Kozo Urita (瓜田 幸造, Urita Kōzō, born October 30, 1974) is a Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. He was associated with Real Japan Pro Wrestling's Seikendo team.[1]
| Kozo Urita | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | October 30, 1974 Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan |
| Other names | Tiger Shark Blue Shark |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) |
| Weight | 85 kg (187 lb; 13.4 st) |
| Division | Light heavyweight Middleweight |
| Style | Boxing |
| Team | Seikendo[1] Urita Dojo |
| Teacher(s) | Satoru Sayama Hidetada Irie |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 34 |
| Wins | 14 |
| By knockout | 6 |
| By submission | 4 |
| By decision | 4 |
| Losses | 17 |
| By knockout | 6 |
| By submission | 3 |
| By decision | 8 |
| Draws | 2 |
| No contests | 1 |
| Other information | |
| Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog | |
Urita wrestled more famously under the name of Tiger Shark, and worked in promotions like Battlarts, Dradition Pro Wrestling, Tenryu Project and Riki Choshu's Legend The Pro Wrestling. Currently, he wrestles in Kazuki Okubo's Ganko Pro Wrestling and other independent promotions as Blue Shark.
Career
editEarly career
editAfter several years training judo, Urita joined mixed martial arts organization Kingdom Ehrgeiz, where he was put under Hidetada Irie. Later, he moved to Satoru Sayama's Seikendo promotion, and in 2003 he had his MMA debut, submitting David Davitashvili. Thanks to a work agreement between Seikendo and Pancrase, Urita went to compete in the latter, fighting Keiichiro Yamamiya and Izuru Takeuchi to decision and knocking out Riki Fukuda. He also competed in a seikendo-rules MMA tournament in Sayama's Real Japan Pro Wrestling, winning the contest after three matches.
Real Japan Pro Wrestling (2005–2013)
editIn 2005, Urita started doing professional wrestling for Real Japan Pro Wrestling. He received the gimmick of Tiger Shark, a masked character with heel mannerisms conceived as Super Tiger II's dark counterpart, in a similar way to the historical Black Tiger and Tiger Mask.[2] Tiger Shark wrestled under a blue mask with a shark design, contrasting with Super Tiger's silver and purple Tiger Mask attire, and had his first match teaming up with Masao Orihara against him and Hi69. Tiger Shark and Super Tiger wrestled each other in tag team matches during the next events, with Urita often teaming up with Orihara. However, he ended settling down in a tag team with Black Shadow, a similar character played by Makoto "Max" Miyazawa. They feuded with a coalition composed by Gran Hamada, Sammy Lee, Jr. and Kendo Nagasaki, as well as All Japan Pro Wrestling's Minoru.
In 2010, Shark broke his alliance with Masao Orihara, wrestling in a match in which Urita was defeated. After seldom apparitions in RJPW, Tiger Shark teamed again with Black Shadow to win the vacant RJPW Tag Team Championship, defeating Yujiro Yamamoto and Yuki Ishikawa. However, they had no defenses of the title, and they spent the next years feuding with Orihara. He also had a high-level match against New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Tiger Mask IV, being beaten. In September 2013, Tiger Shark had his last apparition in RJPW, teaming up with Tatsumi Fujinami to get a win over Super Tiger II and Riki Choshu.
Battlarts (2009–2011)
editTiger Shark started wrestling for shoot-style promotion Battlarts in 2009 as a RJPW representative. He participated in the B1 Climax 2009 Block A, facing star Yuki Ishikawa and Yuta Yoshikawa in losing efforts, though getting victories over Keita Yano and Ryuji Walter. As a result, he did not qualify. He continued appearing in Battlarts, teaming up with his long time rival Super Tiger II in a special tag team to feud with Ishikawa, as well as Bison Tagai. In 2010, the team broke up and Shark went free, staying with the promotion until its demise in 2011.
Tenryu Project and Legend The Pro Wrestling (2010–2013)
editAlways working as a RJPW representative, Tiger Shark had his debut in Tenryu Project with his biggest career win, beating Dragon Gate top player Masaaki Mochizuki to win the Tenryu Project International Junior Heavyweight Championship. He retained it successfully against Hiroki, Dokuroman and Hikaru Sato, until he dropped it to Hiroki in a rematch. Around that time, Tiger moved to Riki Choshu's Legend The Pro Wrestling, where he teamed with a variety of Tiger-related characters, among them Super Tiger II, Original Tiger Mask and Black Tiger V. He also wrestled alongside Yoshiaki Fujiwara. In 2013, Tiger Shark and his allies entered in a feud with Atsushi Onita and his entourage, as part of the enmity between Onita and Original Tiger Mask from RJPW. Shark faced personally Onita's henchman Ichiro Yaguchi, with Urita coming victorious in a single match, his last apparition in the promotion.
