Ryuki Ueyama (born 17 April 1976 in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

) is a Japanese

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

who most recently competed in the

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

division. He has fought for organizations such as Fighting Network RINGS,

DEEP Deep or The Deep may refer to: Places United States * Deep Creek (Appomattox River tributary), Virginia * Deep Creek (Great Salt Lake), Idaho and Utah * Deep Creek (Mahantango Creek tributary), Pennsylvania * Deep Creek (Mojave River tributary ...

Pancrase is a Japanese mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Tokyo. It was founded in 1993 by professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. The name was based on pankration, a fighting sport in the An ...

Hero's Hero's was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion operated by Fighting and Entertainment Group, the parent entity behind kickboxing organization K-1. Grown from and branched off of K-1's earlier experiments in MMA, including the ''K-1 Romanex'' ...

and

Pride FC PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts even ...

Fight career

Fighting Network RINGS (1998–2001)

Ueyama began his combat sports career with

shoot style Shoot wrestling is a Japanese hybrid grappling style and combat sport. Shoot wrestling incorporates techniques from various wrestling, submission grappling, kickboxing and karate styles. It was particularly inspired and influenced by catch wrest ...

promotion

UWF International Union of Wrestling Forces International, better known as UWF International, U-Inter, or simply UWFi, was a shoot style professional wrestling promotion in Japan from 1991 to 1996. The UWF international was the successor to the ''Newborn UWF'' th ...

under the tutelage of

Kiyoshi Tamura is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Once a student of legendary professional wrestlers Billy Robinson, Lou Thesz and Akira Maeda, Tamura was known for his skills in catch wrestling and is considered to be on ...

. He competed on several undercards until its closure in 1996. His mixed martial arts career began when with Fighting Network RINGS on 21 September 1998 at ''Rings - Fighting Integration VI''. He lost to

Yasuhito Namekawa (born October 27, 1974) is a Japanese mixed martial artist who competes in the light heavyweight division. Namekawa made his mixed martial arts debut for Fighting Network RINGS in 1998. He fought in mainly shootfighting bouts until 1999 when ...

by decision.
/ref> Ueyama lost to Namekawa again by decision on 21 February 1999. Ueyama picked up his first win less than a month later at Rings Australia. He beat Dennis Kefalinos by knee bar in round 1. He was disqualified for eye gouging in his next fight against

Lee Hasdell Lee Hasdell (born 13 December 1966)Sherdog profile
Retrieved 4 April 2019Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. After his fight with Hasdell, he went unbeaten for over a year and a half with wins over

Willie Peeters Willie Peeters (born 26 October 1965) is a Dutch mixed martial artist. He competed in the Heavyweight division. Biography Peeters started his career in Wrestling at the age of ten, training with famed champion Freddy Winters and winning several ...

and Tim Thomas, with draws against Lloyd Berg,

Dave Menne David Jeremy Menne (born July 29, 1974) is an American retired mixed martial artist. He was the first ever UFC Middleweight Champion and has also competed for Cage Rage, Bellator, Shooto, ADCC and RINGS. Background Menne was born in Minnea ...

and Kosei Kubota. Ueyama eventually lost on 20 March 2001 against Sokun Koh at ''Rings - Battle Genesis Vol. 7''.

DEEP & Pancrase

Ueyama drew with Kosei Kubota for a second time on 18 August 2001 at ''DEEP - 2nd Impact''. He lost a decision against

Kiuma Kunioku is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist. A longtime veteran of the Pancrase organization, Kunioku captured the King of Pancrase Middleweight Championship and King of Pancrase Welterweight Championship before leaving the organization in 2004 ...

at ''Pancrase - 2001 Anniversary Show'' a month later. He returned to ''DEEP'' in December of that year, defeating LaVerne Clark by TKO. Then at ''Pancrase - Spirit 2'' he lost to

Kazuo Misaki Kazuo Misaki (, born April 25, 1976) is a retired Japanese professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2001 until 2013, he was the 2006 PRIDE Welterweight (183 lbs) Grand Prix Champion, and also competed in Sengoku, Pancr ...

by decision.

