Yoji Anjo chronicle

JacJeanFinger

Brown Belt
@Brown
Joined
Mar 30, 2004
Messages
2,984
Reaction score
497
What his colleagues say about his skills:

"Anjo-san is the only Japanese MMA fighter I know who could have a competitive fight with Maurith Smith on feel"
- Masakatsu Funaki (founder of Pancrase)

"The only Japanese fighter today (mid- 90's) who is capable of submitting BJJ black belts from Brazil is Anjo-san"
-Naoyuki Taira (JMMA's original Jiu-Jitsu hero produced by K-1)



VS Ken Shamrock 


VS Rickson Gracie

methodgetrs100q75x70y66w310h165ro0syoji-anjoh.jpg





Takada's entrace at PRIDE 1 was criticized by Rickson as "weak demonstration".
20090401035817be6.jpg


VS Sakuraba (his own student) 1997



Nobody knew there was a Japanese pro wrestler who outgrappled and outstruck prime Sakuraba.

VS Ogawa (only Japanese who beat Goodrich in MMA)



VS Maeda (Korean founder of RINGS)

que-11161919966


d298e902.jpg


CS was 1999 UFC Japan where TK fought Pedro Rizzo for the HW title.
Anjo was also scheduled to fight in the main card but the fight was canceled due to his opponent (Frank Shamrock) being psychologically injured. Anjo showed out of nowhere when Maeda was doing the interview with a group of sport media and attacked him from behind.

Anjo retired in 2015 followed by release of an autobiography. He revealed the true reason why he had to kill Maeda. "When I was a freshman wrestler, Maeda examined my genital for infection and touched it."
 
When will Rizin lure him out of retirement to be a Cro Cop opponent?
 
crazy thing - Anjo is probably the first mixed martial artist i ever heard of. in early 2000's, 2001-2002 most likely, small local tv channel in Russia were showing old UWF tapes. for some reason it was called Busido Put' Voina (Bushido the Way of Warrior). i was like 11 y.o. ( at least 8 years before I heard a name Emelianenko for the first time and 12-13 years before i start caring about mma) and don't remember anything about it exept Yoji Anjo's name. i don't know why him and not Victor Zangiev for example (would have been much more logical) but it is what it is. thanks for the memories TS.

 
DRYL0DoU8AIYKex.jpg


273.jpg


After retirement, Anjo works as a chef at his friend's restaurant.
 
When will Rizin lure him out of retirement to be a Cro Cop opponent?

Anjo was offered a fight with Mirko Crocop in K-1 when Mirko was still billed as "Mirko Tiger".
Anjo watched a few fights of his on video and declined the offer.

Anjo fought a Muey Thai champion in 1989 and it is considered as one of the earliest fights in history in which a pro wrestler fought a legitimate MMA fight in the ring.
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm11926647
 
Anjo was offered a fight with Mirko Crocop in K-1 when Mirko was still billed as "Mirko Tiger".
Anjo watched a few fights of his on video and declined the offer.

Anjo fought a Muey Thai champion in 1989 and it is considered as one of the earliest fights in history in which a pro wrestler fought a legitimate MMA fight in the ring.
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm11926647

Where are the young Japanese punching bags at heavyweight and light heavyweight nowadays? Are they a bunch of snowflakes over in Japan now too?

Nice info on the Cro Cop offer and I would say good call.
 
Anjo made comments during his appearance on a podcast show last year

(Karl Gotch)

Beside his notable strength, I don't recall anything worth to mention about him.
Bill Robinson is a better catch wrestling fighter and coach.

(Yuko Miyato)

He's in North Korea now on a mission to convince Kim Jong Un to give up with nuclear attack on Japan.

(Kiyoshi Tamura)

Tamura is the best Pro-wrestler-turned- MMA fighter as a striker.
 
There were more victims of Maeda's sexual harassment in UWF, Anjo says.
In 2007, Maeda confessed in the talk show that he'd put his son's penis in his mouth twice.
I'm not bullshitting. (source) ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNhje5dcaZc

Anjo holding the kicking pads for Maeda back in the days


JacJean, I often reference your post regarding Akira Maeda and Yoji Anjo, which usually garners disbelief. Unfortunately, the interview you shared of Maeda is long gone. Do you recall what show that interview happened on? I know this is a bit old, and sorry for resurrecting an old thread, everyone..

Thanks for reading,

Your friend, TMDMAT
 
For what it's worth, when I recently interviewed Billy Scott, I asked him about Anjo's shooting skills, and he (paraphrasing) said that he was ok, but far from the best out of the UWF-I roster. The interview can be found here, if anyone wants to read it: https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/...and-the-billy-scott-interview-part-1.4127974/

And in the spirit of sharing...here is a Shootboxing event from 1996 that features a mixed-rules match between Yoji Anjo and kickboxing legend Manson Gibson.
 
Oh... and I can't believe I forgot to include this. Here is an arm wrestling event that features several puroresu stars, as well as Shooto Heavyweight Champion, Enson Inoue. Yoji Anjo is included and even has to face Inoue in the 2nd to last match.

 
I
JacJean, I often reference your post regarding Akira Maeda and Yoji Anjo, which usually garners disbelief. Unfortunately, the interview you shared of Maeda is long gone. Do you recall what show that interview happened on? I know this is a bit old, and sorry for resurrecting an old thread, everyone..

Thanks for reading,

Your friend, TMDMAT

Maeda was on the popular TV show from 2007 hosted by an old female personality kazuko hosogi, fortune teller known for her outspokenness and charisma.

Meada's youtube is getting a lot of attention lately. He talks about RINGS RUSSIA, episodes including the murder of klementiv, Russian fighter's secret involvement with aum supreme truth and other mob related story.
 
I


Maeda was on the popular TV show from 2007 hosted by an old female personality kazuko hosogi, fortune teller known for her outspokenness and charisma.

Meada's youtube is getting a lot of attention lately. He talks about RINGS RUSSIA, episodes including the murder of klementiv, Russian fighter's secret involvement with aum supreme truth and other mob related story.

Thanks! I think I was able to find a transcript of the interview, based on the information you provided.... Do this look like it?

http://kakutolog.cocolog-nifty.com/kakuto/2007/11/post_6fd8.html

Bad web translators do seem to help much but I might ask one of my Japanese friends
 
>> Billy Scott, I asked him about Anjo's shooting skills, and he (paraphrasing) said that he was ok, but far from the best out of the UWF-I roster

The thing is they didn't train at the same facility and Scott is only referring to anjo's performances shown in the ring. Anjo's reputation as a shooter was actually built on stories from dojo training.
 
Back
Top