Tsuyoshi Kosaka (Japanese:高阪 剛,Kōsaka Tsuyoshi, born March 6, 1970) is a retired Japanesemixed martial artist,submission grappler andprofessional wrestler who competed in theHeavyweight division. A professional MMA competitor from 1994 till 2022, he has competed for theUFC,PRIDE Fighting Championships,RIZIN,RINGS,Pancrase, andDEEP. Kosaka is the formerKing of Pancrase Super Heavyweight Champion.

Kosaka is considered to be one of the early pioneers of mixed martial arts and was one of the top ranked Japanese fighters for several years.^[2] Known for his grappling skills, Kosaka is trained inJudo andShoot Wrestling, His "TKguard" position, a precursor to modernbutterfly guard, is famous for its efficiency; formerUFC championsFrank Shamrock andMaurice Smith have both credited him with having vastly improved their grappling from that particular position.^[3]

Training injudo since highschool, Kosaka competed extensively during his stay at theSenshu University, where he befriended future world judo championHidehiko Yoshida. After graduating, Kosaka became a professional judoka under the sponsorship ofToray Industries, but was forced to retire after a knee injury. After a year, he joinedshoot-style promotionFighting Network RINGS where he began training incatch wrestling under mentorAkira Maeda.

Kosaka had his firstmixed martial arts venture when, thanks to his strong judo background, he was sent to represent RINGS in thegi-clad MMA event Lumax Cup 1995. He won the tournament by knocking out Hiroyuki Yoshioka, submitting Susumu Yamasaki with aheel hook, and finally outclassingBrazilian jiu-jitsu championEgan Inoue at the finals with a mix of judo throws and positional reversals.^[4]

After his return to RINGS, Kosaka was put in opening shoot matches, defeating names likeMaurice Smith andWillie Peeters. In September 26, 1997, however, he was thrown to a greater challenge when he faced formerPancrase starFrank Shamrock. Tsuyoshi controlled the match, throwing and taking down the lighter Shamrock and threatening him with submissions, but couldn't lock any of them, while Shamrock was successful at defending fromhalf guard and counterattacking with his own hold attempts. After a failed takedown, the judoka was caught in aguillotine choke by Frank and had to spend a rope escape. Even although Kohsaka later clamped aKimura lock which appeared to carry potential to finish the match, the time ended without Kosaka completing the hold, thus giving the win to Shamrock for his scored point. The loss, however, was instrumental in Kohsaka's career, as it made him close friends with Frank Shamrock and Maurice Smith, who became his training partners in the team The Alliance shortly after.^[5][6]

In April 1999, after a series of matches in UFC, Kohsaka fought Dutch kickboxerGilbert Yvel in RINGS. The match saw a worn Kosaka getting ahead in points by multiple fouls from Yvel, but he failed at submitting him while Yvel landed several knockdowns, until one of them caused the fight to be stopped. They rematched in August, when an improved Kohsaka immediately threw Yvel down, hit him with numerous body punches and submitted him with atoehold for a rope escape; however, the bout was interrupted for Kohsaka falling out the ring in another hip throw, getting injured. As TK had scored a point before the bout went to no contest, the match was counted as a victory for him. Finally, Yvel and Kohsaka had a rubber match during the King of Kings Tournament, but it was short and uneventful, as TK was stopped again by a bleeding cut.

In August 2000, TK faced the King of Kings semi-finalistAntônio Rodrigo Nogueira. Started the fight, Kohsaka blocked a takedown and transitioned it into anuchi mata, but Nogueira pulled him to the ground andmount him. The judoka escaped from under him, only for Nogueira to regain position, but this time it was Kohsaka who reversed him into aleglock attempt and pressed into his guard when it failed. At the next round, Kohsaka stopped another takedown with a leg hooktawara gaeshi and continued pressing, blocking Nogueira's attempts to work submissions from the bottom and striking when possible. Nogueira mounted him again and threw punches, but Kohsaka performed again his signature escape into leglock and keep attacking his guard. A pair of sweeps later, Kohsaka controlled position until the end of the time. The match was ruled a draw.

