Kazuhiro Nakamura (Japanese:中村和裕 , born July 16, 1979) is a Japanese retiredmixed martial artist who competed as aMiddleweight inDREAM, and is a formerDEEP Middleweight Champion. He fought out of theYoshida Dojo and also competed in thePride Fighting Championships, theUltimate Fighting Championship and theSengoku Raiden Championship. His primary style isjudo, in which he holds a thirddanblack belt underHidehiko Yoshida.^[1]

Startingjudo at 10 years old, Nakamura went to train underKatsuhiko Kashiwazaki and enter the Fukuyama University team. He became a professional judoka under the sponsorship of Keiyo Gas and competed at national and international level, placing third at the Japanese championships at 100+. His career in judo lasted until 2002, when he metHidehiko Yoshida and became a member of hisYoshida Dojo.^[2]

Nakamura made his MMA debut atPRIDE 25 againstAntônio Rogério Nogueira, losing by submission in the second round. He has also lost to Nogueira in a rematch atPRIDE Bushido 4. His career in PRIDE was notable for fighting many of PRIDE's top fighters, includingWanderlei Silva,Maurício Rua,Dan Henderson, andJosh Barnett. His final fight in PRIDE was a decision loss to Maurício Rua atPRIDE Shockwave 2006.^[3] He was known for his flashy entrances, often coming to the ring wearing sunglasses and accompanied bypenguinmascots.^[2]

Nakamura made his debut in the UFC atUFC 76 againstLyoto Machida. His first apparition in the promotion was specially notable for his entrance and attire choices, coming to the cage wearing an ornatedkimono, ajingasa hat and agas mask before taking them off to reveal floral print shorts. He also carried awagasa umbrella and exhibited a haircut adopted from Japanese comedianToru Hotohara.^[2] During the fight, Nakamura absorbed punishment and avoided several possible finishes, but he lost by unanimous decision. After the contest, Nakamura would be suspended and fined $500 by the CSAC for failing a drug test for marijuana.^[4] Kazuhiro would protest the results, but it was not revoked.^[2]

His next fight in the UFC was a loss by TKO (injury) toRameau Thierry Sokoudjou atUFC 84. He was subsequently released by the promotion.

After a three-fight losing stint which included losses to futureUFC Light Heavyweight ChampionsLyoto Machida andMaurício Rua, Nakamura decided to debut at a new weight classMiddleweight (185 lbs) after having spent his entire career atLight Heavyweight.

Nakamura debuted atSengoku: Fifth Battle as an entrant in the inaugural Middleweight Grand prix eliminating BritishPaul Cahoon. He returned at Sengoku - Sixth battle as part of the final four. Kazuhiro Nakamura defeated fellow countrymanYuki Sasaki via unanimous decision and booked a spot later that evening in the final. Nakamura fought against tournament favourite Jorge Santiago and took him to the third round before losing via KO at 0:49 of the third round.

Nakamura Returned at Sengoku: Ninth Battle in a title eliminator that saw the winner rematch champion Jorge Santiago. Nakamura was stunned byKazuo Misaki and lost via submission in the first round.

A farewell event for Nakamura's teacher, Hidehiko Yoshida, was held on April 25, 2010. Nakamura defeated Yoshida via unanimous decision.

Nakamura made his return atDream 17 to faceUFC vetGerald Harris. He lost the fight via split decision.

On October 19, 2012, Nakamura made his debut inDEEP, where he defeatedRyuta Sakurai by majority decision. On February 16, 2013, Nakamura defeated Young Choi to win the vacant DEEP Middleweight Championship which is the first title of his career.

Nakamura facedDaijiro Matsui on June 30, 2013, at DEEP: King Kaz Fight in Fukuyama. Nakamura won via KO in the first round.

On August 25, 2013, Nakamura facedHenry Miller at DEEP: 63 Impact. Nakamura won the bout via first-round knockout.

Nakamura then facedYuji Sakuragi at DEEP: Cage Impact 2013 on November 24, 2013. Nakamura won by arm triangle choke submission in the third round.^[5]

Nakamura was defeated by Ken Hasegawa via majority decision on March 22, 2014, at DEEP: 65 Impact.

On July 21, 2014, Nakamura faced Seigo Mizuguchi at DEEP: Cage Impact 2014 and won via second round corner stoppage.

Nakamura faced Yoshiyuki Nakanishi on December 21, 2014, in DEEP. He lost the fight by unanimous decision and retired from MMA competition after the fight.^[6]

On February 22, 2014, Nakamura made a one-offprofessional wrestling appearance for theWrestle-1 promotion, teaming withMasakatsu Funaki,Manabu Soya andSeiya Sanada in an eight-man tag team match, where they defeated Desperado (Masayuki Kono,Kazma Sakamoto,René Duprée andRyouji Sai).^[7]

• DEEP
  • DEEP Middleweight Championship (1 time)
• Sengoku
  • 2008 Sengoku Middleweight Gran Prix Runner Up
• PRIDE FC
  • 2005 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinalist

• PrideFC profile
• Kazuhiro Nakamura atUFC
• Professional MMA record for Kazuhiro Nakamura fromSherdog