10 Things You Need To Know About Minoru Suzuki
8. He's An MMA Pioneer
In 1993, Minoru Suzuki and other wrestlers from Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi - including Ken Shamrock - left to form Pancrase, a promotion that mixed shoot-style wrestling with actual mixed martial arts. That made it one of the world's first MMA organizations, and made Suzuki one of the fathers of the sport.
Suzuki competed for Pancrase for nearly a decade, proving his toughness in fights with future UFC stars Shamrock, Maurice Smith, Bas Rutten, Guy Mezger, Frank Shamrock, and Vernon White. Suzuki became the second-ever King of Pancrase Champion, and the only man in the company to beat Ken Shamrock twice (though the first fight was fixed, according to Shamrock).
MMA alone wasn't even enough for Suzuki, as the star also competed in submission grappling and kickboxing contests on Pancrase cards. By the time he retired from shootfighting altogether, he had amassed a 29-19 MMA record, a 5-1-4 submission grappling record, and a 0-1 kickboxing record.