Shintaro Ishiwatari

Shintaro Ishiwatari (石渡伸太郎) is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist and former Pancrase Bantamweight Champion. A professional competitor since 2006, he has also competed in Shooto, RIZIN, Vale Tudo Japan, DEEP, and World Victory Road.

Shooto
Ishiwatari made his professional MMA debut for the Shooto organization in March 2006. He fought almost exclusively for this company for four years up to 2010 and - including a fight for World Victory Road - amassed a record of 7 wins, 3 losses and 3 draws during this time.

Pancrase
Ishiwatari debuted for the Pancrase organization in 2011. In that year he won the Bantamweight King of Pancrase and remains the champion today. As of October 2017, he has a record of 12 wins, 1 loss and 1 draw with the organization.

Rizin Fighting Federation
In 2017, Ishiwatari entered into the 2017 RIZIN Bantamweight Grand Prix. He faced Akhmed Musakaev in the first round on October 15, 2017, at Rizin World Grand Prix 2017: Opening Round - Part 2. He won the fight by unanimous decision to advance.

Ishiwatari competed in the rest of the Bantamweight Grand Prix in December 2017, fighting three times over two days. In the quarter-finals, he faced Kevin Petshi on December 29, 2017, at Rizin World Grand Prix 2017: 2nd Round. He won the fight via knockout in the first round. He advanced to the next round, which was held on December 31, 2017, at Rizin World Grand Prix 2017: Final Round. He faced Takafumi Otsuka in the semi-finals and won via unanimous decision. In the final, he faced Kyoji Horiguchi and lost via knockout early into the second round.

After the Grand Prix, Ishiwatari faced Ulka Sasaki at Rizin 17 on July 28, 2019. He won the fight via north–south choke in the second round.

Ishiwatari faced Hiromasa Ougikubo in a bout that served as a title eliminator at Rizin 20 on December 31, 2019. Ishiwatari lost the back-and-forth bout via split decision.

Rizin Bantamweight Grand Prix 2021
Ishiwatari faced Naoki Inoue in the opening round of the Bantamweight Grand Prix at Rizin 28 on June 13, 2021. He lost the bout via soccer kick knockout in the first round.

After suffering the loss in the Grand Prix, Ishiwatari announced that he was retiring from MMA, mainly due to neck injuries.

Mixed martial arts

 * Pancrase
 * Bantamweight King of Pancrase (One time)
 * Five successful title defenses
 * Rizin Fighting Federation
 * 2017 RIZIN Bantamweight Grand Prix Runner Up