Naoki Sakurada

Naoki Sakurada 桜田直樹 (born May 12, 1968) is a Japanese mixed martial artist. He competed in the Welterweight and Middleweight divisions. He is a former Shooto Middleweight Champion.

Mixed martial arts career
Sakurada started as a student of combat wrestling's (Japanese version of submission wrestling founding father Noriaki Kiguchi at Kiguchi Dojo. Sakurada competed almost exclusively in Shooto events, with the only exception when he faced Yasushi Warita at Vale Tudo Japan 1994 which ended in a draw. Sakurada challenged Yasuto Sekishima for the Shooto Middleweight Championship at Shooto - Shooto on November 28, 1990 but the bout ended in a draw.

A rematch of the championship bout took place at Shooto - Shooto on October 17, 1991. Sakurada claimed the title via unanimous decision and went on to successfully defend it once against Kazuhiro Kusayanagi at Shooto - Shooto on December 23, 1991 via majority decision.

At the turn of the millennium he founded Gutsman Shooto Dojo, where he has coached mixed martial artists such as Hayato Sakurai, Hisae Watanabe and Mizuto Hirota.

Championships and accomplishments

 * Shooto
 * Shooto Middleweight Championship (one time)
 * One title defense