Kastsuyori Shibata

Katsuyori Shibata is a professional mixed martial artist, kick boxer and wrestler from Japan. He was born on November 17, 1979. The professional fighter is known for being a wrestler and for his hard-hitting offense in the ring. At present, he is signed under the New Japan Pro Wrestling where he became the IWGP Tag Team and NEVER Open Weight champion.

The Japanese fighter was born in Kuwana, Mie. He started wrestling during his school days. His father was a former New Japan Pro Wrestling and Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance member. He attended Kuwana Kogyo High School where he became classmates with Hirooki Goto. He became an amateur wrestler during high school days and was fighting in national competitions in 1997. By 1999, the talented fighter made his professional debut in wrestling and in 2004; he made his debut in mixed martial arts. In 2007, he left the world of wrestling and focused on mixed martial arts.

The 36-year old is nicknamed as, “The Mad Dog Wrestler”. He stands 6 feet tall. He experienced fighting in 3 divisions, middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. In mixed martial arts, he uses kickboxing as his main style of fighting and trains with Laughter 7. He comes with a mixed martial arts record of 15 fights with 4 wins, 10 losses and 1 draw.

Shibata was mostly known as a wrestler. He came with several accomplishments in the said sport. In addition to his championship titles in both IWGP and NEVER, he also got a Fighting Spirit Award in 2004 and was part of the 2014 World Tag League and the 2004 Tag Team Best Bout.