Naoki Inoue
Naoki Inoue (Japanese: 井上直樹); born June 14, 1997 in Toyohashi, Aichi, Japan is a Japanese mixed martial artist competing in the flyweight division. A professional mixed martial artist since 2014, Inoue has also competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
| Naoki Inoue | |
|---|---|
| Born | 井上直樹 June 14, 1997 Toyohashi, Aichi, Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
| Weight | 125 lb (57 kg; 8.9 st) |
| Division | Flyweight |
| Reach | 71 in (180 cm) |
| Style | Karate, Brazilian jiu-jitsu |
| Fighting out of | Toyohashi, Aichi, Japan |
| Team | Hakushinkai Karate LAW MMA[1] Sonic Squad[2] |
| Rank | Black belt in karate Blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu |
| Years active | 2014–present |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 20 |
| Wins | 17 |
| By knockout | 1 |
| By submission | 10 |
| By decision | 6 |
| Losses | 3 |
| By decision | 3 |
| Notable relatives | Mizuki Inoue |
| Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog | |
Mixed martial arts career
Background
When Inoue was seven, his parents told him to do some extracurricular activity. He wanted to be strong, therefore he picked martial arts. Inoue received a first-degree black belt in karate and a blue belt in BJJ. He won the J-Network's All-Japan amateur championship as well as won the DEEP Future King (rookie) tournament in 2011.[3]
Early career
Inoue made his amateur mixed martial arts debut on February 9, 2014 when he faced Gaku Sakamoto at Deep - Nagoya Impact 2014. He won via first-round submission using an armbar. Following this, Inoue compiled a professional record of 10-0, with wins over Yuya Shibata and Tomohiro Adaniya, before signing with the UFC in the winter of 2017.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Inoue made his promotional debut on June 17, 2017 at UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Correia against Carls John de Tomas. At the weigh-ins Carls John de Tomas came in at 131 lbs, five pounds over the flyweight limit of 126 lbs. As a result, he was fined 30% of the purse, which went to Inoue, and their bout proceeded as scheduled at a catchweight.[4] Inoue won the fight by unanimous decision.[5]
Inoue was expected to face Jenel Lausa on September 23, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 117,[6][7] but was pulled from the card due to a dislocated shoulder.[8]
Inoue faced Matt Schnell on June 23, 2018 at UFC Fight Night 132.[9] He lost the fight via split decision.[10]
Cage Fury FC
After departing from the UFC, Inoue faced Sean Santella in a flyweight bout at CFFC 72 on February 16, 2019.[11] He lost the fight via unanimous decision.
Return to DEEP
Inoue eventually returned to DEEP, facing Toshiaki Kitada at Deep 93 on December 15, 2020. He won the fight via first-round submission.
Rizin FF
On January 24, 2020, news surfaced that Inoue was scheduled to face Trent Girdham at Rizin 21 – Hamamatsu on February 22, 2020.[12] Inoue won the fight via unanimous decision.
