Minowaman: Celebrating the Career of a Giant Killer

Riley KontekJun 4, 2018

This morning, Japanese cult legend Ikuhisa Minowa lost a devastating fight to Russian superstar Alexander Schlemenko. Although it was a tough loss, it is just one of the many fights that the man known as "Minowaman" has put on in his storied career.

It is the story of a middleweight fighting anybody put in front of him. A man who proved that it doesn't matter how big you are, it matters how tough you are.

The man wears those infamous red trunks has had a long, interesting career, which will be examined and celebrated today, despite his unfortunate defeat.

The Early Years

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Things were not always great for Ikuhisa Minowa.

In fact, his career started off in disappointing fashion for the Japanese superstar, going 2-9-3 in his first 14 fights.

To his credit, Minowa fought the likes of Yuki Kondo (submission loss), Jason DeLucia (submission loss), Evan Tanner (submission loss) and Travis Fulton (draw).

Minowaman was a long-time Pancrase fighter, taking 41 fights under the Japanese promotion.

Luckily, his disappointing first 14 fights would start to turn around in late 1998 and early 1999.

The Turning Point

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Following Minowaman's dismal start to his mixed martial arts career, things began to turn around for the future legend.

From late 1998 to the end of 2000, Minowa began to rattle off wins and make a name for himself.

In this time, he went 15-3-3, fighting mostly with Pancrase still. He even earned a victory under the pre-Zuffa UFC banner.

It was at this time he started to gain notoriety for his submission abilities, as most of these victories came by tapout.

He was able to beat notables Daiju Takase, Joe Slick and Brian Gassaway, adding much-needed legitimacy to his record.

He also fought losing efforts in a rematch with Jason DeLucia and 6'11", 285-pound Semmy Schilt (losing by decision), and he drew to UFC workhorse Chris Lytle.

Minowa started to gain some momentum during this time, and his fight with Semmy Schilt was a foreshadowing to the size of men Minowaman would fight in the future.

The Pre-Pride Stall

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Following his rebound from a horrible start to his career, Minowaman hit a stall before heading to one of the largest promotions in the world.

Fighting under the Pancrase and Deep banners, Minowaman went 6-5-2, hardly anything to write home about.

That being said, he started to fight more recognizable, talented fighters.

He was able to submit Yuki Sasake in two separate fights, but dropped bouts to Paulo Filho, Kiyoshi Tamura and Ricardo Almeida.

At this time, he was not getting finished in his losses, but submitting his opponents that he defeated, which showed he was progressing in his career.

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The Pride Years, Part One

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From New Year's Eve of 2003 to New Year's Eve of 2006, Ikuhisa Minowa took his talents to Pride, the most prestigious, honored mixed martial arts promotion at the time.

It was during this time period where Minowa became known to the world as Minowaman.

He ran his record to 35-25-8, taking fights against certified stars, local talent and men twice as large as he was.

His first three Pride fights did not go well, losing by knockout to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Wanderlei Silva, two of the promotion's top stars. He also dropped a decision to the infamous Ryan Gracie.

After getting on track with a fight outside of Pride, Minowaman rattled off four straight wins in Pride, including submissions of heavyweight kickboxer Stefan Leko (heel hook) and former heavyweight Gilbert Yvel.

Before entering the 2005 welterweight tournament, Minowaman would split his next two fights, losing to Phil Baroni (knockout) and submitting 240-pound Kimo Leopoldo (toe hold).

The Pride Years, Part Two

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Following his submission victory of Kimo Leopoldo, Minowaman entered the 2005 welterweight grand prix.

His first bout would be against a familiar foe.

In the opening round, Minowaman rematched Phil Baroni in a winning effort to advance to the second round.

Unfortunately, he was ousted from the tournament by eventual tournament finalist Murilo Bustamante.

His next fight was no better, as he was submitted by fellow Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba.

Things were not over for Minowaman in Pride, though, as he took on a new set of challenges. He began gaining notoriety for his willingness to fight in openweight bouts against men much larger than himself.

His next six bouts were all openweight bouts. He earned glorious victories in these bouts, including wins over Dave Legeno, Giant Silva (7'2", 385 lbs.), Eric "Butterbean" Esch (420 lbs.) and Mike Polchlopek (258 lbs.).

He even challenged Mirko Cro Cop during this time, falling by knockout, but showing great courage.

Post Pride and the Super Hulk Tournament

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Following the purchase of Pride by the UFC, Minowaman went on a path that brought him to promotions such as K-1 Heros and Dream.

During this time, Minowa continued to fight giants.

He fought in losing efforts in K-1 to 254-pound Min-soo Kim and 390-pound Zuluzinho, who was simply much too large for the man who has built a reputation on slaying giants.

He would rebound in his openweight efforts against Kwan-bum Lee, a 286-pound Korean who succumbed to one of Minowa's dangerous leg locks.

Before he would amaze the world in the Dream Super Hulk Grand Prix, he would shuffle wins and losses.

He defeated heavyweights Don Frye and Errol Zimmerman by submission, but fell to Masakatsu Funaki and Katsuyori Shibata.

Entering the Dream Super Hulk Tournament, Minowaman was the smallest man in the tournament. In a talent pool that saw giants such as Bob Sapp, Mark Hunt and Hong-man Choi, the natural middleweight that is Minowaman saw a steep hill ahead.

Size did not make a difference, as Minowaman went on to win the tournament. In the opening round, Minowaman submitted 315-pound behemoth Bob Sapp with an Achilles lock. He then moved on to submit 7'2", 305-pound Hong-man Choi with a heel hook.

In the finale, Minowaman stood opposite of a dangerous Rameau Sokoudjou in a fight that many thought he could not win. He proved doubters wrong, knocking Sokoudjou out in the third round, clinching the Dream Super Hulk Grand Prix Championship.

Getting Up to Speed

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This brings us to the more recent, up-to-date part of Minowaman's career.

The man who slays giants continued to take fights against men much larger than himself.

Among the openweight fights Minowaman took were bouts against Jimmy Ambriz (294 lbs.), Satoshi Ishii (240 lbs.) and Chang-hee Kim (308 lbs.)

He has seen mostly positive results in these openweight bouts, beating Ambriz, Kim, Imani Lee and Baru Harn.

He has taken two higher-profile fights in his natural weight class as of late.

In January, he suffered a decision defeat to UFC veteran Kendall Grove in his first bout in the United States.

Then, earlier this morning, Minowaman suffered a knockout loss to Alexander Shlemenko in a valiant effort.

Minowaman is a legend in the sport of mixed martial arts, and it is no wonder why he has garnered such a cult following. Despite a record that has seen him lose 34 times, he has fought all comers, no matter how much smaller he was.