Kazuyuki Fujita
Takayama had his anticipated debut in MMA at the event PRIDE 14 against fellow professional wrestler Kazuyuki Fujita. His performance would impress pundits by keeping the fight competitive despite the experience gap, as he escaped repeatedly from underneath the heavier Fujita and exchanged hard strikes in the muay thai clinch with him in the early minutes. Even though his stamina faltered later, which allowed Fujita to deliver multiple knee strikes to the head from a grounded position, Takayama survived to the second round, where he was finally put down by an arm triangle choke.