Tsuyoshi Nakasako

Tsuyoshi Nakasako (Japanese: 中迫剛; born January 29, 1974) is a Japanese retired heavyweight kickboxer who competed in K-1. He holds notable victories over Kaoklai Kaennorsing, Dewey Cooper and Bob Sapp.

Tsuyoshi Nakasako
Born	January 29, 1974 Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan
Native name	中迫剛
Other names	The Demon Prince The Nobleman of Japan Sako
Nationality	Japanese
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	100 kg (220 lb; 15 st 10 lb)
Division	Heavyweight
Style	Seidokaikan karate
Fighting out of	Osaka, Japan
Team	ZEBRA 244
Years active	1998–2008
Kickboxing record
Total	46
Wins	19
By knockout	7
Losses	26
By knockout	11
Draws	1

Career

Nakasako made his professional kickboxing debut on May 24 at the K-1 Braves '98 event in Fukuoka. In a dominant effort, he earned a TKO victory over taekwondo champion Pierre Guenette. Three months later, he reached the finals of the K-1 Japan Grand Prix '98 tournament before suffering his first defeat: a majority decision loss to former world champion Masaaki Satake. Losses Stan Longinidis and Andy Hug followed, but Nakasako rebounded with wins over world champion Dewey Cooper and Muay Thai exponent Tofan Pirani. He reached the semifinals of the K-1 Spirits '99 and K-1 Andy Memorial events, but endured decision losses to Nobu Hayashi and Musashi,[1] respectively.

Despite an eventual TKO loss, Nakasako made a strong showing against K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 winner Mark Hunt at K-1 Rising 2002, scoring a knockdown with a kick to the head and pressuring the champion effectively. This was followed shortly afterwards with a disqualification win over the debuting Bob Sapp at K-1 Survival 2002, awarded after Sapp shoved Nakasako into the corner, threw him to the ground and repreatedly struck him while he was down. Nakasako next entered the K-1 Andy Spirits tournament, where he dominantly made his way to the finals and fought five rounds to an eventual decision loss against Musashi.

At K-1 Burning 2004, Naksako faced Remy Bonjasky in the Dutchman's first match after winning the K-1 World Grand Prix 2003. After a dynamic bout wherein the Japanese fighter appropriated his opponent's signature flying knee attacks, Nakasako eventually suffered a TKO in the closing seconds of the final round. He came back with an impressive first round knockout of Mavrick Harvery, effectively dominating the cage fighter. Further tournament competition followed, with Nakasako continuing to fall short but nevertheless achieving the occasional surprising victory, such as his defeat of his rival Kaoklai Kaennorsing at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Seoul.[2]

Naksako entered his final tournament - the K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Fukuoka - on June 29. After defeating Bernard Ackah in the quarterfinals, he moved on to face karate champ Ewerton Teixeira and lost by unanimous decision. This was his last match to date, leaving him with a professional record of 19 wins, 26 losses, and 1 draw.

