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.
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.