During the next King of Kings tournament, Kosaka advanced overMikhail Ilyukhin by knockout and Mikhail's teammateFedor Emelianenko by doctor stoppage. The latter was again a controversial technical victory, as the cut was caused by a missed looping punch where Kosaka's elbow struck Emelianenko's head, reopening a cut sustained in his previous fight againstRicardo Arona. Since the fight was in a tournament format, a winner and loser were required because draws and no-contests were not awarded, and as Emelianenko could not advance due to the injury, Kosaka did.

At the finals, TK facedRandy Couture in a back and forth match. Kosaka controlled the first round of a match fought mostly in theclinch, throwing down the wrestling champion with aharai makikomi and landing abundant ground and pound, but his activity stopped when he received an accidental headbutt. After the injury was checked, Couture took Kosaka down, and although the judoka used his "TK scissors" move to counter an unfavourablenorth/south position, the American still controlled the second round. The match ended with a trade of strikes in which Couture got the best part, being granted the split decision and eliminating the Japanese.

In June 2001, Kosaka fought luta livre specialistRenato Sobral, who had defeated Kosaka's countrymen Kiyoshi Tamura and Hiromitsu Kanehara. Sobral controlled the stand-up segments via wrestling and knee strikes, while Kosaka worked from the bottom and pursued submissions. Action increased at the second round, where Kohsaka and Sobral exchanged positions and reversals, but the Brazilian kept the dominance and it forced Kosaka to resort to sacrifice techniques likekani basami and flying kneebars. Victory by majority decision was given to Sobral.

After a quick KO victory over RINGS Russia exponent Koba Tkeshelashvili in August, Kosaka fought Koba's teammateBazigit Atajev in December 2001 in what would be his last fight in RINGS. The judoka dominated the earlier segments of the match, taking down Atajev and exerting both ground and pound and armlocks attempts, but the Russian changed the tide of the match thanks to his superior stand-up, which drew blood from TK. At the end, Atajev won a majority decision.

In 1998, Kosaka signed with theUltimate Fighting Championship and debuted at the eventUFC 18, facingKimo Leopoldo. The much heavier Kimo controlled the first minutes of the fight and managed to lock akneebar, but the Japanese shooter showed his field of expertise by reversing the hold and attempting his own ankle hold, always keeping a strong active defense. At one point, Leopoldo gained themount, only for Kosaka to reverse the position into aheel hook attempt. As the match progressed, TK started to control an increasingly tired Kimo, landing precise punches and leg kicks until the end of the round. Came the overtime, TK further dominated Leopoldo, stopping his offense and performingground and pound until the end, capturing the win by unanimous decision.^[7]

Later that year TK foughtPete Williams atUFC Brazil. Williams went aggressively against Kosaka using his vaunted striking, but Kosaka repeatedly threw him down withuchi mata and transitioned them into armlock attempts, using his defensive guard whenever Williams managed to get back the upper hand. At the end, Tsuyoshi won again by unanimous decision, which gained him a spot in a tournament for the title that was vacated byRandy Couture.^[8]

At 1999'sUFC 18, Kosaka returned to UFC fighting the legendaryBas Rutten in the first round of the "Road to the Heavyweight Title", which was a four-man tournament that would crown the nextUFC Heavyweight Champion. Kohsaka dominated most of the fight with his superiority in wrestling andground and pound, but ultimately lost byTKO when Rutten recovered in overtime and knocked him out with knees and punches. The fight was a source of heated controversy because refereeJohn McCarthy seemed to unfairly stand the fight up when Kohsaka was mounted on Rutten and actively landing clean effective punches.^[9] This ordeal would be noted by Jake Rossen ofBlack Belt magazine, who wrote: "Overall, the event demonstrated an impatience for lengthy ground battles. Fighters were stood up after just a few minutes of grappling, in an apparent effort to maintain action in the matches. [...] This puts strikers, once the underdog of MMA competition, in a prime position to climb to the top."^[10]

In the same year, TK facedTim Lajcik atUFC 21, where he won viaTKO when Lajcik quit between rounds. Kohsaka again utilized a strategy of strong defense and skilled reversals to set up submissions attempts, eventually sweeping Lajcik against the cage wall and performing a lengthy ground and pound sequence which made Tim's corner throw the towel after the round.

