Tsuyoshi Kosaka or TK was born on March 6, 1970 in Japan. He is a retired Japanese mixed martial arts fighter. He is one of Japan’s most celebrated MMA fighters, and holds notable wins over Kimo Leopoldo, Mario Sperry, Egan Inoue and Fedor Emelianenko.
Tsuyoshi Kosaka is associated with the Alliance, the Yoshida Dojo, and HAS his own fight team, A-Square. He has a professional MMA record of 19-11-1 as of March 5, 2006. He began his MMA career by winning the presitigious Lumox Cup tournament , beating out the likes of Akihiro Gono and Egan Inoue. He has fought in some of the largest fight organizations in the world including the Ultimate Fighting Championships, RINGS, Pancrase and PRIDE Fighting Championships. He had been a RINGS superstar before coming to the United States and participating in the UFC. He holds wins over UFC Veterans Kimo Leopoldo, Tim Lajcik, Pete Williams and Egan Inoue. A rather small heavyweight at 215 pounds, Kosaka has also defeated Ron Waterman (to gain the title of King of Pancrase) and Ricardo Morais, both of whom weighed in against him in excess of 300 pounds. It was late in his career when he gained one of his biggest wins, knocking out Brazillian-Jujutsu legend Mario Sperry. He scored a TKO Cut victory over PRIDE’s Heavyweight Fighting Champion Fedor Emelianenko, which TK still regrets, as his glove simply caught the champ, and cut him forcing an end to the fight.
Tsuyoshi Kosaka is known for his conditioning and grappling skills, from the throws and takedowns of stand up grappling to the positioning and submissions of groundwork. His “TK guard” is famous for its efficiency. He is the person that both Frank Shamrock and Maurice Smith credit with vastly improving their work from that position. On October 2, 2005 TK lost his Pancrase Superheavyweight Belt Mike Kyle.
Tsuyoshi Kosaka owns and operates a dojo in Japan where he trains his A-Square team along with mixed martial artist and Judo Gold medal winner Hidehiko Yoshida. He announced his intentions to retire upon losing any match in 2006. On May 5, 2006 he lost against Mark Hunt at PRIDE Total Elimination Absolute and he is now retired.
STATISTICS
Nickname: TK
Height: 5 ft 11 in
Weight: 225 lb
Nationality: Japanese
Born March 6, 1970
Fighting Style: Submission Mixed Martial Arts
FIGHT RECORD
20 Fights – 19 Wins, 6 by KOs, 5 by Submissions, 11 Losses, 1 Draw
Loss – Mark Hunt TKO (Strikes) PRIDE Total Elimination Absolute 5/5/06 2 4:15
Win – Mario Sperry TKO (Punches) PRIDE 31: Dreamers 2/26/2006 1 1:20
Loss – Mike Kyle Technical Decision (Unanimous) Pancrase-Spiral 10/2/2005 3 1:17
Loss – Fedor Emelianenko TKO (Doctor Stoppage) PRIDE Bushido 6 4/3/2005 1 10:00
Win – Ron Waterman Decision (Unanimous) Pancrase-Brave 10 11/7/2004 3 5:00
Win – Ricardo Morais Decision NJPW-Ultimate Crush 10/13/2003 3 5:00
Win – Sumiyabazar Dolgorsuren TKO (Injury) NJPW-Ultimate Crush 5/2/2003 1 2:56
Loss – Antonio Rogerio Nogueira Decision (Unanimous) DEEP 2001-6th Impact 9/7/2002 3 5:00
Loss – Ricco Rodriguez TKO (Strikes) UFC 37: High Impact 5/10/2002 2 3:25
Loss – Bazigit Atajev Decision (Majority) Rings-World Title Series 5 12/21/2001 3 5:00
Win – Koba Tkeshelashvili KO (Knee) Rings-10th Anniversary 8/11/2001 1 2:17
Loss – Renato Sobral Decision (Majority) Rings-World Title Series 2 6/15/2001 3 5:00
Loss – Randy Couture Decision (Unanimous) Rings-King of Kings 2000 Final 2/24/2001 2 5:00
Win – Fedor Emelianenko TKO (Cut) Rings-King of Kings 2000 Block B 12/22/2000 1 0:17
Win – Mikhail Illoukhine KO (Punches) Rings-King of Kings 2000 Block B 12/22/2000 2 1:53
Loss – Bas Rutten KO UFC 18 – Road to the Heavyweight Title 1/8/1999 1 14:15
Win – Pete Williams Decision UFC Brazil – Ultimate Brazil 10/16/1998 1 15:00
Win – Kimo Leopoldo Decision UFC 16 – Battle in the Bayou 3/13/1998 1 15:00
