| Yuki Yoza | |
| Birth Name: | 与座 優貴 |
| Birth Date: | December 20, 1997 |
| Birth Place: | Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan |
| Nationality: | Japanese |
| Fighting Out Of: | Japan |
| Height: | 170cm |
| Weight: | 63kg (139lb) |
| Style: | Kyokushin, Kickboxing |
| Stance: | Orthodox |
| Team: | Team Vasileus (2024-present) K-1 Gym Sagami Ono KREST (2021-2024) Hashimoto Dojo (2019-2021) Ibaraki Joso Soshibu (Karate) |
| Yearsactive: | 2019-present |
| Kickboxingwins: | 18 |
| Kickboxingkowins: | 8 |
| Kickboxinglosses: | 2 |
| Kickboxingkolosses: | 0 |
is a Japanese karateka, professional kickboxer and the current K-1 Lightweight champion.
As of 3 April 2023, Yoza is ranked the #1 super-bantamweight kickboxer in the world by Combat Press.[1] As of April 2023, Yoza is ranked the #1 featherweight kickboxer in the world by Beyond Kickboxing.[2]
Yoza made his professional kickboxing debut against Masahiro Kojika at Japanese Kickboxing Innovation Join Forces 12 on March 31, 2019. He won the fight by a third-round technical knockout, after knocking Kojika down three times by the 2:38 minute mark.[3] Yoza faced Tatsuro Fukui at Japanese Kickboxing Innovation Join Forces 13 on May 19, 2019. He won the fight by a third-round technical knockout. The ringside physician was called in at the very end of the round, due to a cut on Fukui's face, who advised the referee to stop the fight.[4]
Yoza made his promotional debut with REBELS against Yoshiki at REBELS 61 on June 9, 2019.[5] He won the fight by split decision. Two of the judges scored the fight 30–28 and 29–28 in his favor, while the third judge scored the fight 29–28 for Yoshiki.[6]
Yoza was booked to face Volcano Imoto at Japanese Kickboxing Innovation Join Forces 14 on July 15, 2019.[7] He knocked Imoto out with a head kick at the 2:30 minute mark of the first round.[8] [9]
Yoza faced Johnny Oliveira at K.O CLIMAX 2019 on August 18, 2019.[10] He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 29–28, 30–29 and 30–28.[11] Yoza faced Tereka∞ at REBELS 63×KNOCK OUT on October 6, 2019.[12] He won the fight by unanimous decision, with all three judges awarding him a 30–26 scorecard. Yoza scored the sole knockdown of the fight late in the third round, flooring Tereka with a left hook.[13]
Yoza faced Tatsuya Inaishi at SNKA SOUL IN THE RING CLIMAX on December 8, 2019.[14] He won the fight by majority decision.
On December 23, 2019, it was announced that Yoza would participate in the 2020 KNOCK OUT 64 kg Grand Prix.[15] Yoza was booked to face Chihiro Suzuki in the tournament quarterfinals, which were held on February 11, 2020.[16] He lost the fight by majority decision. Two of the judges scored the bout 29–28 for Suzuki, while the third judge scored it as an even 28–28 draw.[17]
After suffering his first professional loss, Yoza was booked to face Masaya Kubo at REBELS 67 on November 8, 2020.[18] He won the fight by majority decision, with scores of 30–29, 30–29 and 29–28.[19] Yoza next faced Tomo Kiire at Japan Kickboxing Innovation Champions Carnival 2020 on December 27, 2020.[20] [21] He won the fight by a third-round knockout.[22]
On January 29, 2021, it was revealed that Yoza would take part in the 2021 KNOCK OUT super lightweight BLACK tournament.[23] Yoza was scheduled to face Keijiro Miyakoshi in the semifinals, which were held on March 13, 2021.[24] He lost the fight by split decision, after an extra round was fought.[25]
Yoza made his K-1 debut against Hikaru Hasumi at Krush 132 on December 18, 2021.[26] He won the fight by a second-round knockout, stopping Hikaru with a head kick 17 seconds into the round.[27]
Yoza was booked to face the K-1 Lightweight champion Taio Asahisa in a non-title bout at K-1 World GP 2022 Japan on February 27, 2022.[28] He won the fight by unanimous decision, after an extension round fought. Yoza called for a title fight with Asahisa in his post-fight interview.[29]
Following his upset defeat of Asahisa, Yoza faced the former Krush Super Lightweight champion Yuto Shinohara in a lightweight bout at K-1 World GP 2022 in Fukuoka on August 11, 2022.[30] He won the fight by a second-round knockout, stopping Shinohara with low kicks.[31]
Yoza faced the former Rajadamnern Stadium super lightweight champion Aikpikart Mor.Krungthepthonburi at K-1 World GP 2022 in Osaka on December 3, 2022.[32] He won the fight by unanimous decision, with all three judges awarding him every round of the bout.[33]
Yoza was booked to challenge Taio Asahisa for the K-1 Lightweight Championship at K-1 World GP 2023: K'Festa 6 on March 12, 2023.[34] He won the fight by unanimous decision, with two scorecards of 30–29 and one scorecard of 30–28.[35]
