Hiroshi Izumi

Hiroshi Izumi (Japanese: 泉浩; born June 22, 1982, in Shimokita District Aomori) is a Japanese judoka and mixed martial artist. He has fought in World Victory Road and had a one-fight stint in the Dream promotion for the Dream Light Heavyweight Championship. Izumi also appeared in both Dynamite!! 2009 and Dynamite!! 2010 New Year's Eve events.

Hiroshi Izumi 泉浩
Born	(1982-06-22) June 22, 1982 (age 43) Shimokita District Aomori, Japan
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight	203 lb (92 kg; 14 st 7 lb)
Division	Light Heavyweight (205 lb)
Style	Judo
Fighting out of	Shimokita District Aomori, Japan
Years active	2009 – present
Mixed martial arts record
Total	6
Wins	4
By knockout	2
By decision	2
Losses	2
By knockout	2
Other information
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
Judo career
Weight class	‍–‍90 kg
Rank	6th dan black belt
Judo achievements and titles
Olympic Games	(2004)
World Champ.	(2005)
Asian Champ.	(2008)
Medal record Men's judo Representing  Japan Olympic Games 2004 Athens ‍–‍90 kg World Championships 2005 Cairo ‍–‍90 kg Asian Games 2006 Doha ‍–‍90 kg Asian Championships 2008 Jeju ‍–‍90 kg 2004 Almaty ‍–‍90 kg East Asian Championships 2007 Shenzhen ‍–‍90 kg Summer Universiade 2003 Jeju ‍–‍90 kg 2002 Novi Sad ‍–‍90 kg
Profile at external judo databases
IJF	52687
JudoInside.com	13540
Last updated on: July 7, 2011

Background

Izumi was born in Aomori, Japan, and comes from a fishing family in the Shimokita Peninsula. His father, who can often be seen spectating his son's judo and MMA matches, still fishes for bluefin tuna at over 70 years of age. Izumi began judo at a young age and is known as a very accomplished judoka, winning the men's -90 kg category silver medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004^[1] and the gold medal at the World Judo Championship Games in Cairo, Egypt in 2005.

Mixed martial arts

Izumi made his mixed martial arts debut against New Zealand kickboxing specialist, Antz Nansen for Japan's Sengoku promotion in September 2009 after Izumi signed with World Victory Road. Instead of using his judo techniques to his advantage during his debut, Izumi attempted to trade punches with the world-class striker. Izumi was beaten badly in his debut and lost the fight by TKO.

After his poor performance in his debut, Izumi began turning his mixed martial arts career around. At Dynamite!! 2009, representing Sengoku, he won via unanimous decision over Katsuyori Shibata. After being dominated through the first few rounds, Izumi came back in the second half of the very final round, landing a great sequence of punches and controlling Shibata on the ground, where he utilized many hammerfists. This win was very significant because Izumi's father was vocal in saying that if Izumi was defeated again, that he would take his son out of MMA and return to judo.

Izumi followed this win up with 3 more wins, including one at Dynamite!! 2010, against former PRIDE veteran and Dream Super Hulk Tournament Champion Ikuhisa Minowa by TKO. This is perhaps the biggest win of Izumi's career to date.

Izumi then earned a title shot at Gegard Mousasi for the Dream Light Heavyweight Championship, but lost by TKO.^[2]

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown

6 matches	4 wins	2 losses
By knockout	2	2
By decision	2	0

Res.	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Loss	4–2	Gegard Mousasi	TKO (punches)	Dream: Japan GP Final	July 16, 2011	1	3:28	Tokyo, Japan	For Dream Light Heavyweight Championship
Win	4–1	Ikuhisa Minowa	TKO (punches)	Dynamite!! 2010	December 31, 2010	3	2:50	Saitama, Saitama, Japan	Openweight bout
Win	3–1	James Zikic	Decision (split)	World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku Raiden Championships 15	October 30, 2010	3	5:00	Tokyo, Japan
Win	2–1	Chang Seob Lee	TKO (punches)	World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku Raiden Championships 13	June 20, 2010	1	4:37	Tokyo, Japan
Win	1–1	Katsuyori Shibata	Decision (unanimous)	Dynamite!! 2009	December 31, 2009	3	5:00	Saitama, Saitama, Japan
Loss	0–1	Antz Nansen	TKO (punches)	World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku 10	September 23, 2009	1	2:56	Saitama, Saitama, Japan