# Ryuichi Murata

Ryuichi Murata (Japanese: 村田 龍一, Murata Ryūichi, born August 27, 1976) is a Japanese judoka and mixed martial artist. He was a world-class judo competitor with 5 top-3 Judo World Cup tournament finishes and has won multiple silver and bronze medals at world and national judo competitions. Most recently, he's competed in MMA and currently has an MMA record of 8 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw. He won the Spirit MC Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament in 2007.

## Judo career

Murata has achieved good success as a judoka. He was second at the world junior championships in 1996. In Japanese national tournaments he has been second once (2000) and third twice (1998, 2001). At World Cup events he won in Tbilisi (2003) and Budapest (2001), finished second at Leonding, Austria (1997), and third in Paris (2000).

## Mixed martial arts career

Ryuichi Murata made his MMA debut on Pride Fighting Championships Bushido 8 card in 2005. He lost the fight against Kazuki Okubo due to submission. In a post fight interview, Murata stated that he didn't have enough experience to fight well in MMA and didn't feel like he was "able to show much at all" of what he wanted to achieve.
Murata went on to fight on a number of cards with the Deep and Spirit MC MMA promotions. In 2007, he participated in Spirit MC's Heavyweight GP tournament. In the first round he knocked out Dong Woo Shin. He later submitted ChunGil Myung Chun with an armbar to move to the tournament finals. In the finals he earned a technical knockout against Jung Gyu Choi to become Spirit MC's Heavyweight GP Champion.

## Judo tournaments

| Date | Tournament | Place | Weight class |
| February 2, 2003 | A-Tournament Tbilisi | 1st | Half-middleweight (81 kg) |
| January 26, 2003 | Super A-Tournament Moscow | 2nd | Half-middleweight (81 kg) |
| January 11, 2003 | Jigoro Kano Cup Tokyo | 3rd | Half-middleweight (81 kg) |
| May 25, 2001 | East Asian Games Osaka | 3rd | Half-middleweight (81 kg) |
| April 29, 2001 | Japan Judo Championships | 3rd | Half-middleweight (81 kg) |
| March 3, 2001 | A-Tournament Budapest Bank Cup | 1st | Half-middleweight (81 kg) |
| April 2, 2000 | Japan Judo Championships | 2nd | Half-middleweight (81 kg) |
| February 12, 2000 | Tournoi de Paris | 3rd | Half-middleweight (81 kg) |
| April 5, 1998 | Japan National Championships Fukuoka | 3rd | Half-middleweight (81 kg) |
| February 16, 1997 | ASKO World Tournament Leonding | 2nd | Half-Heavyweight (78 kg) |
| October 5, 1996 | World Junior Championships | 2nd | Half-Heavyweight (78 kg) |

## Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown :
| 12 matches | 8 wins | 3 losses |
| By knockout | 4 | 1 |
| By submission | 2 | 1 |
| By decision | 2 | 1 |
| Draws | 1 | 1 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
| Loss | 8-3-1 | Jae Young Kim | KO (punches and knees) | Spirit MC 17 | June 29, 2008 | 1 | 0:33 | Seoul, South Korea | |
| Win | 8-2-1 | Seung Bae Whi | Decision (unanimous) | Spirit MC 16 | April 27, 2008 | 3 | 5:00 | Seoul, South Korea | |
| Win | 7-2-1 | Ho Jin Kim | Submission (armbar) | Deep: Protect Impact 2007 | December 22, 2007 | 1 | 3:38 | Osaka, Japan | |
| Win | 6-2-1 | Jung Gyu Choi | TKO (punches) | Spirit MC 13 | October 14, 2007 | 3 | 3:34 | Seoul, South Korea | Heavyweight Grand Prix final |
| Win | 5-2-1 | Gil Myung Chun | Submission (keylock) | Spirit MC 13 | October 14, 2007 | 1 | 3:29 | Seoul, South Korea | Heavyweight Grand Prix semi-final |
| Win | 4-2-1 | Dong Woo Shin | KO (punch) | Spirit MC 12 | August 19, 2007 | 1 | 2:18 | Seoul, South Korea | Heavyweight Grand Prix quarter-final |
| Draw | 3-2-1 | Sojiro Orui | Draw | Deep: 31 Impact | August 5, 2007 | 2 | 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 3-2 | Gregory Babene | TKO (punches) | Real Rhythm - 5th Stage | November 18, 2006 | 1 | 3:36 | Osaka, Japan | |
| Win | 2-2 | Seiki Ryo | Decision (unanimous) | Deep: clubDeep Nagoya: MB3z Impact, Di Entrare | May 21, 2006 | 2 | 5:00 | Nagoya | |
| Loss | 1-2 | Nick Ring | Decision (unanimous) | Deep: 23 Impact | February 5, 2006 | 2 | 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 1-1 | Ryuhei Sato | TKO (punches) | Deep: 21st Impact | October 28, 2005 | 1 | 3:51 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Loss | 0-1 | Kazuki Okubo | Submission (armbar) | Pride: Bushido 8 | July 17, 2005 | 1 | 4:29 | Nagoya, Aichi, Japan | MMA Debut |