Hidehiko Yoshida (Pictures) as well as Kosai, Watanabe and boxing coach Riki Onodera are molding Makoto for MMA. Other than his judo prowess, Takimoto had no other recognized martial arts combat experience leading up to his appearance in the 2004 New Years Eve show. And recruiting Takimoto to take part in the 04 PRIDE Shockwave event was fellow gold medalist and 2000 Olympic games participant Yoshida.
Yoshida has emerged as a huge mover and shaker in Japan, using his position to bring Takimoto on board despite the objections of the powers that be in judo politics. In his MMA debut, Makoto battled Sentoryu Henry Miller (Pictures) of Takada Dojo last New Years Eve and beat him by unanimous decision.
He returned to the PFC and faced Kiyoshi Tamura (Pictures), losing by decision at the Critical Countdown 05 show. Tamura was aggressive and had a more complex game than Miller so it was a step up in competition. In October at PRIDE 30, Takimoto battled Korean judoka Dong Sik Yoon (Pictures). Makoto, facing someone as inexperienced as himself, came out on top, again by decision.
KIKUTA: Judo stylist Sanae Kikuta (Pictures) is one of the most accomplished fighters in Japan, yet hes only been in PRIDE three times (1-1-1) and only once the last seven years. Kikuta has made his name on the Pancrase circuit but hes also fought in SHOOTO, DEEP, UFC-J and the Lumax Cup. Kikuta is also the 2001 Abu Dhabi 77kg-87kg champion. He sports a 24-6-3 record in MMA.
Sanae fought in the Lumax Cup events where they grapple and strike while wearing gis. He won the 1996 and 1997 Tournament of J Heavyweight Title. Kikuta fought four times to win the 96 title and three times to win the 97 belt, defeating some solid competition along the way including Egan Inoue (Pictures) and Masanori Suda (Pictures) (twice).
These tournaments sometimes also featured such recognizable fighters as Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (Pictures), Alexander Otsuka (Pictures), Akira Shoji (Pictures) and Murakami Kazunari. Kikuta made his PFC debut 98 against Renzo Gracie (Pictures) in a long and somewhat boring bout, losing to Gracie by guillotine choke after what seemed like an hour.
Returning to PRIDE 4, Kikuta fought to a draw with Daijiro Matsui (Pictures). After a bout in SHOOTO with Paul Jones, Kikuta made his way to Pancrase.
He met many solid foreign fighters including Murilo Bustamante (Pictures), Travis Fulton, and Alex Stiebling (Pictures), as well as fellow countrymen Yoshiki Takahashi (Pictures), Ikuhisa Minowa (Pictures), Minoru Suzuki and Ryushi Yanagisawa. His UFC debut in 00 was a successful one, submitting Eugene Jackson. But a move to the UFC was not to be and Sanae returned to Pancrase and rattled off another five wins (1 loss, 1 NC).
2001 was a year that many Japanese fighters were not doing well in the Abu Dhabi Submission Fighting Championships, especially against Brazilians. In that years event, Takanori Gomi (Pictures) was subbed by Matt Serra (Pictures); Akihiro Gono (Pictures) was subbed by Antonio Schembri (Pictures); Kiyoshi Tamura (Pictures) was subbed by Ricardo Liborio (Pictures); Hiroyuki Abe (Pictures) was subbed by Robson Moura (Pictures); Genki Sudo (Pictures) was beaten by Rodrigo Gracie on points; Tetsuji Kato (Pictures) was subbed by Leonardo Silva dos Santos; Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (Pictures) was beaten by Rolles Gracie on points; and Yoshiaki Yatsu subbed by Ricco Rodriguez (Pictures). And all of these defeats took place in the Elimination Round.
Kikuta was Japans only hope that year and he came through. Sanae beat Evan Tanner (Pictures) on points in Elimination Round, beat Australian Chris Brown on points in quarterfinals, beat Egan Inoue (Pictures) on points in the semifinals and beat Saulo Ribeiro on points in the final. However when he returned to PRIDE 20 in 02, he was mauled by Alexander Otsuka (Pictures) and though he won a decision, he left with a bad taste in his mouth and has not been back since.
In the last few years Kikuta fought outside Pancrase just once, in the UFO Legend show, where he was KOd by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures). Kikuta has been away from the ring for just over a year but hes faced stiff competition in his last five fights. Kikuta battled three UFC veterans, defeating Elvis Sinosic and Keith Rockel (Pictures) by decision. He also fought to a draw with Yuki Kondo (Pictures) before being KOd by Kondo in November of 03.
MY PICK: Kikuta. This is a bout the more experienced Kikuta should win. Hes a solid grappler and truly wants to get a submission win over an Olympic gold medalist. Takimoto wants to step up his striking game, stating he knew fans were not pleased when he went to the ground with Dong Sik Yoon (Pictures). Sanae has a lot riding on this bout in terms of respect. He feels, as many Japanese fans feel, that he is an uncrowned Japanese champion of submission fighting. Well, hes on the biggest stage in the world so its time to prove it. I feel it will be Kikuta by submission in the second round.