Despite carrying injuries from his grueling year schedule,^[11] Kosaka also took part in the second UFC event in Japanese soil,UFC 23, where he was pitted against Ruas Vale Tudo exponentPedro Rizzo. The two contenders spent a round cautiously, until Rizzo switched to aggressive leg kicks and Kohsaka tried to take him down in return. Through the match, Pedro blocked TK's efforts to get it to the ground and landed more punches and leg kicks. After Kohsaka had absorbed a long punishment, Rizzo landed a right punch for the TKO.

Tsuyoshi's last fight in UFC was atUFC 37, fightingRicco Rodriguez. The fight featured long, back and forth grappling action, with Rodriguez taking dominant position and Kosaka reversing and blocking him, until Ricco finally secured a mount and threw punches to the face for the TKO victory.

After RINGS's demise, Kosaka wandered betweenPancrase and the MMA division ofNew Japan Pro-Wrestling. He then landed inPRIDE Fighting Championships, in which his first fight would be a rematch againstFedor Emelianenko for the latter's technical defeat in RINGS, taking place in PRIDE Bushido 6. The fight was one-sided and brutal, with Fedor landing strikes through Kosaka's guard while the Japanese tried unsuccessfully to counterattack with leglocks from the bottom. At the end, after taking punches during most of the round, a bloody Kosaka's corner threw the towel between rounds.^[12]

Kosaka returned inPRIDE 31 against legendary Brazilian grappler andBrazilian Top Team coachMario Sperry. The bout was even shorter, as Kosaka knocked him out with punches after a brief struggle. Knowing the end of his career was near, TK announced his intentions to retire should he lose any of his matches in 2006.^[13] The day of his fight with Sperry was also the same day of his son's birth.

AtPRIDE Total Elimination Absolute, Kosaka foughtMark Hunt in what would be his last fight. Due to the weight difference between both fighters, knees and kicks were not allowed on the ground. Effectively, TK struggled with the much heavier kickboxer, taking his back and performing aninverted triangle/keylock combination only for Hunt to force his way out via raw strength. Back to standing, Kosaka traded strikes with Hunt and landed effective hits despite the difference in level, absorbing heavy punches and delivering in return combos against the ropes. At the second round, the Japanese again tried unsuccessfully to grapple with Hunt, and after long series of strikes the kickboxer knocked him out with a right punch, finally ending the match.^[14]

From 2003 to 2005, he worked sporadically in professional wrestling for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, challengingYoshihiro Takayama for the NWF Heavyweight Championship and feuding withYuji Nagata. He also would defeat the 50 ib heavierRicardo Morais in a MMA match for NJPW.

He also fought forDeep, facingAntônio Rogério Nogueira,Antônio Rodrigo's brother. Kosaka scored takedowns and throws, but he found himself on the defensor role, which he successfully played by using his classic reversals. On the third round, he was outstruck and received punches on the ground, but he retaliated at the final time with a toehold attempt from inverted guard, and ended the bout taking down Nogueira. The bout went to decision, with Nogueira coming over.

