| YA-MAN | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ren Sugiyama (杉山 怜) (1996-05-31)May 31, 1996 (age 29) Fujimi, Saitama,Japan |
| Other names | King of Street Fight |
| Height | 173 cm (5 ft 8 in) |
| Weight | 62.5 kg (138 lb; 9.84 st) |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Fighting out of | Shibuya, Tokyo |
| Team | TARGET Shibuya |
| Years active | 2018–present |
| Kickboxing record | |
| Total | 20 |
| Wins | 15 |
| By knockout | 8 |
| Losses | 5 |
| By knockout | 1 |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 4 |
| Wins | 2 |
| By knockout | 2 |
| Losses | 2 |
| By decision | 2 |
| Other information | |
| University | Tokai University[1] |
| YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Years active | 2022–present |
| Genre | vlog |
| Subscribers | 86.3 thousand |
| Views | 16.1 million |
| Last updated: 4 September 2024[needs update] | |
Ren Sugiyama (Japanese:杉山 怜,Sugiyama Ren; born May 31, 1996), better known by hisring nameYA-MAN, is a Japanesekickboxer,mixed martial artist andYouTuber. He currently competes in the lightweight division ofRISE.
Combat Press ranks YA-MAN as the fifth best bantamweight kickboxer in the world, as of July 2022.[2]
YA-MAN made his professional debut againstTaiki Sawatani on the prelims of RISE 122 on February 4, 2018.[3] He won the fight bysplit decision. Two of the judges scored the bout 30–28 and 30–29 in his favor, while the third judge scored the bout 30–28 for Sawatani.[4]
After successfully winning his first professional fight, YA-MAN was placed in the 2018 RISING Rookies Cup. He was booked to face the winless Kazuyoshi at RISE 124 in the tournament quarterfinals.[5] YA-MAN won the fight by a first-round technical knockout, stopping Kazuyoshi with eight seconds left in the opening round.[6] YA-MAN faced Kosuke Kai in the penultimate bout of the tournament, which was held at RISE 126 on July 16, 2018.[7] He won the fight by split decision, with scores of 29–28, 28–29 and 29–27,[8]
YA-MAN advanced to the tournament finals, held on the prelims of RISE 128 on November 2, 2018, where he facedTaiki Sawatani. The pair previously fought at RISE 122, in YA-MAN's professional debut, with YA-MAN winning by split decision. He was less successful in the rematch, as Sawatani won the fight by unanimous decision, with all three judges awarding him a 29–28 scorecard.[9]
YA-MAN faced the undefeatedKeisuke Monguchi (2–0–1) at RISE 132 on February 3, 2019.[10] He lost the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 30–28, 29–28 and 29–27.[11] YA-MAN faced YUU in his sixth and final fight at featherweight at RISE 132 on May 19, 2019. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Two of the judges scored the bout 30–28 in his favor, while the third judge awarded all three of the rounds to YA-MAN.[12]
After amassing a 4–2 record at featherweight, YA-MAN moved up to super featherweight (-60 kg). He was booked to face the 2019Shinkarate K2 Grand Prix winner Ryota Saito at Stand up Kickboxing Vol.1 on December 22, 2019.[13] YA-MAN knocked Saito down once en-route to winning the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 29–26, 30–27 and 30–26.[14]
YA-MAN was next booked to face Senichi at Rise 142 on September 4, 2020. The bout was contested at lightweight (-62.5 kg), which represented a 5 kg move up in weight in his last two bouts. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with all three judges awarding him every single round of the fight.[15]
YA-MAN faced the seventh ranked RISE super featherweight contender Taishi Hiratsuka at Rise El Dorado 2021 on February 28, 2021. He lost his first fight on RISE's flagship event series by unanimous decision, with scores of 29–28, 29–28 and 30–28.[16]
At a press conference held byRISE on April 15, 2021, it was revealed that YA-MAN would face the seventh ranked RISE super-lightweight contender Yuma Yamaguchi at Rise on Abema 2 on June 15, 2021, in an "open finger glove" match. Both fighters competed inMMA gloves under this rule-set, in a three-round three-minute bout. There were no extension rounds, as is normal under the regular RISE rule-set and the fight could only end in knockout or technical knockout, any decision would result in a pre-determined draw. YA-MAN's fight with Yamaguchi was one of two such matches held at the event, with RISE representativeTakashi Ito stating he would introduce an OFG belt and rankings, should it prove to be popular enough.[17]
During the press conference, YA-MAN revealed that he had volunteered to fight under this rule-set, although he remained respectful of his opponent, stating: "...I hope Yuma Yamaguchi is coming in with a mentality like 'If I lose to a guy like this [who's only been training for five years], I'm getting weaker, and it's probably best I retire soon'".[18]
YA-MAN had a poor start to the fight, as he was knocked down with a left hook in an exchange after managing to corner Yamaguchi. He continued pressuring when the fight action resumed and was able to rally back in the second round, as he knocked Yamaguchi with a left uppercut to a right hook combination. Yamaguchi was unable to beat the eight-count following the knockdown, forcing the referee to wave the fight off at the 1:53 minute mark.[19] YA-MAN stated his desire to fight the winner of the other OFG bout on the card, between Yuma's brother Hiroto and Yoshimichi Matsumoto.[20]
On August 24, 2021, several additional bouts were announced for Rise World Series 2021 Yokohama, which was scheduled to take place on September 23, 2021. Two of these bouts were "open fingers glove" fights, which saw Hiroto Yamaguchi faced Tatsuya Inaishi and YA-MAN face the second ranked RISE lightweight contender Tomohiro Kitai. The rule-set was slightly tweaked prior to the event taking place: fights which don't end in stoppage would no longer result in a pre-determined draw, but would be judged just the same as a fight which took place under the regular RISE rules.[21] On September 22, the two fighters were engaged in a brief onstage scuffle during the face-offs, in which Kitai initiated physical contact when he shoved YA-MAN.[22]
On fight night, YA-MAN won the fight by a first-round knockout. He knocked his opponent down with a left hook right hook combination, which floored Kitai and left him unable to beat the ten-count. It was the quickest stoppage victory of his career up to that point, as he needed just 43 seconds to knock Kitai out.[23] During his post-fight speech, YA-MAN called out Hiroto Yamaguchi, the brother of his previous opponent Yuma. He furthermore publicly called for an open finger glove tournament to be held by RISE.[24]
On September 24, 2021, a day after the RISE WORLD SERIES 2021 Yokohama event was held, YA-MAN called outKan Nakamura oversocial media. Nakamura had entered the ring following RISE Lightweight championNaoki Tanaka's non-title bout withTaiju Shiratori at the event and demanded a title fight with Naoki, who however refused, as he felt Nakamura hadn't earned it. YA-MAN felt the same way and instead offered to face Nakamura himself, in an open finger glove match.[25] The fight between YA-MAN and Nakamura was officially announced on October 13. It was scheduled as the featured bout of Rise World Series 2021 Osaka 2, which took place on November 14.[26] YA-MAN kept his undefeated record in OFG bouts, as he won the fight by unanimous decision. Although no fighter was able to knock the other down, YA-MAN was able to win two of the three rounds of all of the judges' scorecards, who scored the bout 29–28 in his favor.[27]
On November 15, 2021, in aTwitter post,Kouzi named four fighters he wished to face at theRizin FFNew Year's Eve event:Genji Umeno,Taiga, Shibatar and YA-MAN.[28] A day later, YA-MAN accepted the call-out in his own Twitter post.[29] The fight was officially announced on December 20. It was booked for the undercard ofRizin 33, which took place on December 30, 2021, at theSaitama Super Arena inSaitama,Japan. The fight was contested at a 62 kg catchweight in8 oz gloves under the Rizin kickboxing rule-set. It was YA-MAN's first fight not contested under the "open finger glove" rules since his decision loss to Taishi Hiratsuka on February 28, 2021.[30]