DEEP Japan Middleweight Champion

On 9 June 2002, Ueyama entered the DEEP Middleweight tournament. He defeated Seiki Ryo and

Takaharu Murahama is a Japanese mixed martial artist. He competed in the Lightweight division. He is the brother of professional wrestler and kickboxer Takehiro Murahama. Career Prior to his pro debut he won 3rd place in the middleweight category (-74kg) at th ...

before beating Eiji Ishikawa in the final to win the tournament. He then beat Gilson Ferreira at ''DEEP - 6th Impact'' in September to bring his record to 9-6-4. He lost a decision in March 2003 to

Hayato Sakurai (born August 24, 1975) also known as , is a Japanese mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 1996, he has formerly competed for the UFC, PRIDE, DREAM, Shooto, Vale Tudo Japan, DEEP, and participated in the Yarennoka!, ...

. On 15 September 2003 Ueyama defended his title against

Masanori Suda Masanori Suda (born July 7, 1973) is a Japanese mixed martial artist. He competed in the Welterweight, Middleweight and Heavyweight divisions. Suda is known primarily for his time in Shooto, where he is a former Light Heavyweight Champion. ...

; the fight ended in a draw.

Pride Bushido & DEEP return

Ueyama made his

debut on 15 February 2004 against

Sean Sherk Sean Keith Sherk (born August 5, 1973) is a retired American mixed martial artist and former UFC Lightweight Champion. Sherk competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and was one of the first combatants to have been a championship competit ...

, Ueyama lost by decision. In his second fight for Pride he lost to

Ikuhisa Minowa is a Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler currently competing in IGF as . A professional MMA competitor since 1996, he was a longtime veteran of PRIDE and Pancrase and has also competed in other mixed martial arts promotion ...

by split decision. On 18 December 2004, Ueyama returned to DEEP and lost to

Ryuta Sakurai Ryuta Sakurai (born September 8, 1971) is a Japanese mixed martial artist who currently competes in the middleweight division. A veteran who fought for many companies such as Shooto, Pancrase and PRIDE. Nicknamed Mr. DEEP, he is best known f ...

by TKO.

Hero's

He made his

debut in 2006 on Hero's 5 with a decision loss to

Rani Yahya Rani Ahmad Yahya (born September 12, 1984) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and BJJ practitioner. He won the 66 kg division of the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in April 2007. He currently fights in the Bantam ...

. This match was the opening round of Hero's 2006 Lightweight Grand Prix. Ueyama was submitted by

Vítor Ribeiro Vítor de Souza Ribeiro (born February 24, 1979) is a retired professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 2001, he has formerly competed for Strikeforce, Sho ...

on 12 March 2007 at Hero's 8.

DEEP (2009–2010)

Ueyama returned to the DEEP organisation once again in 2009 with a decision victory over Kosei Kubota. Later in 2009 he lost decision against Hidehiko Hasegawa at ''DEEP - 44 Impact''. Ueyama drew his last fight to date against

Hidetaka Monma Hidetaka Monma () (October 23, 1973), is a Japanese mixed martial artist who last competed in 2014. A professional since 2001, he competed for Pancrase, DREAM, DEEP, RINGS, and K-1 HERO'S. Background Monma began training in jujutsu at age of 1 ...

on 17 April 2010.

Championships and awards

** DEEP Middleweight Championship (1 Time, First) **2002 DEEP Middleweight Championship Tournament Winner

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, , Sho Kogane , Decision (unanimous) , Real 5: Real Fight Championship 5 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 12–17–5 (1) , Chris Hilger , Decision (majority) , Real 4: Real Fight Championship 4 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 11–17–5 (1) , Roberto de Souza , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , RFC: Real Fight Championship 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:13 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 11–16–5 (1) , Daryl Lokoku , Decision (unanimous) , Grachan 15 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:38 ,

, Japan ,

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

bout. , - , Loss , align=center, 11–15–5 (1) , Takafumi Ito , Decision (unanimous) , Pancrase: 258 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 11–14–5 (1) ,

Naoyuki Kotani Naoyuki Kotani (born December 8, 1981) is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 2000, he has formerly competed in PRIDE, Pancrase, UFC, Vale Tudo Japan, and RINGS. M ...

