Жапон дзюдошысы және аралас жекпе-жектің шебері Хидехико Ёсида

Japanese judoka and mixed martial arts fighter

Hidehiko Yoshida (吉田 秀彦) is a Japanese gold medalist judoka and retired mixed martial artist. He is a longtime veteran of Japan's PRIDE Fighting Championships, competing in the Middleweight (93kg) and Heavyweight divisions. He won gold at the 1992 Summer Olympic Games at 78 kg. Yoshida also had two famous fights with MMA pioneer Royce Gracie that resulted in a no contest and a time limit draw.

Yoshida first came onto the judo scene at the 1991 World Judo Championships in Barcelona, taking third place at 78 kg. He then took gold in the 1991 All Japan Judo Championships and 1992 A Tournament in Sofia before entering the 1992 Summer Olympic Games. He swept the competition in Barcelona, winning all six matches by Ippon en route to his first Olympic gold medal. He went on to medal in the 1993, 1995 and 1999 World Championships, but didn't win gold at the Olympics again. He finished in fifth place at the 1996 Summer Games and ninth at the 2000 Summer Games. He retired from Judo after the 2000 Summer Games.

In 2002, Yoshida turned fully his attention to the world of mixed martial arts, where he had already worked as a color commentator, and signed up with Pride Fighting Championship to become a fighter. He accepted the premise of having to fight high level opponents, wanting to avoid implications that he was transitioning to MMA for not being competitive enough for judo anymore. He also vowed to compete in a judogi in order to draw interest to judo as a martial art. Yoshida later founded the team Yoshida Dojo, which focuses both in judo and MMA.

Yoshida had his first appearance in Pride in a special grappling match against UFC pioneer Royce Gracie at PRIDE Shockwave. The rules of the match would feature limited striking to the body while standing and no judges decision, and would require both to use a gi. This ruleset had been proposed by Royce due to the 50th anniversary of the Masahiko Kimura vs. Hélio Gracie fight, and as such the bout was touted as another "judo vs. Brazilian jiu jitsu" contest. As Yoshida wasn't a ne waza expert, he prepared his submission skills with close friend and fellow judoka Tsuyoshi Kohsaka. Odds were stacked against him in popular perception, and Mário Sperry predicted Royce would not have a problem with Yoshida on the ground. Getting up at the moment, Royce protested the decision and went to physically assault the referee, causing a brief brawl between the contenders' cornermen on the ring. After the event, the Gracie family apologized but argued not only that Royce had not passed out, but also that the referee had not authority to stop the match anyway, and demanded the fight result to be changed to no contest. Secondly, Yoshida submitted former world karate champion Masaaki Satake by neck crank at Inoki Bom Ba Ye. At PRIDE Total Elimination 2003, Yoshida faced shoot style ace Kiyoshi Tamura in the first round of the Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament. Yoshida was dominated for most of the first round, receiving leg kicks and punches from the veteran Tamura and having his back taken on the ground, but he eventually managed to throw down Tamura with harai goshi and performed a sode guruma jime for the tap out. Yoshida's first loss was to the PRIDE Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva via unanimous decision at PRIDE Final Conflict 2003. Wanderlei had already knocked out Japanese fighters like Tamura and Kazushi Sakuraba, but Yoshida broke expectations when he gave a back and forth against Silva. The second round saw an initial battle for an ankle lock, but it quickly returned to the last position, with Royce straddling a turtled down Yoshida and scoring strikes in the search of a submission. The match ended up and was ruled a draw as stipulated. the judoka was left to face the similarly debuting Rulon Gardner. Gardner, Olympic gold medalist in Greco Roman wrestling and much heavier than Hidehiko, performed unexpectedly and dominated Yoshida with stand up for a unanimous decision. In April 2005, Yoshida got a rematch against Wanderlei Silva in PRIDE Total Elimination. The fight was even closer than its first iteration, as Yoshida won the first round to the judges and kept himself mostly out of danger until the third round, but he lost again by decision. Yoshida recovered from the defeat submitting Tank Abbott at the next event with the judo technique known as kata ha jime. At the end of the same year, Yoshida faced fellow Japanese judoka Naoya Ogawa and won by an armbar in a highly anticipated MMA bout at PRIDE Shockwave 2005 with each fighter receiving a payment of US$2 million, which remains one of the most expensive fights in MMA history. Yoshida and Ogawa had already clashed at the World Judo Championship, a contest which was won by Hidehiko in an upset, and a theme of revenge was played in this match. This time without their gis, Yoshida started the match throwing punches and taking Ogawa down, and then a long and aggressive exchange of reversions and ground and pound happened. At the end, Ogawa looked to have dominant position, but Yoshida locked an armbar from the guard by surprise, making his judo rival submit. The next year, Yoshida took part in the PRIDE 2006 Heavyweight Grand Prix, being pitted first against boxing champion Yosuke Nishijima. As expected, the judo champion threw him down and mounted him, and when Nishijima attempted to sweep, he locked a triangle choke for the win. Hidehiko advanced round and faced master kickboxer and eventual winner Mirko Cro Cop. In a classic striker vs. grappler fashion, Yoshida attempted to throw Mirko to the mat, almost scoring a uchi mata off the corner in an instance, but the Croatian powered out of it and kept landing leg kicks. Though Yoshida avoided being knocked out as per Mirko's trademark, he eventually fell to accumulated damage to his legs, losing by TKO. Yoshida was helped out of the arena by Cro Cop himself. Yoshida's last match in PRIDE was against James Thompson at the Shockwave 2006 event. Yoshida outboxed the much heavier British fighter and threatened him with several throw to armbar attempts, as well as some leglocks, but Thompson then featured a controversial moment for pushing Hidehiko between the ropes of the ring to the outside. Yoshida chose to return to the fight, but the fall had taken its toll on him, and Thompson overwhelmed him with punches and knees until knocking him out. The bout would have yet another controversial moment, as the referee didn't stop the match, and allowed James to strike further a barely conscious Yoshida for a late stoppage.