In his sophomore bout in the promotion, Inoue faced Shooto Watanabe at Rizin 22 – Starting Over on August 9, 2020. He won the fight via first-round submission.[13]
Inoue faced Yuki Motoya at Rizin 26 on December 31, 2020.[14] He won the fight by rear naked choke, three minutes into the first round.[15]
Rizin Bantamweight Grand Prix 2021
Inoue faced Shintaro Ishiwatari in the opening round of the Bantamweight Grand Prix at Rizin 28 on June 13, 2021.[16] He won the bout via soccer kick knockout in the first round.[17]
Inoue was scheduled to face Yuto Hokamura in the quarterfinals on September 19, 2021 at Rizin 30.[18] He won the fight by unanimous decision.[19]
In the semi-finals, Inoue faced Hiromasa Ougikubo on December 31, 2021 at Rizin 33.[20] He lost the bout via unanimous decision.[21]
Mixed martial arts record
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 20 matches | 17 wins | 3 losses |
| By knockout | 1 | 0 |
| By submission | 10 | 0 |
| By decision | 6 | 3 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 17–3 | Hiromasa Ougikubo | Decision (unanimous) | Rizin 33 | December 31, 2021 | 3 | 5:00 | Saitama, Japan | Rizin Bantamweight Grand Prix 2021 Semi-finals. |
| Win | 17–2 | Yuto Hokamura | Decision (unanimous) | Rizin 30 | September 19, 2021 | 3 | 5:00 | Saitama, Japan | Rizin Bantamweight Grand Prix 2021 Quarterfinals. |
| Win | 16–2 | Shintaro Ishiwatari | KO (soccer kick) | Rizin 28 | June 13, 2021 | 1 | 2:01 | Tokyo, Japan | Rizin Bantamweight Grand Prix 2021 Opening Round. |
| Win | 15–2 | Yuki Motoya | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Rizin 26 | December 31, 2020 | 1 | 3:00 | Saitama, Japan | |
| Win | 14–2 | Shooto Watanabe | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Rizin 22 | August 9, 2020 | 1 | 1:40 | Yokohama, Japan | |
| Win | 13–2 | Trent Girdham | Decision (unanimous) | Rizin 21 | February 22, 2020 | 3 | 5:00 | Hamamatsu, Japan | |
| Win | 12–2 | Toshiaki Kitada | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Deep 93: Impact | December 15, 2019 | 1 | 2:41 | Tokyo, Japan | Bantamweight debut. |
| Loss | 11–2 | Sean Santella | Decision (unanimous) | CFFC 72: Brady vs. Abdul-Hakim | February 16, 2019 | 3 | 5:00 | Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States | |
| Loss | 11–1 | Matt Schnell | Decision (split) | UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Edwards | June 23, 2018 | 3 | 5:00 | Kallang, Singapore | |
| Win | 11–0 | Carls John de Tomas | Decision (unanimous) | UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Correia | June 17, 2017 | 3 | 5:00 | Kallang, Singapore | |
| Win | 10–0 | Tomohiro Adaniya | Decision (majority) | Deep 78: Impact | March 18, 2017 | 2 | 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 9–0 | Yuya Shibata | Submission (armbar) | Deep: Cage Impact 2016 in Osaka | October 9, 2016 | 2 | 2:51 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 8–0 | Go Minamide | Decision (majority) | Deep: 77 Impact/Jewels 13 | August 27, 2016 | 2 | 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 7–0 | Naoyuki Kato | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Deep - Nagoya Impact: Kobudo Fight | June 12, 2016 | 1 | 0:44 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 6–0 | Iyori Akiba | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Deep: Cage Impact 2016 | April 23, 2016 | 1 | 4:32 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 5–0 | Chikara Shimabukuro | Decision (unanimous) | Deep 74: Impact | December 20, 2015 | 2 | 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 4–0 | Kenji Yamanaka | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Deep 72: Impact | May 16, 2015 | 1 | 2:21 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 3–0 | Kanta Sato | Submission (armbar) | Deep: Nagoya Impact: Kobudo Fight | March 8, 2015 | 1 | 2:49 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 2–0 | Icho Tomonaga | Submission (armbar) | Deep: Future King Tournament 2014 | February 1, 2015 | 1 | 0:49 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 1–0 | Takuya Maruoka | Submission (armbar) | Deep: Future King Tournament 2014 | February 1, 2015 | 1 | 3:21 | Tokyo, Japan | Flyweight debut. |
Amateur mixed martial arts record
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 2-0 | Kenichi Kimura | Decision (Unanimous) | Deep - Amateur Deep 20: Kobudo Fight | March 2, 2014 | 3 | 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 1-0 | Gaku Sakamoto | Submission (armbar) | Deep - Nagoya Impact 2014 | February 9, 2014 | 1 | 3:04 | Tokyo, Japan | . |
Amateur Kickboxing record
| Date | Result | Opponent | Event | Location | Method | Round | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-11-20 | Win |  Ryota Shibasaki | J-Network All Japan A-League Tournament, Final | Tokyo, Japan | KO | 1 | 0:46 | |
| Wins 2016 J-NETWORK All Japan A-League Lightweight title. | ||||||||
| 2016-11-20 | Win | Kaisei Kondo | J-Network All Japan A-League Tournament, Semi Final | Tokyo, Japan | Decision (Unanimous) | |||
| 2016-11-20 | Win | Hiroki Sato | J-Network All Japan A-League Tournament, Quarter Final | Tokyo, Japan | Decision (Unanimous) | |||
| Legend: Win Loss Draw/No contest Notes | ||||||||
References
- James Goyder (August 6, 2020). "Naoki Inoue is happy to be fighting in Japan again ahead of Rizin 22". asianmma.com.
