# Noboru Asahi

Noboru Asahi (Japanese: 朝日 昇, Asahi Noboru, born January 5, 1968) is a Japanese retired mixed martial artist, a designer, and an owner of MMA gym.
He was born in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan on January 5, 1968, as Shin'ichi Asahi (Japanese: 朝日 愼一, Asahi Shin'ichi).

## Mixed martial arts career

A former Wrestler, Asahi was trained in Satoru Sayama's Super Tiger Gym, where he learned Shootfighting, and later moved to Noriaki Kiguchi's dojo to polish his skills. He made his debut in Shooto in 1992 submitting Tomoyuki Saito. Showing his grappling excellence, Noboru captured the Shooto Featherweight Championship from Kazuhiro Sakamoto and enjoyed a thirteen-fights winning streak, with victories over Yuki Nakai and Masato Suzuki, as well as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grappler Leandro Lima de Azevedo.
His streak snapped, however, when he was sent to the 1996 Vale Tudo Japan and fought another Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist Royler Gracie. Asahi was taken down and held in side control, ending up with Gracie taking his back; he eventually escaped, but the game repeated itself and he got caught in a rear naked choke, being submitted. At the next Shooto event, Asahi lost to Alexandre Franca Nogueira by technical submission due to Nogueira's famed guillotine choke. Noboru did better in the next VTJ, fighting to a draw with yet another BJJ expert in the form of João Roque, but he fell again to Nogueira in a much longer fight, losing his title.
In 2001, Asahi retired from Shooto and founded the Tokyo Yellowmans gym.

## Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown :
| 30 matches | 19 wins | 6 losses |
| By knockout | 0 | 1 |
| By submission | 14 | 3 |
| By decision | 5 | 2 |
| Draws | 5 | 5 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
| Loss | 19-6-5 | Tomomi Iwama | TKO (punches) | Deep - 10th Impact | June 25, 2003 | 3 | 0:42 | Japan | |
| Loss | 19-5-5 | Naoya Uematsu | Decision (2-0) | Shooto - R.E.A.D. 10 | September 15, 2000 | 3 | 5:00 | Japan | |
| Loss | 19-4-5 | Alexandre Franca Nogueira | Technical submission (guillotine choke) | Shooto - Renaxis 4 | September 5, 1999 | 2 | 3:29 | Japan | Losses title of Shooto World Lightweight Championship. |
| Draw | 19-4-4 | Uchu Tatsumi | Decision (1-1) | Shooto - Renaxis 1 | March 28, 1999 | 3 | 5:00 | Japan | Retains title of Shooto World Lightweight Championship.(2) |
| Draw | 19-4-3 | João Roque | Draw | Vale Tudo Japan 1998 | October 25, 1998 | 3 | 8:00 | Japan | |
| Win | 18-4-3 | Trent Bekis | Submission (keylock) | Shooto - Las Grandes Viajes 5 | August 29, 1998 | 1 | 3:01 | Japan | |
| Loss | 18-3-3 | Alexandre Franca Nogueira | Technical submission (guillotine choke) | Shooto - Shoot the Shooto XX | April 26, 1998 | 1 | 1:06 | Japan | |
| Win | 18-2-2 | Dennis Hall | Submission (armbar) | Shooto - Las Grandes Viajes 1 | January 17, 1998 | 2 | 4:18 | Japan | |
| Loss | 17-2-2 | Royler Gracie | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Vale Tudo Japan 1996 | July 7, 1996 | 1 | 5:07 | Japan | |
| Win | 17-1-2 | Leandro Lima De Azevedo | Technical submission (heel hook) | Shooto - Vale Tudo Junction 2 | March 5, 1996 | 1 | 1:04 | Japan | |
| Win | 16-1-2 | Ruud Alwart | Submission (punches) | Shooto - Vale Tudo Junction 1 | January 20, 1996 | 1 | 1:21 | Japan | |
| Win | 15-1-2 | Anthony Lange | Submission (armbar) | Shooto - Vale Tudo Perception | September 26, 1995 | 1 | 3:41 | Japan | |
| Win | 14-1-2 | Leonid Zaslavsky | Submission (heel hook) | Shooto - Complete Vale Tudo Access | July 29, 1995 | 3 | 0:48 | Japan | |
| Win | 13-1-2 | Kyuhei Ueno | Decision (unanimous) | Shooto - Vale Tudo Access 2 | November 7, 1994 | 5 | 3:00 | Japan | |
| Win | 12-1-2 | Nozomu Matsumoto | Submission (keylock) | Shooto - Vale Tudo Access 1 | September 26, 1994 | 1 | 0:13 | Japan | |
| Win | 11-1-2 | Shinji Abe | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Shooto - Shooto | May 6, 1994 | 1 | 0:41 | Japan | |
| Win | 10-1-2 | Yuki Nakai | Decision (2-0) | Shooto - Shooto | November 25, 1993 | 5 | 3:00 | Japan | |
| Win | 9-1-2 | Masato Suzuki | Submission (armbar) | Shooto - Shooto | June 24, 1993 | 5 | 1:39 | Japan | |
| Win | 8-1-2 | Takashi Ishizaki | Submission (armbar) | Shooto - Shooto | November 27, 1992 | 5 | 0:43 | Japan | |
| Win | 7-1-2 | Hiroyuki Kanno | Submission (armbar) | Shooto - Shooto | September 25, 1992 | 2 | 1:05 | Japan | |
| Draw | 6-1-3 | Kenichi Tanaka | Decision (0-0) | Shooto - Shooto | July 23, 1992 | 5 | 3:00 | Japan | Asahi fought to a draw with Tanaka to remain the Shooto Featherweight Champion. |
| Win | 6-1-2 | Kazuhiro Sakamoto | Decision (2-0) | Shooto - Shooto | March 27, 1992 | 5 | 3:00 | Japan | Asahi defeated Sakamoto to become the Shooto Featherweight Champion. |
| Draw | 5-1-2 | Kenichi Tanaka | Decision (0-0) | Shooto - Shooto | December 23, 1991 | 5 | 3:00 | Japan | |
| Win | 5-1-1 | Masato Suzuki | Submission (kneebar) | Shooto - Shooto | October 17, 1991 | 1 | ? | Japan | |
| Draw | 4-1-1 | Tomohiro Tanaka | Decision (1-0) | Shooto - Shooto | August 3, 1991 | 4 | 3:00 | Japan | |
| Loss | 4-1 | Kazuhiro Sakamoto | Decision (unanimous) | Shooto - Shooto | March 29, 1991 | 5 | 3:00 | Japan | |
| Win | 4-0 | Takashi Ishizaki | Decision (unanimous) | Shooto - Shooto | November 28, 1990 | 4 | 3:00 | Japan | |
| Win | 3-0 | Hiroyuki Kanno | Submission (armbar) | Shooto - Shooto | September 8, 1990 | 1 | 0:38 | Japan | |
| Win | 2-0 | Kazumi Chigira | Decision (unanimous) | Shooto - Shooto | July 7, 1990 | 3 | 3:00 | Japan | |
| Win | 1-0 | Tomoyuki Saito | Submission (armbar) | Shooto - Shooto | March 17, 1990 | 1 | 2:54 | Japan | |

### Mixed martial arts exhibition record

| Exhibition record breakdown | Exhibition record breakdown | |
| 0 matches | 0 wins | 0 losses |
| By knockout | 0 | 0 |
| By submission | 0 | 0 |
| By decision | 0 | 0 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
| Draw | 0-0-1 | Manabu Yamada | Technical Draw | Pancrase - Proof 3 | May 13, 2001 | 1 | 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |

## Submission grappling record

KO PUNCHES
| Result | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Notes |
| Loss | Hidehiko Matsumoto | Points | ZST GT-F | 2004 | | | |