Japanese MMA legend Norifumi ‘Kid’ Yamamoto dead at age 41

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Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto, seen here in 2012 at the UFC 144 weigh-ins. (YouTube/UFC)

Japanese mixed martial arts legend Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto died this week at age 41 following a battle with cancer.

A statement from Yamamoto’s representatives was posted to social media Tuesday confirming the fighter’s death.

Yamamoto, who happens to be the brother-in-law of MLB star Yu Darvish, announced on social media in August that he had been diagnosed with cancer.

The Kawasaki native had only fought once in the past 6 1/2 years yet he leaves an indelible mark on the sport, especially in his home country.

A talented freestyle wrestler, Yamamoto began his MMA career in 2001 under the Shooto banner and stormed out to a 3-0 start to his career before fighting future Strikeforce champion Josh Thomson to a no-contest in his fourth outing. He suffered his first loss (doctor’s stoppage due to a cut he sustained) in his next bout against Stephen Palling before coming into his own and going on a 14-fight winning streak that spanned more than five years.

Fighting in the lightweight, featherweight and bantamweight divisions, Yamamoto picked up wins against notable lighter-weight-class opponents such as Jeff Curran, Caol Uno, Rani Yahya, Genki Sudo and Bibiano Fernandes.

Yamamoto had plenty of electric moments during his career, perhaps none more impressive than his iconic four-second flying knee knockout of Kazuyuki Miyata in 2006.

By the end of 2007 he was 17-1 with one no-contest and considered one of MMA’s top pound-for-pound talents in an era when all-time greats Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, B.J. Penn and Fedor Emelianenko were at their dominant best. There was even talk at the time of Yamamoto possibly heading to the United States to join the defunct WEC organization and compete in superfights against then-featherweight champ Urijah Faber and then-bantamweight kingpin Miguel Torres, but those bouts never materialized.

Yamamoto didn’t compete in 2008 and when he returned in mid 2009 he couldn’t sustain the momentum he had built up on his lengthy unbeaten streak. He dropped back-to-back decisions to Joe Warren and Masanori Kanehara that year before earning a knockout win over Federico Lopez at Dream 10—no one knew at the time that it would end up being the final victory of his MMA career.

Following that win, Yamamoto signed with the UFC even though his prime fighting days were behind him. His first opponent in the Octagon was modern-day MMA legend Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, which speaks to how highly the UFC regarded Yamamoto as a fighter.

He lost three straight bouts to start his UFC career before going on a three-year hiatus during which he battled a litany of injuries. He returned for one more bout in 2015 but it disappointingly ended in a no-contest when his opponent was rendered unable to continue after an inadvertent eye poke.

Tributes from the MMA community poured in on social media when Yamamoto’s death was announced. Here is a small sample.

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