- John Hyon Ko (December 21, 2020). Naoki Inoue working with Tenshin's boxing coach ahead of Rizin 26 – via Youtube.
- "Naoki Inoue". UFC. 14 September 2018.
- Staff (2017-06-16). "UFC Fight Night 111 early weigh-in results: Headliner cleared, one prelim fighter heavy". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
- "UFC Fight Night 111 results: Naoki Inoue tops Carls John de Tomas in clash of flyweight newcomers". 17 June 2017.
- Marcel Dorff (14 July 2017). "UFC adds two Flyweight fights for UFC Japan" (in Dutch). mmadna.nl. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
- "Naoki Inoue vs. Jenel Lausa added to UFC Fight Night 117 in Japan". MMAjunkie.com. August 12, 2017. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
- "Bout Pulled From UFC Fight Night Japan | Fightful MMA". www.fightful.com. Retrieved 2017-09-14.
- Sherdog.com. "Ovince St. Preux vs. Tyson Pedro, Two Other Bouts Booked for UFC Fight Night 132 in Singapore". Sherdog. Retrieved 2018-04-15.
- "UFC Fight Night 132 results: Matt Schnell counters his way to split over Naoki Inoue". MMAjunkie. 2018-06-23. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
- MMAJunkie.com Staff (January 5, 2019). "Two-time UFC vet Naoki Inoue signs with CFFC, meets Sean Santella in February". MMAJunkie.com. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
- Guilherme Cruz (January 24, 2020). "Several fights announced for RIZIN 21". mmafighting.com.
- Simon Head (August 9, 2020). "Rizin FF 22 live results". mmajunkie.com.
- "Ayaka Hamasaki and Miyuu Yamamoto face off in super atomweight title fight at Rizin 26". asianmma.com. December 2, 2020.
- "【RIZIN】元UFC戦士・井上直樹が鮮烈一本勝ち、四天王・元谷友貴からタップを奪い、タイトル挑戦を熱望！". news.yahoo.co.jp. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
- "Kai Asakura faces Shooto Watanabe at postponed Rizin 28 | Asian MMA". AsianMMA. 2021-04-23. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
- Cruz, Guilherme (2021-06-13). "RIZIN 28 results, videos: Roberto Satoshi wins lightweight belt with 72-second submission". MMA Fighting. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
- "Ayaka Hamasaki faces Emi Fujino at Rizin 30 | Asian MMA". AsianMMA. 2021-07-20. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
- "ＲＩＺＩＮ"Ｖ本命"井上直樹が"豪腕"金太郎に辛勝 鼻血も決定打許さず". news.yahoo.co.jp. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
- "Rizin FF 33 bantamweight grand prix semifinals set: Former champion Kai Asakura draws Kenta Takizawa". MMA Junkie. 2021-11-30. Retrieved 2021-11-30.
- "【ＲＩＺＩＮ】扇久保博正が井上直樹に判定勝ちで決勝進出 バンタム級Ｔ - 格闘技 : 日刊スポーツ". nikkansports.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-12-31.