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 7–12 ,

Ricardo Fyeet Ricardo Fyeet (born 24 September 1976) is a retired Dutch professional kickboxer and mixed martial artist. A professional in MMA from 1998 until 2001, he competed for RINGS and It's Showtime. Personal life Fyeet's brother, Andre, is also a form ...

, Submission (toe hold) , Rings: Battle Genesis Vol. 7 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:46 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 6–12 , Hiromitsu Kanehara , Decision (unanimous) , Rings: Rise 4th , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 10:00 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 6–11 ,

, Submission (armbar) , Rings: Rise 3rd , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:26 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 6–10 , Chris Haseman , Submission (kimura) , Rings: Rise 2nd , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 8:18 , Osaka, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 6–9 ,

Dave van der Veen Dave van der Veen is a Dutch mixed martial artist. He competed in the Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight divisions. He was a Dutch Power lifting champion and Shootfighter in RINGS. Mixed martial arts record , - , Loss , align=center, 5-9 , ...

, Submission (achilles lock) , Rings: Rise 1st , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 7:36 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–9 , Joop Kasteel , TKO , Rings: World Mega Battle Tournament , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 8:33 , Fukuoka, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 5–8 , Kenichi Yamamoto , Submission , Rings: Fourth Fighting Integration , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 11:07 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–8 , Mikhail Ilyukhin , Submission (ankle lock) , Rings: Third Fighting Integration , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 13:52 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–7 , Mikhail Ilyukhin , Submission (ankle lock) , Rings – Mega Battle Tournament 1997 Semifinal 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 12:28 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 4–6 , Chris Haseman , TKO , Rings: Extension Fighting 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 14:26 , Kagoshima, Japan , Wins Rings Light Heavyweight Title. Title later dissolved. , - , Win , align=center, 3–6 , Wataru Sakata , Submission , Rings: Extension Fighting 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:55 , Osaka, Japan , Semifinals of Light Heavyweight Title Tournament. , - , Win , align=center, 2–6 , Lee Hasdell , Submission , Rings – Extension Fighting 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 12:58 , Tokyo, Japan , Quarterfinals of Light Heavyweight Title Tournament. , - , Loss , align=center, 1–6 , Yoshihisa Yamamoto , Submission (armbar) , Rings – Extension Fighting 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 21:20 , Osaka, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–5 , Valentijn Overeem , TKO (cut) , Rings Holland – The Final Challenge , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:58 , Amsterdam, Holland , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–4 , Zaza Tkeshelashvili , N/A , Rings – Budokan Hall 1997 , , align=center, N/A , align=center, N/A , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–3 ,

, N/A , Rings – Battle Dimensions Tournament 1996 Opening Round , , align=center, N/A , align=center, N/A , Nagoya, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 1–2 , Egan Inoue , Disqualification , Rings – Maelstrom 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 11:51 , Tokyo, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–2 , Willie Peeters , Decision (unanimous) , Rings Holland – Free Fight , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 10:00 , Amsterdam, Holland , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 , Satir Gotchev , N/A , Rings – Budokan Hall 1995 , , align=center, N/A , align=center, N/A , Tokyo, Japan ,

Mixed rules

, Win , align=center, 3-0 , Atsushi Tamaki , Submission (arm triangle choke) , Rings Korakuen Experimental League 1993 Round 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 8:39 , Tokyo, Japan , - , Win , align=center, 2-0 , Atsushi Tamaki , TKO (lost points) , Rings Korakuen Experimental League 1993 Round 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 24:22 , Tokyo, Japan , - , Win , align=center, 1-0 , Koichiro Kimura , Submission (ankle lock) , Rings Mega Battle Special: Foundation , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 9:39 , Yokohama, Japan

References

External links

* *
New Fighting Network RINGS Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naruse, Masayuki 1973 births Sportspeople from Tokyo Japanese male professional wrestlers Japanese male karateka Japanese male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Shotokan Mixed martial artists utilizing shootfighting Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Living people IWGP Junior Heavyweight champions All Asia Tag Team Champions