Rumina Sato

Rumina Sato (佐藤 ルミナ, Satō Rumina, born December 29, 1973) (Japanese pronunciation: [satoː ɽu͍̥mi̥na], kanji for given name: 留美奈) is a Japanese retired mixed martial artist, famous for his career in the Shooto organization. In the past he fought mostly in the 155 lb division, but he moved down to the 145 lb division.

Mixed martial arts career

After graduating from highschool, Sato had to spend a year as a ronin and started to train in shoot wrestling under Noboru Asahi and Noriaki Kiguchi in the Kiguchi Dojo, partnered with the Shooto promotion. He later moved to amateur wrestling after being admitted in the Nippon Sport Science University, and after graduating in 1994 and competing in the All Japan Amateur Shoot Championships, he joined professionally the company.

After honing his submission skills under Satoru Sayama, Sato made his professional debut in MMA on December 7, 1994, winning over Michael McAuliffe with a calf slicer, the first time the move had been used in mixed martial arts. He ascended fastly in the roster by winning 10 straight matches, becoming a fan favourite for his aggressive and spectacular style of grappling.^[2] As soon as his fourth match, he submitted his opponent with a flying inverted triangle choke, and at his seventh, he gained worldwide fame by submitting the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Ricardo Botelho, taking advantage of his guard usage to attack him with leglocks and submit him with a heel hook. Sato also defeated another big name of the art when he beat John Lewis, who he submitted in revenge for a match at the Vale Tudo Japan which ended in a draw. Sato would become a usual fighter for this event, representing Shooto in six out of the nine years it had place.

Sato's winning streak finally broke in 1998 when he lost a highly publicized match to Canadian Jiu-Jitsu Champion Joel Gerson by a surprising armbar in the first round of a non-title event in 1998. Sato avenged his defeat in the next Canadian Jiu-Jitsu open tournament the same year, where he faced Gerson again at the finals and submitted him with an ankle lock. After returning to Japan, Sato got also which is thought to be the fastest submission victory in MMA history when he submitted Charles Diaz in a mere five seconds with a flying armbar.^[3] At the next event, he would fight former trainee Caol Uno for the vacated Shooto Welterweight Championship to Caol Uno. Although Sato dominated the early parts of the match, Uno defended all his submissions and slowly climbed his way to a rear naked choke, making Rumina tap out in a huge upset. Sato rematched him the next year for the title, but he lost again, this time for KO at the first round.

Rumina famously vowed to never compete in any other organization than Shoot until he won a title there. He won the Shooto Pacific Rim Lightweight Tournament on March 11, 2005.

On July 10, 2009 Sato competed in a grappling super fight at the UFC 100 Fan Expo Grappler's Quest against Ulysses Gomez, winning by submission with an inverted triangle choke/wrist lock combination.

Fighting style

Sato was primarily a grappler whose main strength was found in his offensive skills.^[2] He would attempt submissions relentlessly from unusual positions and entries, and was prone to try and often accomplish low percentage moves, among them flying holds, intrincated leglocks, and several variations of triangle chokes, which he utilized to set up ground and pound and other submissions.^[2] His technique was praised by Rickson Gracie, labelling it as "excellent."^[4] Though later years showed a weakened chin as his main weak spot, Sato was also an aggressive striker, sometimes indulging in moves like spinning backfists and axe kicks.^[5]

Championships and accomplishments

• Shooto
  • Shooto Pacific Rim Lightweight Championship (1 Time, First)
  • 1994 All Japan Amateur Shooto Championship, Welterweight Runner Up
  • 1st Shooto Pacific Rim Lightweight Tournament Champion (March 11, 2005)
• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • Grapplers Quest at UFC Fan Expo Superfight Champion Las Vegas (July 10, 2009)

Mixed martial arts record

Mixed martial arts exhibition record

Submission grappling record

Result	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Notes
Win	Hideki Mizutani	Submission (neckscissors)	All Japan Masters 3	2015
Win	Hirokazu Saito	Submission (achilles lock)	All Japan Masters 3	2015
Loss	Yoshihiko Matsumoto	Points	Shooto Gig Saitama 01	2009
Win	Ulysses Gomez	Submission (reverse triangle wrist lock)	UFC Fan Expo	2009
Win	Masakazu Imanari	Submission (rear-naked choke)	7th All Japan Combat Wrestling Championship -76 kg	2001			Finals
Win	Shigefumi Matsunaga	Submission (rear-naked choke)	7th All Japan Combat Wrestling Championship -76 kg	2001			Semi-finals
Win	Torushi Kuroda	Submission (kneebar)	7th All Japan Combat Wrestling Championship -76 kg	2001			Quarter-finals
Win	Yuki Takaya	Points	7th All Japan Combat Wrestling Championship -76 kg	2001			Opening round
Loss	Tito Ortiz	Technical Submission (north-south choke)	ADCC 2000 Openweight	2000			First round
Loss	Vitor Ribeiro	Points	ADCC 2000 –77 kg	2000			First round
Loss	Marcio Feitosa	Points	Canadian Jiu-Jitsu	1998			Finals
Win	Joel Gerson	Submission (ankle lock)	Canadian Jiu-Jitsu	1998

Kickboxing record

Kickboxing record
1 win (1 KO), 0 losses Result Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes Win 1-0 Mike Campbell TKO (towel throw) Shoot Boxing 2009: Takeshi Do Bushido Tag 1 000000002009-02-11-0000February 11, 2009 2 2:14 Tokyo, Japan Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw/No contest

See also

• List of male mixed martial artists

References

External links

• Roots (in Japanese)
• K'z Factory (in Japanese)
• Professional MMA record for Rumina Sato from Sherdog
  
• Rumina Sato INSPIRIT Profile