Making The Jump: 5 Names Who Found Success In Both Wrestling & MMA

Ikuhisa Minowa

MMA Record: 63-42-8

Ikuhisa Minowa is a name for those who enjoy the history of MMA and professional wrestling. Known more for his time in MMA, Minowa made the change to professional wrestling late in his career. But with more than 100 fights on his resume, he’s well versed in the world of scripted combat and the real world of fighting.

Minowa competed in major Japanese promotions such as Pride, DREAM and Pancrase. During that time he faced off against some of the top names the sport had to offer at the time. Some of his marquee bouts came against the likes of Olympian Satoshi Ishii, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Don Frye, Mirko Cro Cop, Kimo Leopoldo, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and many more. A resume such as that immediately places a fighter into the conversation for Hall of Fame honors.

But Minowa was also a featured personality across professional wrestling. He is most well-known for his time as Tiger Mask V, the famed gimmick that has been shared across many careers. He debuted as the character back in 2010 when he teamed alongside the original Tiger Mask, Satoru Sayama.

The Tiger Mask gimmick holds a special place in Japanese professional wrestling and it has been featured in other areas such as video games, television, comic books and much more. Minowa has such an iconic place in Japanese wrestling and combat sports that he’s also featured as a character in many professional wrestling video games such as the upcoming Fire Pro Wrestling 2 set for a 2018 release.

Next: 5 Lessons WWE Can Learn From NXT

Minowa may not be a name that jumps off of the page with mainstream fans of professional wrestling, but his storied career in mixed martial arts and contributions to professional wrestling earn him a slot on this list of competitors that successfully made the leap between both spaces.