The Illest Afro in Asia
Most of us know Mamoru Yamaguchi (Pictures) as that top-ranked 123-pounder in Shooto with the big afro and mustache inspired by Japanese boxing legend Yoko Gushiken.
Even if we were to play the MMA word association game with the Shooto faithful and the name "Mamoru" came up, the immediate response would most likely be "afro" before any notion came to mind of him being a former 132-pound champ, a former 123-pound champ, an excellent striker or the man fighting Shinichi "BJ" Kojima on Friday in a rematch for the title.
Mamoru is of course well aware of this fact.
"Actually, the afro itself is an icon. When I have a hat on, people don't recognize me, and when people come to the gym and see me without it, they often don't recognize who I am. The afro has taken on a life of its own and has become famous all by itself," admitted the two-time champ with a sardonic smile.
In a way, you can feel Mamoru's resignation at playing second fiddle to his funky-fresh hairdo. It's a bit of a shame that it has required such an outlandish hairstyle for him to earn even the slightest bit of attention he deserves in MMA beyond Shooto fans. Long seen as a dominant ace in the world's 123-pound weight division, Mamoru the athlete has perhaps been overshadowed by the ‘fro, despite having some of the best striking in the MMA game.
As surprising as it may seem, there was a time when he did not have the afro -- chiefly during his run up to the 132-pound title and his subsequent reign. After defeating Jin Akimoto (Pictures) in December 2000 to become Shooto's first 132-pound champion, Mamoru lost a title defense the following November to Masahiro Oishi (Pictures). The title loss had unwittingly marked the beginning of the end for the otherwise visually unremarkable version of Mamoru.
He rebounded and made history again two years later after dropping a weight class to defeat Wajyutsu Keisyukai super-striker Yasuhiro Urushitani (Pictures), this time earning the title of Shooto's first 123-pound champion. While earning a second title was indeed a great achievement, fans would come to remember him less for being the champ than for what would soon become his trademark.
"Right before my first 123-pound title bout, my sponsors, Mobstyles, got together with me to discuss how I should develop my in-ring character, and that's when they told me, ‘Afro. You're going afro.' They were like, ‘It'll be just like [Yoko] Gushiken.' At first, I didn't like it.
"At that time, I had just had the 132-pound belt, but when that was taken from me and I started losing fights, I thought that maybe if I changed my physical appearance, the flow of my life and fighting would also change. Plus, Gushiken is a legendary fighter in boxing, and I was thinking if I had the afro too, I might become a legend as well," Mamoru said with a chuckle.
Legend or not, Mamoru's unique look has certainly gained him more attention than he would have had as a sub-155-pound fighter in the obscure but time-honored proving ground of Shooto competition. The attention, for better or worse, comes not only from fans and non-fans in Japan but from fans and fighters abroad as well.
"I get a lot of comments like, ‘Wow, your hair is so cool,' from non-Japanese actually," he said. "But in Japan, Japanese people look at me and say, ‘Wow, what is that?' Unlike foreigners, they don't feel that it's very cool. There was even this time when these high school girls were staring at me and saying, ‘Oh my god, what the hell?' I've gotten so used to it, though, that nowadays, if people are staring at me, I'm thinking, ‘Hey, you really dig this hair, don't you?'
"On the other hand, one good thing about having the afro is that when I go to parties or go out drinking with friends, it helps to make things more exciting and fun. So even if I don't know anybody, people will come up to me and be like, ‘Can we touch your afro?' It's like going to a zoo and seeing some exotic animal, so I think it's cool. I actually like it when people have fun with my hair."
Finding a Fitting Conclusion to a Life's Work in Shooto
Like many Japanese fighters, Mamoru's humble beginnings had roots within the institutionalized martial arts of the Japanese education system.
"I did judo in middle and high school, so I've always been interested in the martial arts," he said. "I knew about Shooto, but I didn't know any of the fighters at the time. Still, I really, really wanted to become a professional fighter and fight in the ring.
"I had a full-time job in tobishaku [scaffolding] that I ended up quitting in order to move back into my parents' house, knowing that [Shooting Gym Yokohama] was in the area. This was 11 years ago. At first, I thought that maybe I'll try this for two years and then quit if I can't become a professional fighter. Thankfully, I was able to do it within two years, so naturally I've continued on with it. Thus, I spent all of my 20s in Shooto, and I think I was more cut out for that because I just liked it more than what I was doing before."
