Nobuaki Kakuda is one of the most popular and richest Karateka who was born on April 11, 1961 in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, Japan.
From December 1991 to July 1993, Kakuda performed in RINGS, an organization which promoted professional wrestling and eventually mixed martial arts. Though his tenure was prior to the federation’s official move to no-holds-barred competition, he competed in a single legitimate fight at the RINGS Battle Dimensions Tournament 1992, meeting kickboxing legend Rob Kaman under mixed rules. He lost the fight when, in the third round, Kaman smashed his knee into his downed opponent’s face and a technical knockout was ruled.
Competitive karate made up the longest portion of Kakuda’s martial arts career, beginning relatively early in his life as captain of his university’s karate club. Less than a decade later, he was representing Japan in international competition, fighting under kyokushin and eventually seidokaikan rules. He retired following a loss to Michael Thompson at the Seidokaikan Karate World Cup in 1993, but revisited the sport occasionally in later years. His most recent karate fight to date was a decision loss to Hiroki Kurosawa at Pride 6.
