By The Numbers: Kazuo Misaki

Kazuo Misaki oftentimes gets lost in the historical shuffle due to the exploits of many of his contemporaries, but the 2006 Pride Fighting Championships welterweight grand prix winner enjoyed quite a run of success at the peak of his powers—enough so that many view him as one of the Top 10 Japanese mixed martial artists of all-time.

Misaki retired at the age of 35 in 2012, and though he missed out on a major MMA championship, his 25-11-2 record points to sustained excellence. He fought for the Pancrase middleweight championship on one occasion and the Sengoku middleweight title twice, engaging in one of the sport’s most spectacular modern rivalries with Jorge Santiago. Misaki’s second of two encounters with the Brazilian resulted in Sherdog’s 2010 “Fight of the Year” at Sengoku 14, where his corner threw in the towel in the fifth round. He bounced back from the defeat and closed out his career with three consecutive victories over Mike Seal, Akira Shoji and Paul Daley.

Now more than a decade removed from Misaki’s exit, a look at some of the numbers that accompanied him along his journey:

46: Years of age for Misaki, who was born on April 25, 1976 in Katori, Japan—roughly 50 miles northeast of Tokyo.

210: Days spent by Misaki as an undefeated fighter. He made his debut on May 5, 2001 and rattled off five straight victories before dropping a unanimous decision to Chris Lytle at Pancrase Proof 7 on Dec. 1, 2001.

36: Appearances by Misaki in his native Japan, where he spent the bulk of his career. He compiled a 23-10-2 record with one no contest in his homeland.

12: Consecutive calendar years in which Misaki fought at least once. He went 5-1 in 2001, 3-1 in 2002, 2-1-2 in 2003, 3-1 in 2004, 1-1 in 2005, 4-2 in 2006, 0-1 with one no contest in 2007, 3-0 in 2008, 1-2 in 2009, 1-1 in 2010, 1-0 in 2011 and 1-0 in 2012.

9: Misaki victories by submission, accounting for 36% of his career total (25). His methods of choice: four guillotine chokes, two rear-naked chokes, one armbar, one arm-triangle choke and one north-south choke. Misaki holds six other victories by knockout or technical knockout (24%) and 10 more by decision (40%).

65: Rounds completed by Misaki as a professional mixed martial artist. He went the distance on 18 different occasions and carried a 10-6-2 record in those bouts.

2: Stalemates on the Misaki resume. He fought to a unanimous draw with Yuji Hisamatsu at Pancrase Hybrid 3 in March 2003 and fought to a majority draw with Jake Shields at Pancrase Hybrid 10 some nine months later.

8: Seconds needed for Misaki to punch out Takaku Fuke under the Pancrase banner Oct. 30, 2001. Having occurred in just his fifth appearance as a pro, it remained fastest finish of his career.

7: Organizations for which Misaki suited up as a mixed martial artist. He went 13-4-2 in Pancrase, 4-4 in Pride Fighting Championships, 4-2 in Sengoku, 2-0 in Deep, 2-0 in Strikeforce, 0-0 with one no contest in Yarennoka and 0-1 in K-1.

.664: Cumulative winning percentage between the nine men—Lytle, Santiago (twice), Nate Marquardt (twice), Melvin Manhoef, Frank Trigg, Paulo Filho, Dan Henderson, Daniel Acacio and Ricardo Almeida—who defeated Misaki. They sport a combined record of 244-121-11.