Much of Mamoru's success can be traced back to his affiliation with Shooting Gym Yokohama and its head trainer, Kenji Kawaguchi (Pictures) -- Shooto's first 183-pound champion. As one of the most notable official Shooto gyms, STG Yokohama has produced some of the finest champions and rookie champions ever to grace the Shooto ring. Despite the potential for pressure given the achievements of his teammates, Mamoru has afforded himself a more relaxed and enlightened approach to dealing with the greatness produced by his gym. To Mamoru, his teammates and coach Kawaguchi are simply friends that help push each other to be better people and fighters.
Of course, Mamoru is perhaps only able to say as much simply because he is already one of the gym's bar-setting standouts, having already held two titles in Shooto. Coming up on 30 fights in a lengthy Shooto-exclusive career, he has proven to be not only one of the most recognizable fighters in Shooto but also yet another diehard Shootor produced and cultivated by the Shooto tradition.
"Shooto has really been my life's work," Mamoru said. "Even though I will eventually retire from being a fighter one day, I definitely want to stay connected to Shooto, even if it's as a teacher. I think that the martial arts have helped me to broaden my horizons, and I want to keep my pride as a Shootor, so I want to stay connected to it."
While the talk of retirement may be surprising to some, it is understandable given that he has spent his entire career in what many inevitably see as only a grass roots promotion in Japan, far away from the bright lights and stadium-sized crowds of the big shows. Regardless, Mamoru is acutely aware that his days in the ring are numbered, and thus he has defined clear goals en route to the end of his MMA tenure.
"I'm 31 now, and I'm not really sure how many years I can keep this up. Obviously, I won't be retiring immediately, but I don't intend to be fighting for 10 more years. When I reach 32, I'll have been doing MMA for about 10 years, so my theme these days has really been, ‘How can I bring this career to a cool, fantastic end?' For me, this is a turning point, so it's very, very important to me to get this belt back," said Mamoru, referring to his championship rematch Friday with "BJ" Kojima.
This turning point could lead him in several different directions. Of course, there will always be the title defense route, seeing Mamoru finish his days in the Shooto ring, where hardcore MMA fans have enjoyed seeing him for the past nine years. There is also the option to go ‘big time.' Not only is the WEC rumored to be opening a 125-pound division in the future, but K-1's popular kickboxing event, Max, will be opening a 132-pound division as well.
In the last K-1 Max event, Mamoru was tabbed as being a prospective talent for the new weight class in K-1's promotional pamphlets. Despite the flattery felt at what Mamoru saw as K-1's misguided attempt to slot him into a weight division he no longer belongs in, he appreciated the free publicity.
However, it would be the WEC that would respect Mamoru's weight and MMA abilities most, should the 125-pound division be next on the horizon for the budding Zuffa promotion.
"If they really open up a 125-pound division, I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't interested. I've always wanted to do elbows and I've never fought in a cage before, so it'd be a great experience to have in my career. I also know that the WEC has become popular among the lighter fighters in Japan. As long as I'm able to physically continue fighting, and if I get an offer, I would definitely think about it," said Mamoru, palpably enthused.
"The UFC and WEC are really famous -- like the major leagues of MMA. I'd really like to try elbows -- but maybe not get hit by them because I'll probably get injured by them," he said with a chuckle. "And while I think I do best in the ring, fighting in a cage is something that really interests me."
Be that as it may, however, Mamoru still has unfinished business in the Shooto ring. While the road back to the title has been a difficult one that he has largely proven capable of handling, Mamoru still has to best the man that took the title from him in the first place -- not only to reclaim the belt but to make MMA history as well.
While Mamoru has looked good in his return to title contention, BJ has looked anything but. After a disappointing draw against Urushitani that many believed he had lost, BJ took after his namesake and moved up in weight in search of yet more championship gold. The results of the venture left much to be desired, however, and opened the floodgates to criticism from fans, fighters and journalists alike.
While Mamoru does not necessarily share the same views, he does temper his opinion of BJ's jaunt at 132 pounds with the belief that champions should not be above Shooto law.
"I think it is BJ's right to do whatever he wants to do. I think it's great that he wants to challenge himself, but I also think that it's a champion's responsibility to defend their title. This time, BJ is past the regulation limit for a title defense," said Mamoru, referring to Shooto's mandatory one-year limit on title defenses.
