Satoru Kitaoka
, is a Japanese shoot wrestler and mixed martial artist who most recently competed for RIZIN. A professional competitor since 2000, he has also competed for DREAM, Pancrase, DEEP, and World Victory Road. Kitaoka is renowned for his catch wrestling abilities which he learned studying under two of Japan's most respected catch wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. He is also a Brazilian jiu jitsu blackbelt under Yuki Nakai. A master of the guillotine choke and leg lock submissions, Kitaoka holds notable wins over Takanori Gomi, Paul Daley, and Carlos Condit. Background. Kitaoka became interested in mixed martial  arts after seeing Bas Rutten and Masakatsu Funaki fight in Pancrase in 1996. In addition to mixed martial arts success, Kitaoka has also won several submission grappling tournaments, including being the reigning Brazilian jiu-jitsu and No-Gi Open Champion in both the and Absolute divisions. Personal life. Kitaoka spends his time taking care of his body, getting massages three times a week, utilizing saunas, and carbonated and ice baths. He also enjoys spending time on social media. Kitaoka also teaches at his gym and coaches his teammates. Mixed martial arts career. Pancrase. Renowned originally for his catch wrestling abilities , Kitaoka made his professional debut for Pancrase on October 31, 2000, losing via majority decision. After submitting then 3-0 Kurt Pellegrino, Kitaoka drew with Heath Sims before losing to Katsuya Inoue. After picking up two wins to start 2005, Kitaoka improved to 12-6-8 before he faced future UFC interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit on October 2, 2005. Kitaoka defeated Condit in an upset, submitting him with a heel hook at 3:57 of the first round. A leg lock specialist, Kitaoka would improve to 19-7-9 before facing Katsuya Inoue on January 30, 2008 for the third  time after being defeating in their first meeting and a draw in the previous bout. Kitaoka lost via split decision. Sengoku. After signing with World Victory Road, Kitaoka's first fight for Sengoku was a submission win over Ian James Schaffa at "Sengoku 2" on 18 May 2008 before entering Sengoku's eight-man lightweight tournament. In the first round of the tournament at "Sengoku 4" on 24 August 2008 he was put up against American Clay French. Kitaoka made short work of French, winning by submission due to an achilles lock at 1:21 of the first round. The win  put him up against fellow Japanese fighter Eiji Mitsuoka in the tournament's semifinal taking place at "". Kitaoka again made short work of his opponent winning by a heel hook submission at 1:16 of the first round. The win earned him a place in the tournament's final taking place that same night against Kazunori Yokota. The fight proved longer than Kitaoka's three previous fights as it went the distance completing all three five-minute rounds with Kitaoka being awarded the unanimous decision, thus winning the 2008 Sengoku Lightweight Grand Prix. The Lightweight tournament win set up Kitaoka to  fight the last reigning PRIDE Lightweight Champion, Takanori Gomi, for Sengoku's newly created Sengoku Lightweight Championship. The two fought at "Sengoku no Ran 2009" on 4 January 2009 and ended with Kitaoka defeating Gomi with an achilles lock at 1:41 of the first round. In his first title defence, on August 2, 2009, at "", Kitaoka lost his lightweight championship to Mizuto Hirota. Return to Pancrase. Following his title loss in Sengoku, Kitaoka returned to his home promotion Pancrase picking up wins over Jorge Rogrigues and Kuniyoshi Hironaka. DREAM. Kitaoka faced former UFC fighter Willamy Freire at DREAM 17. Kitaoka  entered the bout on a three fight win streak picking up victories in both Pancrase and DEEP. He won the fight via split decision. Kitaoka faced teammate and fellow Yuki Nakai black belt Shinya Aoki at DREAM's year end event for the DREAM Lightweight Championship. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. RIZIN FF. Kitaoka made his debut for Rizin Fighting Federation in 2016. He faced Daron Cruickshank on December 29, 2016, at and won the fight via technical submission in the first round. Kitaoka next faced Yusuke Yachi on July 30, 2017, at . He lost the fight via  TKO in the second round. Kitaoka returned at , facing Kiichi Kunimoto in a catchweight bout of 165 lbs. Kitaoka lost via unanimous decision. After picking a first-round heel hook win in Pancrase, Kitaoka returned to the RIZIN ring at RIZIN 11 against Diego Brandao. While attempting a leg lock submission on the ground, Kitaoka left himself vulnerable to a flurry of right hands from Brandao on the top, being knocked out just 1:38 into the fight. After losing to Brandao, Kitaoka lost in his fifth defense of his DEEP Lightweight Championship to Koji Takeda via unanimous decision. Kitaoka returned  to face Tatsuya Kawajiri at RIZIN: Heisei's Last Yarennoka! for New Year's Eve in 2018. After a fairly impressive performance which included a surprising Kitoka knockdown from a left cross, Kitaoka won via split decision. He then faced Roberto de Souza at Rizin 15 on April 21, 2019. He lost the fight via second-round knockout. Kitaoka faced Johnny Case at Rizin 17 on July 28, 2019. He lost the fight via corner stoppage after the first round. Kitaoka then went on to create his own MMA promotion and fought Sho Kogane at its inaugural event Ismos 1  on July 31, 2020. The bout was declared a draw. Before his fight at RIZIN 24, Kitaoka said restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic didn't really change anything in his training camp and he simply followed the new rules about masks with ease. He lost the fight against Takasuke Kume via split decision. Return to DEEP. After a stint in Rizin, Kitaoka returned to DEEP and faced Juri Ohara at Deep 100 on February 21, 2021. He lost the fight via first-round knockout. Kitaoka is scheduled to face Takumi Suzuki at Deep 104 on October 23, 2021. Going into  the fight, Kitaoka woke on conditioning extensively to make sure he was prepared for the fight.