, TKO (punches) , RINGS: Reincarnation , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:32 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 11–13–5 (1) , Yutaka Ueda , Decision (unanimous) , Grabaka Live: 1st Cage Attack , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan , Return to

. , - , NC , align=center, 10–13–5 (1) , Won Sik Park , No Contest (knee to downed opponent) , DEEP: 48 Impact , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:16 ,

, Japan , Catchweight (74 kg) bout. , - , Draw , align=center, 10–13–5 ,

, Draw , DEEP: 47 Impact , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–13–4 , Hai Lin Ao , Decision (unanimous) , AOW 15: Ueyama vs. Aohailin , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, China , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–12–4 , Hidehiko Hasegawa , Decision (unanimous) , DEEP: 44 Impact , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 10–11–4 , , Decision (unanimous) , DEEP: 41 Impact , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan , Return to

. , - , Loss , align=center, 9–11–4 , , Submission (triangle armbar) , HERO'S 8 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:48 ,

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

, Japan ,

debut. , - , Loss , align=center, 9–10–4 , , Decision (majority) , HERO'S 5 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–9–4 , , TKO (punches) , DEEP: 17th Impact , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:40 ,

, Japan ,

Middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

bout; for the DEEP Middleweight Championship. , - , Loss , align=center, 9–8–4 , , Decision (split) ,

PRIDE Bushido 5 The year 2004 was the 8th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2004 had 10 events beginning with, ''Pride 27 - Inferno''. Title fights Debut Pride FC fighters The follow ...

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–7–4 , , Decision (unanimous) ,

PRIDE Bushido 2 The year 2004 was the 8th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2004 had 10 events beginning with, ''Pride 27 - Inferno''. Title fights Debut Pride FC fighters The follow ...

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

, Japan , , - , Draw , align=center, 9–6–4 , , Draw , DEEP: 12th Impact , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan ,

bout; for the DEEP Middleweight Championship. , - , Loss , align=center, 9–6–3 , , Decision (unanimous) , DEEP: 8th Impact , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan ,

debut. , - , Win , align=center, 9–5–3 , , Submission (armbar) , DEEP: 6th Impact , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:49 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 8–5–3 , , Submission (toe hold) , DEEP: 5th Impact , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:48 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 7–5–3 , , Submission (rear naked choke) , DEEP: 5th Impact , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:44 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 6–5–3 , , Decision (majority) , DEEP: 5th Impact , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–5–3 , , Decision (unanimous) , Pancrase: Spirit 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 5–4–3 , , TKO (corner stoppage) , DEEP: 3rd Impact , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–4–3 , , Decision (majority) , Pancrase: 2001 Anniversary Show , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan , Return to

. , - , Draw , align=center, 4–3–3 , , Draw , DEEP: 2nd Impact , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–3–2 , , TKO (kimura) , RINGS: Battle Genesis Vol. 7 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:16 ,

, Japan , , - , Draw , align=center, 4–2–2 , , Draw , DEEP: 1st Impact , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 4–2–1 , Tim Thomas , Submission (ankle lock) , RINGS Australia: Free Fight Battle , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 9:11 ,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Australia , , - , Draw , align=center, 3–2–1 , , Draw , RINGS: Millennium Combine 2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 3–2 , , Decision , RINGS: Rise 5th , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, , - , Win , align=center, 2–2 , , TKO (lost points) , RINGS: Rise 4th , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:05 ,

, , - , Loss , align=center, 1–2 , , Disqualification (eye gouging) , RINGS: Rise 2nd , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:18 ,

, , - , Win , align=center, 1–1 , , Submission (knee bar) , RINGS Australia: NR 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:40 ,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Light Heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...

debut. , - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 , , Decision , RINGS: Final Capture , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 20:00 ,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ueyama, Ryuki 1976 births Living people Japanese male mixed martial artists Middleweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing kickboxing Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Deep (mixed martial arts) champions Professional wrestlers who competed in MMA