In front of an audience of 22,449 people, YA-MAN won the fight by majority decision. Two of the judges scored the fight 30–29 and 30–28 for him, while the third judge scored the fight as an even 30–30 draw. The bout was briefly stopped in the first round, as Kouzi landed an inadvertent headbutt on YA-MAN.[31][32] It was later revealed that YA-MAN had donated his entire fight purse to a children’s charity called “Peace Project.”[33]
At a press conference held by RISE on March 15, 2022, it was announced that YA-MAN would face Sumiya Ito. The fight was scheduled for the undercard of Rise El Dorado 2022, which took place on April 2, 2022 at theYoyogi National Gymnasium inShibuya, Tokyo.[34] YA-MAN claimed that he had tried to arrange a fight with different, more well known opponents, but was refused by all of them. As such, he chose to fight Ito, who was likewise introduced as an "underground fighter".[35]
YA-MAN had a great start to the fight and managed to knock Ito down with a flurry of punches a minute into the round. Ito was however able to beat the ten count and knocked YA-MAN down in turn, with a well placed left straight soon after the action resumed. Immediately after this knockdown, the ringside physician was called in to take a look at a cut above YA-MAN's right eye. The fight was allowed to continue and YA-MAN was able to knock Ito down two additional times, with a right hook and a right uppercut. Under the RISE rules, three knockdowns inside of a single round resulted in a technical knockout victory for YA-MAN.[36][37]
On May 19, 2022, at a joint press conference held byK-1 andRISE, it was announced that YA-MAN would faceRyusei Ashizawa on the undercard of theTenshin Nasukawa vs TakeruAbemapay-per-view, which took place at theTokyo Dome on June 18, 2022. The bout would be contested at a 62 kg catchweight, under the RISE rule-set, with both fighters wearingMMA gloves.[38] The two fighters came to blows at the press conference, after Ashizawa had initiated physical contact by kicking YA-MAN. The pair was quickly separated by the security, with YA-MAN being tackled to the ground by one of them.[39] They once again engaged in a scuffle during the pre-fight weigh-ins and once again had to be separated by the security.[40]
In front of a sold-out audience of 56,399 people, YA-MAN won the fight by a first-round knockout. He needed just 109 seconds to stop Ashizawa. YA-MAN knocked his opponent down as soon as the fight started, dropping him with a counter right cross. Although Ashizawa was able to beat the count, he was knocked down for a second time with a left hook soon afterwards, which left him unable to stand up in time.[41][42] During the post-fight press conference, YA-MAN stated his desire to compete inmixed martial arts by the end of the year.[43]
Shiratori faced the 2019RISE lightweight World Series tournament winner and formerRISE Lightweight ChampionTaiju Shiratori in a super lightweight (-65 kg) bout at RISE World Series 2022 on October 15, 2022. It was the highest weight he had competed at up to that point in his career, with most of his previous fights taking place at lightweight (-62.5 kg).[44] He lost the fight by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring it 29–28 for Shiratori. The first round was scored as a draw, the second round was scored 10–8 in favor of Shiratori due to a knockdown he scored with a knee strike, while the third and final round was scored 10–9 for YA-MAN. It was later revealed that YA-MAN had broken his nose and bruised several ribs during the fight.[45]
YA-MAN was booked to face Hiroto Yamaguchi, whose brother Yuma he beat by a second-round knockout at "Rise on Abema 2" two years prior, for the inaugural RISE Super Lightweight "Open Finger Glove" championship at "RISE World Series 2023 - 2nd Round" on August 26, 2023.[46] Despite suffering a knockdown in the opening round, YA-MAN was able to knock his opponent down four times by the 1:05 minute mark of the second round, which resulted in a technical knockout victory under the RISE rules.[47]
