Ikuhisa Minowa: A Fighter for the Ages

Ikuhisa Minowa, aka "Minowaman," has long deserved more attention from the world. His career, while perhaps not as easy as some Brocks of the world, is pretty significant.

If ever there was a fighter that would truly fight anyone, anytime, it's Minowa.

How many people realize this guy is 33 years old and has 80 professional fights? 80!

What is Brock Lesnar now? 3-1? Machida 15-0? Try 42-30-8 from Minowa.

Thirty losses, you say? What kind of fruit cup is this guy? Well, he’s a beast who puts his money where his teeth used to be and fights anyone.

Perhaps we should mention at this point that he is 5'9" and weights 185 pounds.

If you add up the weight of all the opponents he has faced in his profesional career, you would find that the avg weight of all his opponents is 214 lbs.

At DREAM 9, he recently defeated Bob Sapp via submission. Sapp is 6'5" and 350 pounds. Small compared to some of Minowa’s other opponents, like Giant Silva or Zulu.

Many MMA Fans have no idea why this guy hasn’t been offered a ridiculous contract by the UFC.

The Japanese call him Minowaman! This is because when he wins his fights he puts on a Japanese flag like a superman-type cape. Super-Minowa or Minowa Man - that's what they call him and you dont go 2-12 and keep getting fights unless you are entertaining. Which he certainly is.

He has always gone as "the Punk" but over time the cape thing and his celebrations after a win have people mostly referring to him as Minowaman

He has incredible Jiu Jitsu—the Japanese kind, so he says. He has awesome standup and can take a punch, as per Minowa-Baroni I.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij_TGe-mb_U&feature=PlayList&p=A3BB70272696F037&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=34

Many fans think he should fight and beat Anderson Silva. I don’t know why this hasn’t been thought of before, but if there is anyone in the world at 185 pounds that can beat anyone else in the world regardless of weight—it's Minowa.

Heck, he could defeat Machida with ease, as well. Machida would be horribly exposed at the hands of Minowa.

Minowa will always stand out as having one of the top five fights in MMA history. His bout with Phil Baroni is legendary and should be viewed by anyone that considers themselves a real MMA fan.

In any event, kudos to Minowa for beating that sap, Bob Sapp. It's really not much of a surprise. I just hope "The Beast" didn’t cry this time.

There is a guy out there named Shannon the Cannon. He is 5'9" 190lbs. He has 108 pro fights. Many fans think that a fight that had a combined record of almost 200 fights would be fairly interesting, but Shannon would be gassed in about 30 seconds so it wouldnt be much of a fight. Not something you likely to ever see in a fight involving Brock Lesnar or Machida or for that matter, Minowa’s (should be) next victim, Anderson Silva.

Just FYI—some of Minowa’s victories:

Kimo Leopoldo

Bob Sapp

Don Frye

Eric Esch

Giant Silva

Phil Baroni (2)

Kenichi Yamamoto

A list of his losses is even more impressive:

Yuki Kondo

Evan Tanner

Quintin Jackson

Wanderlei Silva

Phil Baroni (1)

Ryan Gracie

Kazushi Sakuraba

Mirko Filipovic

ZuluZinho

In any event, if people find Anderson Silva stepping up in weight to fight James Irvin something then they should fall down and worship this guy, heh. Talk about stepping up in weight.

He once said he would defeat Kimo in a minute. Well it took him two, so sue him.

Ikuhisa Minowa is not just a hero for Japan but a hero for everyone who thought something couldn’t be done but was nonetheless.

It’s a heavy burden, but Minowaman looks able to carry the load.

Hat’s off!

—Marco Yanitelli, “The Italian Scallion”