Forever Heroic: Master Samurai Akira Shoji

Unbeknown to most casual fans of MMA, the name Akira Shoji rouses smiles and faces of joy to only the truly hardcore fans. Possessing a losing record, it isn't the record that makes people love this 5'8" middleweight but rather the samurai spirit he embodies, providing a shining example of what it means to be a warrior.

Many words could describe Shoji, but the one that truly does his character justice is the word "heroic." He is heroic because, despite being outweighed, outclassed, and outpaid by just about every fighter in MMA, he has been willing to stand toe-to-toe with superior competition.

His record may be full of losses, but those losses are truly from the best fighters in the world; whether it be Murilo Rua, Dan Henderson, or Paulo Filho, Shoji has always taken the fight, and, despite losing, always impresses.

Although beginning his professional career in a few smaller organizations and tournaments, it wasn't until Pride 1 that Shoji made his true debut to the MMA world. With an impressive draw against Renzo Gracie, who at the time was one of the best mma fighters in the world, Shoji may have taken the victory if Pride had, had judges in the early days.

Shoji was a mild superstar in the mma world after drawing with Renzo Gracie, and the next four fights he would have would cement his reputation as a good fighter with a solid base, not receiving his first loss in Pride until Pride 5 where he fought the heavy handed Igor Vovchanchyn.

At the time Vovchanchyn had been one of the most feared opponents in the world of mma having knocked out three of his last four opponents prior to the Akira Shoji fight. But Vovchanchyn was unable to put away the tenacious Shoji and had to take a judge’s decision instead.

After the Vovchanchyn fight Shoji went on to string some victories against the likes of Guy Mezger, Larry Parker and in the 2000 Grand Prix beat Ebenezer Fontes Braga. Shoji had been making a name for himself in the sport of mma but received a decision loss to Mark Coleman who at the time was on a comeback and eventually won the 2000 Grand Prix.

Of course throughout Shoji's career he has fallen short of true glory having stringed together a series of losses. Shoji showed impressive resilience against superior fighters like 7'0 K-1 king Semmy Schilt by surviving 8 minutes with him, and showing great submission defense against Paulo Filho in their second fight in which Filho won by a decision.

Perhaps one of the hardest fought battles of Shoji's career was his loss to Dan Henderson who was well known as a powerful puncher and Olympic caliber wrestler at the 205- and 185-pound classes. Shoji battled Henderson for three rounds, only to wind up losing by TKO.

Never afraid to shy away from fights, Shoji earned himself the nickname of "Mr. Pride" in Japan; Shoji literally fought more fights than anyone else in the organization. Shoji is so willing to give it his all that, before every fight, he will write his will out in case he is killed in the ring. The man simply shows devotion to a sport he loves and can truly be a model of inspiration to all fighters of today.