Titles

• K-1 Andy Spirits 2002 Finalist
• K-1 Japan Grand Prix '98 Finalist

Kickboxing record

Kickboxing Record

19 Wins (7 (T)KO's, 12 Decisions), 26 Losses, 0 No Contest, 1 Draw Date Result Opponent Event Location Method Round Time Record 2008-06-29 Loss Ewerton Teixeira K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Fukuoka Semifinal Fukuoka, Japan Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 19-26-1 2008-06-29 Win Bernard Ackah K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Fukuoka Quarterfinal Fukuoka, Japan Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 19-25-1 2008-04-13 Win Takumi Sato K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Yokohama Yokohama, Japan Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 18-25-1 2007-08-11 Loss Alexander Pitchkounov K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Las Vegas Quarterfinal Las Vegas, USA Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 17-25-1 2007-03-04 Loss Zabit Samedov K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Yokohama Yokohama, Japan Decision (Majority) 3 3:00 17-24-1 2006-07-30 Loss Björn Bregy K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Sapporo Sapporo, Japan KO (Right hook) 1 2:35 17-23-1 2006-06-03 Loss Yusuke Fujimoto K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Seoul Semifinal Seoul, South Korea Decision (Majority) 3 3:00 17-22-1 2006-06-03 Win Kaoklai Kaennorsing K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Seoul Quarterfinal Seoul, South Korea Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 17-21-1 2005-08-22 Loss Kaoklai Kaennorsing Titans 2nd Tokyo, Japan Decision (Unanimous 3 3:00 16-21-1 2005-06-14 Loss Hiraku Hori K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Hiroshima Quarterfinal Hiroshima, Japan Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 16-20-1 2005-04-30 Loss Mark Selbee K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Las Vegas Quarterfinal Las Vegas, USA Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 16-19-1 2004-07-17 Loss Kaoklai Kaennorsing K-1 World Grand Prix 2004 in Seoul Semifinal Seoul, South Korea Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 16-18-1 2004-07-17 Win Myeon Ju Lee K-1 World Grand Prix 2004 in Seoul Quarterfinal Seoul, South Korea Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 16-17-1 2004-06-26 Loss Nobu Hayashi K-1 Beast 2004 in Shizuoka Quarterfinal Shizuoka, Japan Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 15-17-1 2004-03-14 Win Mavrick Harvey K-1 Beast 2004 in Niigata Niigata, Japan KO 1 1:30 15-16-1 2004-02-15 Loss Remy Bonjasky K-1 Burning 2004 Okinawa, Japan KO (Left high kick) 3 2:54 14-16-1 2003-09-21 Loss Hiromi Amada K-1 Survival 2003 Quarterfinal Yokohama, Japan 2nd Ext.R Decision (Unanimous) 5 3:00 14-15-1 2003-06-29 Loss Peter Aerts K-1 Beast II 2003 Saitama, Japan KO (High kick) 2 1:42 14-14-1 2003-04-06 Loss Mike Bernardo K-1 Beast 2003 Yamagata, Japan TKO 2 1:02 14-13-1 2002-09-22 Loss Musashi K-1 Andy Spirits Final Osaka, Japan 2nd Ext.R Decision (Unanimous) 5 3:00 14-12-1 Fight was for the K-1 Andy Spirits title. 2002-09-22 Win Yusuke Fujimoto K-1 Andy Spirits Semifinals Osaka, Japan KO (Punch) 2 2:18 14-11-1 2002-09-22 Win Ryuta Noji K-1 Andy Spirits Quarterfinal Osaka, Japan Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 13-11-1 2002-06-02 Win Bob Sapp K-1 Survival 2002 Toyama, Japan DQ 1 1:30 12-11-1 Sapp was disqualified after striking Nakasako on the ground. 2002-04-21 Loss Ernesto Hoost K-1 Burning 2002 Hiroshima, Japan KO 1 1:46 11-11-1 2002-01-27 Loss Mark Hunt K-1 Rising 2002 Shizuoka, Japan TKO (Referee stoppage) 2 2:55 11-10-1 2001-08-19 Loss Musashi K-1 Andy Memorial Semifinal Saitama, Japan Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 11-9-1 2001-08-19 Win Great Kusatsu K-1 Andy Memorial Quarterfinal Saitama, Japan Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 11-8-1 2001-06-24 Win Shingo Koyasu K-1 Survival 2001 Sendai, Japan Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 10-8-1 2001-03-17 Loss Glaube Feitosa K-1 Gladiators 2001 Yokohama, Japan KO (Left high kick) 2 0:57 9-8-1 2001-01-30 Loss Toru Oishi K-1 Rising 2001 Shikoku, Japan Decision (Majority) 5 3:00 9-7-1 2000-08-20 Loss Francisco Filho K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 in Yokohama Quarterfinal Yokohama, Japan Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 9-6-1 2000-07-07 Loss An Hu K-1 Spirits 2000 Quarterfinal Sendai, Japan TKO (Stoppage/Punches) 3 0:45 9-5-1 2000-05-28 Win Noboru Uchida K-1 Survival 2000 Sapporo, Japan Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 9-4-1 2000-03-19 Draw Stan Longinidis K-1 Burning 2000 Yokohama, Japan Decision draw (1-0) 5 3:00 8-4-1 2000-01-25 Win Marten Simons K-1 Rising 2000 Nagasaki, Japan Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 8-4-0 1999-08-22 Loss Nobu Hayashi K-1 Spirits '99 Semifinal Tokyo, Japan Decision (Majority) 3 3:00 7-4-0 1999-08-22 Win Toru Oishi K-1 Spirits '99 Quarterfinal Tokyo, Japan Decision (Majority) 3:00 7-3-0 1999-08-22 Win Yasuhiro Anbe K-1 Spirits '99 Eighth-final Tokyo, Japan 2nd Ext.R Decision (Unanimous) 5 3:00 6-3-0 1999-07-18 Win Tofan Pirani K-1 Dream '99 Nagoya, Japan KO (Right hook) 1 0:15 5-3-0 1999-03-22 Win Dewey Cooper K-1 The Challenge '99 Tokyo, Japan KO (Right high kick) 2 2:44 4-3-0 1999-02-03 Loss Andy Hug K-1 Rising Sun '99 Tokyo, Japan KO (Right spinning heel kick) 2 0:22 3-3-0 1998-10-28 Loss Stan Longinidis K-1 Japan '98 Kamikaze Tokyo, Japan TKO (Doctor stoppage) 4 0:30 3-2-0 The fight was stopped after Naksako suffered a broken nose. 1998-08-28 Loss Masaaki Satake K-1 Japan Grand Prix '98 Final Tokyo, Japan Decision (Majority) 3 3:00 3-1-0 Fight was for the for K-1 Japan Grand Prix '98 title. 1998-08-28 Win Ryo Takigawa K-1 Japan Grand Prix '98 Semifinal Tokyo, Japan KO 1 0:56 3-0-0 1998-08-28 Win Mitsuya Nagai K-1 Japan Grand Prix '98 Quarterfinal Tokyo, Japan TKO (Left high kick) 2 2:55 2-0-0 1998-05-24 Win Pierre Guenette K-1 Braves '98 Fukuoka, Japan TKO (Punch) 2 2:14 1-0-0 Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw/No contest   Notes

See also

• List of male kickboxers
• List of K-1 Events

References

1. Nicholas Pettas Wins K-1 Japan GP Archived October 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine k-1.co.jp
2. Hong The Man in Seoul, Fujimoto Wins Asia GP Archived May 23, 2009, at the Wayback Machine k-1.co.jp

External links

• Official K-1 website
• Tsuyoshi Nakasako K-1 profile