Mako Yamada

Mako Yamada (山田真子, born 26 May 1994) is a Japanese kickboxer and former boxer, currently competing in the atomweight division of K-1.

Yamada is a former boxing world champion, having held the WBO mini flyweight title in 2014. She is the first Japanese woman to win a world title in Korea and the first female Japanese fighter to win a WBO world title.

A professional competitor since 2010, Yamada is the 2010 J-Girls Next Challenger tournament winner, as well as the 2010 J-Girls atomweight champion.

Next Title Challenger Tournament
Yamada made her professional debut against yu-kid at J-NETWORK「J-GIRLS Catch The stone〜8」, in the quarterfinals of the J-Girls Atomweight Next Title Challenger Tournament, on 30 May 2010. She won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 30–27, 30–28 and 30–28.

Yamada was scheduled to face Masae Marunaka in the tournament semifinals, held at J-NETWORK「J-GIRLS Catch The stone〜9」 on 25 July 2010. She won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 30–27, 30–28 and 30–28.

Yamada advanced to the tournament finals, where she faced the #4 ranked J-Girls atomweight Miho at J-NETWORK「J-GIRLS Catch The stone〜10」 on 20 September 2010. Miho was the more experienced competitor heading into the bout, with nine professional bouts. Yamada won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 30–27, 30–27 and 30–28.

J-Girls Atomweight champion
Winning the tournament earned Yamada the right to challenge the reigning atomweight champion Ayaka Miyauchi. They were scheduled to fight at J-NETWORK「J-GIRLS Women's Festival 2010 ~ Fighting women are beautiful ~」 on 12 December 2010. Yamada won the fight by a dominant unanimous decision, with scores of 50–47, 50–46, 50–47.

Yamada was scheduled to face Nana Kusakabe at King of Strikers 6 on 10 April 2011. the fight was ruled a majority draw, with one of the three judges scoring the fight for Yamada.

Yamada was scheduled to face the #1 ranked J-Girls mini-flyweight Momi at J-NETWORK「J-GIRLS 2011 〜Born This Way 2nd〜」 on 10 July 2011. The fight was ruled a majority draw. Two of the judges scored the fight as a draw, with scores of 29–29 and 30–30, while the third judge scored it 30–29 for Momi.

Yamada made her first title defense against the #1 ranked atomweight contender Miho at J-NETWORK「J-GIRLS 2011 〜Born This Way FINAL〜」 on 27 November 2011. Yamada won the closely contested bout by majority decision, with two of the judges scoring the fight 50–48 in her favor, while the third judge scored it as a 49–49 draw.

Following her exhibition bout with Saya Ito on 19 February 2012, Yamada announced she would retire from kickboxing and transition to professional boxing.

Following a successful two-year boxing career, which saw her win the WBO mini flyweight title, Yamada returned to kickboxing to face Jon Yejin at NEO GENERATION on 14 December 2014. She won the fight by unanimous decision.

K-1
Yamada made her return to kickboxing in late 2019. She was scheduled to face Moe Takahashi at Krush 107 on 8 November 2019. Yamada won the fight by an extra round split decision.

Yamada was scheduled to face Yu Fukuhara at K-1 World GP 2020 in Fukuoka on 2 November 2020. She won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 30–29, 30–28 and 30–28.

Yamada was scheduled to face the four-time Shootboxing tournament winner Mio Tsumura at K'Festa 4 Day 2 on 27 March 2021. Tsumura won the fight by a wide unanimous decision, with two of the judges giving her a 30–26 scorecard, while the third judge scored the fight 30–25 for Tsumura.

Yamada was scheduled to face Nozomi Sigemura at K-1 World GP 2021 in Fukuoka on 17 July 2021. Yamada won the fight by unanimous decision.

Yamada was scheduled to face Chan Lee at Krush 131 on 20 November 2021. She won the fight by unanimous decision.

Yamada faced Marine Bigey at K-1: Ring of Venus on 25 June 2022. She won the fight by unanimous decision.

Yamada faced Nana Okuwaki at Krush Ring of Venus on 8 April 2023. She won the fight by unanimous decision, with two scorecards of 30–28 and one scorecard of 30–29.

Yamada faced KAI at Kings Cup 1st on 11 June 2023. She won the fight by decision. Following this victory, Yamada was booked to face Kira Matsutani for the vacant Krush Women's Atomweight Championship Krush 155 on 25 November 2023. Yamada withdrew with a hand fracture on 8 November, and was replaced by Nana Okuwaki.

Boxing career
Yamada made her professional boxing debut against Chadaphorn Suklert on 12 April 2012. She won the fight by unanimous decision. She would go on to amass a 6-0 record over the course of the next two years, earning two stoppage victories along the way.

She was scheduled to challenge the reigning WBO mini-flyweight champion Hong Su-yun on 9 February 2014, in what was the fourth title defense for the reigning champion. Despite coming into the fight as an underdog, Yamada won the fight by split decision, becoming the first Japanese woman to win a WBO world title.