In March 2008, Yoshida made his debut in World Victory Road at its inaugural show Sengoku against catch wrestling specialist and former training partner Josh Barnett. The bout saw highlights like Barnett scoring a suplex on Yoshida and Hidehiko returning the favour with a flying Kimura, but it also featured intensive ground action, as the two grappling experts exchanged submission attempts on the ground. Come the third round, when Hidehiko dropped to his knees to avoid another suplex, Barnett gained top position and performed a heel hook, making Yoshida tap out. Yoshida also faced former UFC Heavyweight Champion Maurice Smith in the first round of Sengoku: Third Battle in June. It was a short affair, with Yoshida taking the fight to the ground, gaining a kesa gatame position and performing a neck crank to submit the UFC champion. On January 4, 2009 at World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku Rebellion 2009, Yoshida faced a fellow judoka and former Toshihiko Koga apprentice, Sanae Kikuta, who had defeated Yoshida's own trainee Makoto Takimoto in an earlier event. Having ditched the gi, the bout started slow, with Kikuta taking Yoshida down and tentatively exchanging strikes with him. At the second round, Kikuta opted for pulling guard and pursue an ankle lock, while Yoshida remained on top and landed several punches through his guard. Afterwards, however, Kikuta reversed and got the mount, unloading ground and pound until the end of the round. The third round saw Yoshida stunning Kikuta with a punch and scoring a judo throw, but the Koga trainee took his back and kept striking on him for the rest of the match, eventually winning the decision.

Yoshida defeated Satoshi Ishii at Dynamite!! 2009. Ishii had been pursued by many of the best organizations in the world such as the UFC and Strikeforce, to name a few. Yoshida was a significant underdog but came out in the first round and dominated the less experienced Ishii, landing many punches including a right overhand that staggered Ishii, as well as a series of uppercuts and knees from the clinch. Ishii somewhat found his range in the second round from the clinch, but then landed an illegal knee to the groin of Yoshida, which badly hurt the veteran. Yoshida actually had to have his protective cup changed, but was ultimately able to demonstrate his heart by continuing to fight. Yoshida was taken down at the end of the second round and then was not as effective in the third round, getting hit with numerous strikes from Ishii, but ultimately held his own and was able to pull off the upset win via unanimous decision. As his retirement, Yoshida participated in an event called ASTRA for his last fight on April 25, 2010, as a response to his frustration with his previous promotion. Yoshida lost the fight via unanimous decision to Kazuhiro Nakamura, a long time student of his dojo.

Yoshida is a graduate of Meiji University where he was part of the Judo Club. In 2000, he founded the "Yoshida Dojo". It is a mixed martial arts academy based in Tokyo, Japan that focuses on judo. Many members, including Yoshida, have participated in both judo and mixed martial arts. The dojo is promoted and managed by J Rock Management and Viva Judo! Entertainment and has produced some of Japan's top fighters.