Along with the change in weight, BJ has also curiously changed his fight style, all but abandoning the superlative grappling skills that won him the title in the first place. In fact, he has appeared to take on delusions of striking grandeur, as evidenced by his futile attempts to out-strike Eduardo Dantas (Pictures), So Tazawa (Pictures) and Yasuhiro Urushitani (Pictures) -- all to disappointing results.
Regardless, Mamoru does not see this as a change in style but instead a tactical choice.
"I personally don't feel that his fighting style has changed," Mamoru said. "I did see his fight with Tazawa and Dantas, and it did look like he opted to strike with them, but it seemed to me as if that was just his game plan for those fights -- not a departure in overall fighting style. I know, though, that he's still a strong grappler, and he may want to strike with me, but if he does, I feel it would be more of a tactical decision.
"Styles make fights in MMA, and while he lost twice, I think that maybe it depended on who he was matched up with. He might have won if he had had different opponents.
Shooto is still MMA, so it's still important to be balanced in striking, grappling and takedowns."
As with many athletes in the West, Mamoru's battle to regain his 123-pound title began in the gym and has proven perhaps his most difficult adversary given his age and experience in the sport.
"It's been tough because in order to get the belt back, I've been pushing myself with extremely hard training in the past month," he said. "I'm not young, so it's hard to get rid of that fatigue after training.
"This is the third time that I'll be fighting BJ, but I don't think he's really shown his full array of technique or potential just yet. I know that BJ has great stamina and power, so I've been training in order to overcome that -- training my cardio in particular. [I'm] focusing in order to give my best for the three five-minute rounds of the fight, all so that I won't later regret anything in my performance.
"I'm the challenger this time around, so I think it's important to be on the offensive -- get out those punches and kicks. I think if I back off or be conservative, he'll definitely come toward me, so I want to be able to go out there and bring the fight to him instead. I want to have a performance worthy of a championship bout, and all my hard training has been working toward doing exactly that."
Despite his noble aspirations to leave it all in the ring, there lies yet another adversary waiting in the wings that could see Mamoru's ambitions spoiled. Some may call it superstition, but history maintains that no Shooto champion has been able to regain his title after losing it. Perhaps even more foreboding, Yoko Gushiken -- whom Mamoru has modeled his in-ring character after -- retired after losing his world light flyweight championship.
Should Mamoru win the belt back Friday, he will become the first two-time divisional champion in Shooto's 20-year history.
"Obviously, I want to regain the championship, which is why I'm fighting," Mamoru said. "I haven't really thought about what it would mean personally, but I doubt it'd mean all that much to me. It just so happens to be that I'm challenging for the title for the third time. I haven't really thought about the implications of what regaining the title means to Shooto history or anything like that.
"If I do become a champion for the third time, regaining my title at 123 pounds, I just might become an icon in Shooto history. If it will be talked about within the Shooto world, that's great, and I kind of do hope that my name will be there for people to remember and talk about in the years to come. That would be a mark of strength, wouldn't it?"
Thus, Friday's rematch with BJ stands to be Mamoru's most important fight to date, though you would be fooled to think otherwise when speaking to him, given the former champion's composure and outlook on the bout. Mamoru's easygoing, hands-off approach even extends to his uncertainty as to how the bout will develop -- a far cry from many Western fighters, whose typical reply would most likely include the imposition of one's will on an opponent.
"I believe that we won't know until we actually fight. I can't really predict anything -- that's really hard to say. All I can talk about is what I hope to do during the fight. I want to continue to be aggressive, to move forward and to knock him out. My hope would be to regain the belt by knocking him out. But, who knows what will happen?" said Mamoru with a thoughtful smile, chin in hand.
"As a fighter, you can't really predict the outcome, so I can't answer those kinds of questions. All you can hope to do is what you have to do, and all that really is, is to win."
The difference between East and West is subtle here, as Mamoru can only express what he hopes to do in the bout. At the end of the day, despite the flamboyance of the afro, Mamoru is still your typical, humble Japanese athlete, and really always has been, no matter how deserving he is of attention or respect.
Long since a king among men in the 123-pound division, not only in Shooto but the world over as well, Mamoru is fighting for more than just the Shooto title this weekend, whether he knows it or not. He is fighting for recognition beyond simply being "that afroed mixed martial artist from Japan." He is fighting to become the face of his division, much like Faber and Torres have become for the 135- and 145-pound classes.
Should he prove successful, that in itself would garner him a fitting legacy upon which to leave active competition -- the "coolest and most fantastic end" to a decade-long career.
