*anese mixed martial artist

Kuniyoshi Hironaka (*anese: 弘中邦佳, Hironaka Kuniyoshi, born June 17, 1976) is a *anese mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division. He has formerly competed for the UFC, Shooto, DREAM, and Pancrase.

Contents

• 1 Mixed martial arts career
  • 1.1 Early career
  • 1.2 Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • 1.3 Post-UFC
• 2 Kickboxing record
• 3 Mixed martial arts record
• 4 See also
• 5 References
• 6 External links

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Hironaka made his professional mixed martial arts debut in 2001 for the Shooto promotion and compiled a record of 10-2 with notable wins over Nick Diaz, Ryan Schultz, and Renato Verissimo before being signed by the UFC.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Hironaka made his UFC debut at UFC 64 on October 14, 2006 against Jon Fitch. Hironaka lost via unanimous decision.

In his next appearance at UFC Fight Night 9, Hironaka defeated Forrest Petz via unanimous decision.

Hironaka then fought Thiago Alves at UFC Fight Night 11 and was defeated via TKO in the second round.

Hironaka faced Canadian Jonathan Goulet at UFC 83 and was defeated in the second round via TKO. Hironaka was then released from the promotion.

Post-UFC

In his first fight since his release from the UFC, Hironaka defeated Motoki Miyazawa at Dream 5 via TKO due to a cut. Hironaka then faced Hayato Sakurai at Dream 6 and was defeated via unanimous decision.

After the loss to Sakurai, Hironaka dropped down to the Lightweight division and won his next four consecutive fights, capturing the Cage Force Lightweight Championship after it had been vacated by Mizuto Hirota.

After dropping two consecutive losses to Katsunori Kikuno and Satoru Kitaoka, respectively, Hironaka bounced back with two consecutive wins, warranting a *le shot for the newly vacated Shooto World Lightweight Championship against Kotetsu Boku. Hironaka won via unanimous decision, and then defended his *le against Giovani Diniz via first-round TKO.

Hironaka then fought at Pancrase: 257 on March 30, 2014 against Isao Kobayashi. Hironaka was defeated via TKO in the third round.

Kickboxing record

Mixed martial arts record

See also

• List of current mixed martial arts champions
• List of male mixed martial artists

References

External links

• Professional MMA record for Kuniyoshi Hironaka from Sherdog
• Kuniyoshi Hironaka at UFC