Kickboxing

 * J-Network
 * J-Girls Atomweight Next Title Challenger Tournament Winner
 * J-Girls Atomweight Championship (One successful title defense)

Boxing

 * WBO
 * WBO World Mini Flyweight Championship

Kickboxing record

 * - style="background:#cfc"
 * 2023-06-11 || Win || align=left|🇯🇵 KAI || Kings Cup 1st || Fukuoka, Japan || Decision || 3 || 3:00
 * - style="background:#cfc"
 * 2023-04-08|| Win || align=left|🇯🇵 Nana Okuwaki || Krush Ring of Venus || Tokyo, Japan || Decision (Unanimous)|| 3 || 3:00
 * - style="background:#cfc"
 * 2022-06-25|| Win || align=left|🇫🇷 Marine Bigey || K-1: Ring of Venus || Tokyo, Japan || Decision (Unanimous)|| 3 || 3:00
 * - style="background:#cfc"
 * 2022-06-25|| Win || align=left|🇫🇷 Marine Bigey || K-1: Ring of Venus || Tokyo, Japan || Decision (Unanimous)|| 3 || 3:00


 * - style="text-align:center; background:#cfc;"
 * 2021-11-20 || Win ||align=left|🇯🇵 Chan Lee || Krush 131 || Tokyo, Japan || Decision (Unanimous) || 3 || 3:00


 * - style="text-align:center; background:#cfc;"
 * 2021-07-17 || Win ||align=left|🇯🇵 Nozomi Shigemura || K-1 World GP 2021 in Fukuoka || Fukuoka, Japan || Decision (Unanimous) || 3 || 3:00


 * - style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;"
 * 2021-03-27 || Loss ||align=left|🇯🇵 Mio Tsumura || K'Festa 4 Day 2 || Yoyogi, Japan || Decision (Unanimous) || 3 || 3:00


 * - style="text-align:center; background:#cfc;"
 * 2020-11-02 || Win ||align=left|🇯🇵 Yu Fukuhara || K-1 World GP 2020 in Fukuoka || Fukuoka, Japan || Decision (Unanimous) || 3 || 3:00


 * - style="text-align:center; background:#cfc;"
 * 2019-11-08 || Win ||align=left|🇯🇵 Moe Takahashi || Krush 107 || Osaka, Japan || Ext. R. Decision (Split) || 4 || 2:00


 * - style="text-align:center; background:#cfc;"
 * 2014-12-14 || Win ||align=left|🇰🇷 Jon Yejin || NEO GENERATION || Fukuoka, Japan || Decision (Unanimous) || 3 || 3:00

! style=background:white colspan=9 |Defends the J-Girls Atomweight Championship.
 * - style="text-align:center; background:#cfc;"
 * 2011-11-27|| Win ||align=left|🇯🇵 Miho || J-NETWORK "J-GIRLS 2011 〜Born This Way FINAL〜" || Tokyo, Japan || Decision (Majority) || 5 || 2:00


 * - style="text-align:center; background:#c5d2ea;"
 * 2011-07-10 || Draw ||align=left|🇯🇵 Momi || J-NETWORK "J-GIRLS 2011 〜Born This Way 2nd〜" || Tokyo, Japan || Decision (Majority) || 3 || 2:00


 * - style="text-align:center; background:#c5d2ea;"
 * 2011-04-10 || Draw ||align=left|🇯🇵 Nana Kusakabe || King of Strikers 6 || Fukuoka, Japan || Decision (Majority) || 3 || 2:00

! style=background:white colspan=9 |Wins the J-Girls Atomweight Championship.
 * - style="text-align:center; background:#cfc;"
 * 2010-12-12 || Win ||align=left|🇯🇵 Ayaka Miyauchi || J-NETWORK J-GIRLS Women's Festival 2010 ~ Fighting women are beautiful ~ || Tokyo, Japan || Decision (Unanimous) || 5 || 2:00

! style=background:white colspan=9 |Wins the J-Girls Atomweight Next Title Challenger Tournament.
 * - style="text-align:center; background:#cfc;"
 * 2010-09-20 || Win ||align=left|🇯🇵 Miho || J-NETWORK "J-GIRLS Catch The stone〜10", Tournament Final || Tokyo, Japan || Decision (Unanimous) || 3 || 2:00


 * - style="text-align:center; background:#cfc;"
 * 2010-07-25 || Win ||align=left|🇯🇵 Masae Marunaka || J-NETWORK "J-GIRLS Catch The stone〜9", Tournament Semifinal || Tokyo, Japan || Decision (Unanimous) || 3 || 2:00


 * - style="text-align:center; background:#cfc;"
 * 2010-05-30 || Win ||align=left|🇯🇵 yu-kid || J-NETWORK "J-GIRLS Catch The stone〜8", Tournament Quarterfinal || Tokyo, Japan || Decision (Unanimous) || 3 || 2:00


 * colspan=9 | Legend:
 * colspan=9 | Legend:

! style=background:white colspan=9 |Wins the J-Girls Junior -50 kg title.
 * - style="background:#cfc;"
 * 2009-09-27 || Win ||align=left|🇯🇵 Nana Kusakabe || J-GIRLS Catch The stone～4 || Tokyo, Japan || Decision (Unanimous)|| 2 || 1:30
 * - style="background:#fbb;"
 * 2007-05-20 || Loss ||align=left|🇯🇵 Madoka Jinnai || J-NETWORK "Onna Matsuri Final round" || Tokyo, Japan || Decision (Unanimous)|| 2 || 1:30
 * colspan=9 | Legend:
 * colspan=9 | Legend:
 * colspan=9 | Legend: