Nobuaki Kakuda
In October 1995, Vale competed in the World Combat Championships. In the first round of the tournament he defeated Mike Bitonio via first-round submission. Fighting at 260 lbs, Vale outweighed Bitonio by 45 lbs. Vale was to face Renzo Gracie in the semifinals, but wasn't able to continue due to head lacerations. He had two further MMA bouts, in which he lost to Kazunari Murakami and Dan Severn. He also competed in the K-1 kickboxing promotion twice. In 1996, he was invited into the K-1 World Grand Prix and was defeated by Andy Hug. His next bout, against Nobuaki Kakuda in 1998, also ended in defeat. In the early days of MMA, when it was still called NHB, Vale was introduced as the man who beat Ken Shamrock in reference to a pro wrestling bout that occurred in Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi on May 15, 1992.