Championships and accomplishments
edit- Pro Wrestling A-Team
- WEW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Daisaku Shimoda
- Real Japan Pro Wrestling
- RJPW Tag Team Championship (1 time, inaugural, last) – with Black Shadow
- RJPW vs. U-File Tournament (2012)
- Tenryu Project
- Independent circuit
- Latin American Championship (1 time)
- UWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Takahiro Tababa
Mixed martial arts record
edit| 29 matches | 14 wins | 12 losses |
| By knockout | 6 | 1 |
| By submission | 4 | 3 |
| By decision | 4 | 8 |
| Draws | 2 | |
| No contests | 1 | |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 14-12-2 (1) | Gennadiy Kovalev | KO (punch) | FEFoMP: International Modern Pankration Championship | April 29, 2012 | 1 | 3:35 | Vladivostok, Russia | |
| Win | 13-12-2 (1) | Gadji Zaipulaev | Decision (unanimous) | FEFoMP: Impact League 4 | October 16, 2010 | 3 | 5:00 | Khabarovsk, Russia | |
| Win | 12-12-2 (1) | Barry Guerin | TKO (doctor stoppage) | Square Jungle: Advent of Mr. MMA | September 13, 2009 | 1 | 0:49 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 11-12-2 (1) | Sharihyar Abbasov | TKO (doctor stoppage) | GCM: Cage Force 11 | June 27, 2009 | 2 | 1:11 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Loss | 10-12-2 (1) | Jerry Nelson | Decision (majority) | TF: Tenkaichi Fight 37 | May 17, 2009 | 3 | 5:00 | Chatan, Okinawa, Japan | |
| Loss | 10-11-2 (1) | Ryuta Sakurai | Submission (armbar) | Deep: 37 Impact | August 17, 2008 | 1 | 3:22 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Loss | 10-10-2 (1) | Vladimir Yushko | Decision (unanimous) | FEFoMP: World Pankration Championship 2008 | May 24, 2008 | 2 | 5:00 | Khabarovsk, Russia | |
| Win | 10-9-2 (1) | Hoon Kim | TKO (punches) | MARS 11: 2nd Anniversary | February 11, 2008 | 2 | 1:41 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Loss | 9-9-2 (1) | Yuya Shirai | Submission (armbar) | Deep: 31 Impact | August 5, 2007 | 1 | 2:42 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Loss | 9-8-2 (1) | Ichiro Kanai | TKO (punches) | Pancrase: Rising 5 | May 30, 2007 | 1 | 3:50 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| N/C | 9-7-2 (1) | Hoon Kim | No contest (accidental low blow) | MARS 7: Tornado Returns | April 15, 2007 | 1 | 0:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 9-7-2 | Alavutdin Gadjiev | Decision (unanimous) | FEFoMP: Asian Pankration Championship 2006 | December 6, 2006 | 2 | 5:00 | Khabarovsk, Russia | |
| Win | 9-6-2 | Rikuhei Fujii | Decision (unanimous) | Pancrase: Blow 9 | October 25, 2006 | 2 | 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Loss | 8-6-2 | Marcelo Brito | Submission (rear naked choke) | MARS 4: New Deal | August 27, 2006 | 1 | 4:44 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Loss | 8-5-2 | Hidemi Mihara | Decision (unanimous) | MARS: MARS Attack 1 | July 21, 2006 | 2 | 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 8-4-2 | Ken Ogawa | TKO (corner stoppage) | MARS: MARS Attack 1 | July 21, 2006 | 1 | 1:43 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Loss | 7-4-2 | Arman Gambaryan | Decision (unanimous) | FEFoMP: World Pankration Championship 2006 | May 20, 2006 | 3 | 2:00 | Khabarovsk, Russia | |
| Draw | 7-3-2 | Yuichi Nakanishi | Draw | Pancrase: Blow 3 | April 9, 2006 | 2 | 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 7-3-1 | Riki Fukuda | KO (punch) | Pancrase: Blow 1 | January 27, 2006 | 1 | 0:40 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 6-3-1 | Yuta Nakamura | Decision (unanimous) | RJPW: Legend Championship | December 16, 2005 | 3 | 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 5-3-1 | Toshihiro Hosoe | Submission (armbar) | RJPW: Legend Championship | December 16, 2005 | 1 | 3:30 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 4-3-1 | Motohiro Tachihara | Submission (armbar) | RJPW: Legend Championship | December 16, 2005 | 1 | 3:36 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Loss | 3-3-1 | Izuru Takeuchi | Decision (unanimous) | Pancrase: Spiral 9 | November 4, 2005 | 2 | 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 3-2-1 | Moriyuki Yamada | Submission (guillotine choke) | Pancrase: 2005 Neo-Blood Tournament Finals | August 27, 2005 | 2 | 3:37 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Draw | 2-2-1 | Yuta Nakamura | Draw | RJPW: Roman Martial Arts 2005 | July 18, 2005 | 2 | 5:00 | Sendai, Miyagi, Japan | |
| Loss | 2-2 | Valery Pliev | Decision (unanimous) | FEFoMP: Mayor Cup 2005 | April 30, 2005 | 3 | 5:00 | Khabarovsk, Russia | |
| Win | 2-1 | Jin O Kim | Decision (unanimous) | Gladiator FC: Day 1 | June 26, 2004 | 3 | 5:00 | Seoul, South Korea | |
| Loss | 1-1 | Keiichiro Yamamiya | Decision (unanimous) | Pancrase: Brave 5 | May 28, 2004 | 2 | 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 1-0 | David Davitashvili | Submission (guillotine choke) | Seikendo: Dream Challenge | May 31, 2003 | 2 | 3:18 | Tokyo, Japan |
References
edit- ^ a b "Kozo Urita profile". Sherdog. Retrieved 2014-01-08.
- ^ "Profile at Puroresu Central". Puroresu Central. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
External links
edit- Professional MMA record for Kozo Urita from Sherdog
- Media related to Blue Shark at Wikimedia Commons