YA-MAN faced the two-timeRizin Featherweight title challengerMikuru Asakura at the inaugural "Fight Club" event. The fight was contested in open-finger gloves, under kickboxing rules and at the lightweight (-70 kg) limit.[48] He won the fight by a first-round knockout.[49]
YA-MAN facedMiguel Trindade atRISE ELDORADO 2025 on March 29, 2025. He lost the fight by a third-round technical knockout.[50]
YA-MAN made his professional mixed martial arts debut against Kota Miura atRizin 42 on May 6, 2023, in a special rules bout, which shortened the bout down to two five-minute rounds.[51] He won the fight by a first-round knockout.[52]
YA-MAN facedRen Hiramoto atRizin 45 on December 31, 2023, losing the fight by unanimous decision.[53]
| 5 matches | 3 wins | 2 losses |
| By knockout | 3 | 0 |
| By decision | 0 | 2 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 3–2 | Masanori Kanehara | KO (punches) | Super Rizin 4 | July 27, 2025 | 3 | 2:51 | Saitama, Japan | |
| Loss | 2–2 | Karshyga Dautbek | Decision (unanimous) | Rizin 49 | December 31, 2024 | 3 | 5:00 | Saitama, Japan | |
| Win | 2–1 | Hiroaki Suzuki | KO (punches) | Super Rizin 3 | July 28, 2024 | 1 | 3:28 | Saitama, Japan | |
| Loss | 1–1 | Ren Hiramoto | Decision (unanimous) | Rizin 45 | December 31, 2023 | 3 | 5:00 | Saitama, Japan | |
| Win | 1–0 | Kota Miura | KO (knee and punches) | Rizin 42 | May 6, 2023 | 1 | 3:13 | Tokyo, Japan | Featherweight debut. Rizin Special rules (2x5 min). |
| 14 Wins (7 (T)KO's), 5 Losses, 0 Draw, 0 No Contest | ||||||||
| Date | Result | Opponent | Event | Location | Method | Round | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-03-29 | Loss |  Miguel Trindade | RISE ELDORADO 2025 | Tokyo,Japan | TKO (Corner stoppage) | 3 | 0:43 | |
| 2023-11-19 | Win |  Mikuru Asakura | Fight Club | Tokyo,Japan | KO (Punches) | 1 | 1:17 | |
| 2023-08-26 | Win | Hiroto Yamaguchi | RISE World Series 2023 - 2nd Round | Tokyo,Japan | TKO (4 Knockdowns) | 2 | 1:05 | |
| Wins the inauguralRISE OFG Super Lightweight (-65kg) title. | ||||||||
| 2022-10-15 | Loss | Taiju Shiratori | RISE WORLD SERIES 2022 | Tokyo,Japan | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| 2022-06-19 | Win | Ryusei Ashizawa | THE MATCH 2022 | Tokyo,Japan | TKO (Right hook to left hook) | 1 | 1:49 | |
| 2022-04-02 | Win | Sumiya Ito | RISE ELDORADO 2022 | Tokyo,Japan | TKO (Three knockdown rule) | 1 | 2:33 | |
| 2021-12-30 | Win | Kouzi | Rizin 33 - Saitama | Saitama,Japan | Decision (Majority) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| 2021-11-14 | Win | Kan Nakamura | RISE World Series 2021 Osaka 2 | Osaka,Japan | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| 2021-09-23 | Win | Tomohiro Kitai | RISE World Series 2021 Yokohama | Yokohama,Japan | KO (Right hook) | 1 | 0:43 | |
| 2021-05-16 | Win | Yuma Yamaguchi | RISE on Abema 2 | Ōta, Tokyo,Japan | KO (Uppercut and hook) | 2 | 1:53 | |
| 2021-02-28 | Loss | Taishi Hiratsuka | RISE El Dorado 2021 | Yokohama,Japan | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| 2020-09-04 | Win | Senichi | RISE 142 | Tokyo,Japan | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| 2019-12-22 | Win | Ryota Saito | Stand up Kickboxing Vol.1 | Tokyo,Japan | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| 2019-05-19 | Win | Yu Kato | RISE 132 | Tokyo,Japan | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| 2019-02-03 | Loss | Keisuke Monguchi | RISE 130 | Tokyo,Japan | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| 2018-11-02 | Loss | Taiki Sawatani | RISE 128, Tournament Final | Tokyo,Japan | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| For the 2018 RISE RISING Rookies Cup. | ||||||||
| 2018-07-16 | Win | Kosuke Kai | RISE 126, Tournament Semifinal | Tokyo,Japan | Decision (Split) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| 2018-05-25 | Win | Kazuyoshi | RISE 124, Tournament Quarterfinal | Tokyo,Japan | TKO (Referee stoppage) | 1 | 2:52 | |
| 2018-02-04 | Win | Taiki Sawatani | RISE 122 | Tokyo,Japan | Decision (Split) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw/No contest Notes | ||||||||
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YA-MAN、昨年12月31日の皇治戦のファイトマネーをビースプロジェクトに全額寄付。「家庭環境が悪くても道は開ける。いまきつい思いをしている子供たちに夢や希望を与えたい」