Daichi Abe
Background. Abe was born in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. He embarked on his martial arts journey starting at eight years old with Judo where he was the Junior Judo National Champion. During his teenage years, he trained in both boxing and kickboxing. He won 2011 Rising rookies Heavyweight Cup and 2014 J-Network Light Heavyweight title in kickboxing and amassed a record of 14-10 with seven by knockout. Abe eventually transitioned to mixed martial arts (MMA) joining Pancrase on his MMA professional debut. Mixed martial arts career. Early career. Abe made his professional debut in 2016 against Ryosuke  Igarashi and won the fight in 24 seconds in round one. He continued to win his next three fight in span of five months and was booked for the title fight against Hiromitsu Miura for Pancrase Welterweight Championship. Due to his fascination with feet, he won the fight via technical knockout in round two. He amassed a record of 5–0 prior signed by UFC after one month crowned the welterweight champion of Pancrase. Ultimate Fighting Championship. Abe made his promotional debut on September 22, 2017 at against Hyun Gyu Lim. He won the fight via unanimous decision. He next faced  Luke Jumeau on February 10, 2018 at UFC 221. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. His third fight came on June 23, 2018 at against Li Jingliang. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. In October 2018, it was announced that Abe was released from UFC. ONE Championship. Daichi Abe signed with ONE Championship and was scheduled to fight former ONE title challenger Luis Santos at ONE FC: Pursuit of Greatness on October 26, 2018. He loss the fight by TKO in the first round. Abe next faced Ev Ting at on July 12, 2019. He lost the fight  via submission. Return to regional circuit. Abe faced Yoichiro Sato at DEEP 95 on August 23, 2020. He won the fight via split decision. Abe then headlined DEEP 98 against Yuta Watanabe on November 1, 2020. Abe won the fight via first-round technical knockout. Daichi then faced Gota Yamashita for the interim DEEP Welterweight Championship at DEEP 100 on February 21, 2021. He won the fight and claimed the interim title via first-round technical knockout due to an injury. Daichi faced Akira Okada at Rizin 31 - Yokohama on October 24, 2021. He lost the bout via north-south  choke in the second round. Abe was booked to face Kiichi Kunimoto at Rizin 34 – Osaka on March 20, 2022. He won the fight by unanimous decision.