KosaKa would go toPancrase, defeating the similarly much heavierRon Waterman for the Pancrase Super Heavyweight Championship. He returned to the company for a match againstMike Kyle, losing by doctor decision in a controversial fashion, as Kyleeye-gouged Kosaka and actually damaged hiscornea without being penalized.^[15]

Rizin Fighting Federation announced Kosaka would debut for the promotion againstJames Thompson.^[16][17] The bout took place on December 29, 2015 and Kohsaka won the fight via TKO in the second round after controlling the fight with punches and knees. Kohsaka's next fight will be against Sumo Baruto Kaito December 29, 2016 as part of Rizin's Openweight tournament.^[18]

Kosaka facedMirko Cro Cop on December 31 atRIZIN World Grand Prix 2017: Final Round.^[19] He lost the fight via TKO early in the first round.^[20]

Kosaka faced the Kyokushin Karate World ChampionMikio Ueda on April 17, 2022 atRizin 35. Kosaka announced that this bout will be his last and he will retire afterwards.^[21][22] He won the fight by a first-round stoppage.^[23]

As a fighter, Kosaka was known for his conditioning, well rounded skillset and grappling ability. He would predominantly use hisJudo expertise in the ring, in the form of effectivehip throws while standing and a heavytop control while on the ground, but he also showed hisShootfighting influence through various types ofLeglocks and effective single and double-leg takedowns.^[24] He was especially proficient in reversing position, distinguishing himself with his trademark "TK scissors"sweep, in which he would use his legs to dismount the opponent and perform leglock attempts.^[24][25] Along with his grappling, Kohsaka made use of an intelligent striking game to wear down his adversary, and he later gained significantpunching power after training with Maurice Smith.

There is debate about what kind of technique is the "TK guard" Kosaka was once known for.^[26] The move is, according to different sources, ahalf guard,^[24] abutterfly guard,^[27][28] or an entire system of guard game.^[29]

Koshaka is married and has two children; a son and a daughter. He now owns and operates adojo in Japan where he trains hisA-Square team.^[30] In 2012, Kosaka received an honoraryBrazilian jiu-jitsu black belt fromYuki Nakai and was appointed a consultant member for the Japanese BJJ Federation. He registered his own grappling system, "TK Jiu Jitsu," shortly after.^[31]

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • UFC Encyclopedia Awards
    • Fight of the Night (One time)vs.Bas Rutten^[32]

• Fighting Network RINGS
  • 2000 Rising Stars Heavyweight Tournament Semifinalist^[33]
• Lumax Cup
  • Tournament of J'95 Winner
• Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling
  • Pancrase Super Heavyweight Championship (One time, first, last)

Result	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Notes
Draw	Shutaro Debana	Draw	Quintet Fight Night 2	February 3, 2019	1	10:00
Loss	Fabrício Werdum	Points	ADCC 2003 +99 kg	2003	1	N/A
Win	Caol Uno and Osami Shibuya	Submission	The Contenders X-Rage Vol.2	March 10, 2002	1	14:39	Partnered withMinoru Suzuki
Loss	Jean-Jacques Machado	Submission (armbar)	ADCC 2001 Absolute	2001	1	3:37
Loss	Rolles Gracie	Points	ADCC 2001 –99 kg	2001	1	N/A
Loss	Tom Erikson	Decision	The Contenders	1997	5	5:00

• Official blog(in Japanese)
• Alliance Square official website(in Japanese)
• Professional MMA record for Tsuyoshi Kosaka fromSherdog
• Tsuyoshi Kosaka atUFC

• 1970 births
• Living people
• Japanese male mixed martial artists
• Heavyweight mixed martial artists
• Mixed martial artists utilizing catch wrestling
• Mixed martial artists utilizing judo
• Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu
• Pancrase champions
• Japanese male judoka
• Japanese catch wrestlers
• Japanese male professional wrestlers
• Professional wrestlers who competed in MMA
• Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters
• Japanese practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu
• People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu
• Martial artists from Shiga Prefecture

• CS1: unfit URL
• CS1 Japanese-language sources (ja)
• CS1 Russian-language sources (ru)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Japanese-language text
• Articles with Japanese-language sources (ja)