Naoya Uematsu
Naoya Uematsu (born September 10, 1978) is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist who competed in the bantamweight, featherweight and lightweight divisions in Cage Force, DEEP and Shooto. He is the head instructor of the NEXUSENSE gym. In addition, Uematsu is a director and referee director of the Japan Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (JBJJF). He is a director and strengthening committee member of the Japan Sambo Federation and chairman of the refereeing committee and the vice Chairman of the Japan MMA Refereeing Organization (JMOC). Mixed martial arts career. Uematsu began at the age of 12 in junior high  school. He started training in shoot wrestling at Shooto Gym K'z Factory under Kazuhiro Kusayanagi when he was 16 and immediately became an undefeated champion in amateur competitions. He also trained in sumo wrestling, sambo and muay thai at the Crosspoint Gym. He is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt with training under Biviano Fernandez and Leonardo Vieira. Early career. Uematsu debuted in the Lumax Cup lightweight tournament in 1997 defeating Takashi Ochi and Mitsuo Matsumoto. He made it to the finals, where he defeated Caol Uno via achilles lock under twenty three seconds in the first round. Shooto. Uematsu  would rack up an undefeated 11-0-2 record in 6 years in Shooto defeating luminaries such as Katsuya Toida and Noboru Asahi. His streak came to an end on September 16th, 2002 on a loss to Bao Quach at . Uematsu faced Joao Roque on January 24, 2003, losing via unanimous decision. Uematsu would go on to face Jens Pulver, Gilbert Melendez and Hideki Kadowaki later in his Shooto career. He left Shooto in 2006 at a record of 14-5-2, following a loss to Kenji Osawa. Later career. Uematsu would go 1-3-0 in the final two  years of his mixed martial arts career, with losses to Urijah Faber and Marcos Galvao. His only win was over James Doolan at Cage Force, via heel hook. He retired in 2008, following a loss to Daiki Hata at .