Caol Uno
Caol Uno, nicknamed Uno Shoten, is a Japanese Mixed Martial Arts fighter who rose through the ranks of the Shooto mixed martial arts organization.
Born on May 8, 1975in Kanagawa, Japan, he is known primarily for his grappling techniques. In addition to grappling techniques he also has great standup moves in his fighting repertoire. He was runner up in the submissionwrestling world championships at Abu Dhabi (ADCC) losing in the finals to the world famous Jean Jacques Machado. Uno is also an accomplished fighter when it comes to low single leg takedown and rear naked choke skills. He also happens to hold the distinction of being the notable one to have entered the K-1 Heroes 4 event ring against Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit.
In the “fight of the year” in May 1999, he fought the legendry Rumina Sato (who was at that time considered the numero uno fighter both in weight and pound for pound) in that closely fought extremely fast-paced back and forth battle. The battle saw many stand-up and grappling exchanges in which eventually Uno choked Sato into submission. A rematch between them was again arranged in December 2000, which saw another sea-saw battle between the two. Extremely technical and entertaining, the match again had the same winner with Uno finally compelling Sato on his back and raining him down with clean kicks and punches. Uno won in a knock out and the fight only re-established his superiority.
These two victories over Sato catapulted Uno into the UFC arena and was challenged to fight Jens Pulver in the first ever UFC lightweight title. Uno came as the hot favorite but lost to Pulver in a battle which saw the unflappable Uno showing signs of frustration for the first time in his career as his offensive moves were neutralized.
When Pulzer left UFC, Uno got another chance to seek the UFC lightweight championship. In the finals he fought Penn. Uno used angles and wrestling techniques to frustrate tentative looking Penn. Penn however recovered as the fight went on and attacked in spurts. The fight was called a draw which proved a disaster for UFC management. The division was temporarily abolished.
Nicknamed Uno Shoten, this 5’7” tall and 70kg weighing fighter has a track record of 23 wins- 2 (T)KOs (8.70%), 12 Submissions (52.17%), 9 Decisions (39.13%); 9 losses - 5 (T)KOs (55.56%), 2 Submissions (22.22%), 2 Decisions (22.22%); and 4 draws.
By Sherdog.com Staff
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