ENSON INOUE

Fighting Life

From Hapkido at 16 to the Shooto heavyweight title, the UFC and PRIDE, Enson built his career on one idea: give everything until the very end.

The early years

Enson started martial arts at 16, training in Hapkido and Taekwondo. At 21 he began Gracie Jiu-Jitsu under Relson Gracie, spending long hours every day on his ground game.

Shooto champion

By his Shooto audition in 1994 he was such a strong grappler that Shooto let him skip the amateur ranks and go straight to the professionals. He won his pro debut in January 1995, took the Shooto Heavyweight Championship in 1997 and held it for two years. Other fighters who came through Shooto include Anderson Silva, Takanori Gomi, Caol Uno, Joachim Hansen, Vitor Ribeiro, Hayato Sakurai, Shinya Aoki, Erik Paulson and Jake Shields.

Vale Tudo Japan, the UFC and PRIDE

At Vale Tudo Japan he fought Frank Shamrock in an epic battle and beat UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture by armbar. In the UFC he defeated Royce Alger, then moved to PRIDE FC to face the best fighters in the world.

Yamatodamashii

The Japanese media named him Yamatodamashii, roughly "samurai spirit" or the old spirit of Japan, for the way he carries himself in and out of the ring. It is the name that has followed him ever since. Read what it means to him, in his own words.

Purebred and Team Yamatodamashii

Enson is proud to be associated with Purebred Fight and Fitness in Ageo, Saitama, with Purebred gyms in Guam and the Philippines, and with associates around the world.

From Saitama he also trains Team Yamatodamashii, a select group of fighters he has chosen personally, with the help of his wife, Sarah.

See his fight record on Sherdog and his profile on BJJ Heroes.