Yoza faced Aaron Clarke in a non-title bout at K-1 World GP 2023 in Yokohama on June 3, 2023.[36] He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 30–28, 30–28 and 30–27.[37] Yoza faced Aikmongkol Gaiyanghadao in another non-title bout at K-1 World GP 2023 on July 17, 2023. He needed just 43 seconds to knock Aikmongkol out.[38]
Yoza faced the reigning RISE Lightweight champion Kan Nakamura in a cross-promotional bout at RISE ELDORADO 2024 on March 17, 2024.[39] He won the fight by a third-round knockout.[40] The victory was overturned to a majority decision win for Yoza on March 22, as the stoppage was judged to have resulted from an illegal strike on review.[41]
Yoza faced the former K-1 Lightweight (-62.5kg) titleholder Kongnapa Weerasakreck at K-1 World MAX 2024 - World Championship Tournament Final on July 7, 2024.[42] He won the fight by a first-round technical knockout.[43]
Yoza faced Petchdam Petchyindee Academy at K-1 World MAX 2024 on September 29, 2024.[44] He won the fight by a third-round knockout.[45]
Professional
Awards
|- style="text-align:center; background:#cfc"| 2024-09-29||Win ||align=left|
Petchdam Petchyindee Academy || K-1 World MAX 2024 || Tokyo, Japan || KO (Low kicks)|| 3 ||1:12
|- style="text-align:center; background:#cfc"| 2024-07-07|| Win ||align=left| Kongnapa Weerasakreck || K-1 World MAX 2024 - World Championship Tournament Final || Tokyo, Japan || TKO (3 Knockdowns) || 1 || 2:30
|- style="text-align:center; background:#cfc"| 2024-03-17 ||Win || align=left|
Kan Nakamura || RISE ELDORADO 2024|| Tokyo, Japan || Tech.Decision (Majority)|| 3||2:33|- style="text-align:center; background:#cfc;"| 2023-07-17 || Win ||align=left| Aikmongkol Gaiyanghadao || K-1 World GP 2023 || Tokyo, Japan || KO (Liver kick) ||1||0:43|- style="text-align:center; background:#cfc;"| 2023-06-03 || Win ||align=left|
Aaron Clarke || K-1 World GP 2023: inaugural Middleweight Championship Tournament || Yokohama, Japan || Decision (Unanimous)||3 ||3:00|- style="background:#cfc"| 2023-03-12 || Win ||align=left| Taio Asahisa || K-1 World GP 2023: K'Festa 6 || Tokyo, Japan || Decision (Unanimous) || 3 || 3:00 |-! style=background:white colspan=9 ||-|- style="background:#cfc"| 2022-12-03|| Win ||align=left| Aikpikart Mor.Krungthepthonburi || K-1 World GP 2022 in Osaka || Osaka, Japan || Decision (Unanimous) || 3 || 3:00
|- style="background:#cfc"| 2022-08-11|| Win ||align=left| Yuto Shinohara || K-1 World GP 2022 in Fukuoka || Fukuoka, Japan || TKO (Low kicks)|| 2 ||1:12|-|- style="background:#cfc"| 2022-02-27||Win ||align=left| Taio Asahisa || K-1 World GP 2022 Japan || Tokyo, Japan || Ext.R Decision (Unanimous) || 4 || 3:00|- style="background:#cfc"| 2021-12-18 || Win || align=left| Hikaru Hasumi || Krush 132 || Tokyo, Japan || KO (Left High kick) || 2 || 0:17|- style="background:#fbb;"| 2021-03-13|| Loss ||align=left| Keijiro Miyakoshi || KNOCK OUT "The REBORN" - 65 kg Black Championship Tournament, Semifinals || Tokyo, Japan || Ext.R Decision (Split) || 4 || 3:00|- bgcolor="#cfc"| 2020-12-27|| Win ||align=left| Tomo Kiire || Japan Kickboxing Innovation Champions Carnival 2020 || Tokyo, Japan || KO (Punches) || 3 || 1:42|- bgcolor="#cfc"| 2020-11-08|| Win ||align=left| Masaya Kubo ||REBELS 67 || Tokyo, Japan || Decision (Unanimous) || 3 || 3:00|- bgcolor="#fbb"| 2020-02-11|| Loss ||align=left| Chihiro Suzuki ||KNOCK OUT CHAMPIONSHIP.1 - 64 kg Grand Prix, Quarterfinals || Tokyo, Japan || Decision (Majority) || 3 || 3:00|- bgcolor="#cfc"| 2019-12-08||Win ||align=left| Tatsuya Inaishi || SNKA SOUL IN THE RING CLIMAX || Tokyo, Japan || Decision (Majority) || 3 || 3:00|- bgcolor="#cfc"| 2019-10-06||Win ||align=left| Tereka∞ || REBELS 63×KNOCK OUT || Tokyo, Japan || Decision (Unanimous) || 3 || 3:00|- bgcolor="#cfc"| 2019-08-18||Win ||align=left|
Johnny Oliveira || K.O CLIMAX 2019: Summer Kick Fever || Tokyo, Japan || Decision (Unanimous) || 3 || 3:00|- bgcolor="#cfc"| 2019-07-15||Win ||align=left| Volcano Imoto || Japanese Kickboxing Innovation Join Forces 14 || Tokyo, Japan || KO (Middle kick) || 1 || 2:30|- bgcolor="#cfc"| 2019-06-09||Win ||align=left| Yoshiki|| REBELS 61 || Tokyo, Japan || Decision (Split) || 3 || 3:00|- bgcolor="#cfc"| 2019-05-19||Win ||align=left| Tatsuro Fukui || Japanese Kickboxing Innovation Join Forces 13 || Tokyo, Japan || TKO (Doctor Stoppage) || 1 || 3:00|- bgcolor="#cfc"| 2019-03-31||Win ||align=left| Masahiro Kojika || Japanese Kickboxing Innovation Join Forces 12 || Tokyo, Japan || TKO (3 Knockdowns) || 2 || 2:38|-| colspan=9 | Legend: