Upon returning to Kamurocho, Kiryu meets up with Tachibana and prepares to take him to see Makoto. [42] The character's rivalry with Yakuza 2 antagonist Ryuji Goda was also the subject of positive response even if some writers felt it underused. Kazuma Kiryu. [14] On August 26 he defeated Jun Akiyama in a match that lasted less than five minutes to become the 45th Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion. After a hard opening exchange between the two, Funaki was staggered by a punch and pulled guard on Tamura, from where he was pounded to an eventual TKO at 57 seconds of Round 1. [28][29] He is also a playable in Project X Zone 2 alongside Majima. This drama stars puroresu champion Masakatsu Funaki in the title role and is a prequel to the inaugural installment of the Ryū ga Gotoku series, which was itself adapted by Takashi Miike as Like a Dragon: The Movie in 2007. He submitted Todd Bjornethun at the first round with a sequence of yoko-tomoe-nage into mount to armbar, and then faced Vernon White in a longer match, with Funaki making a wide usage of triangle chokes and sweeps in order to get a top wrist lock. : 'Sakuraba vs. Funaki......', http://www.sherdog.com/stats/powerratings/upr-fighter-alltime-japan, https://mixedmartialarts.fandom.com/wiki/Masakatsu_Funaki?oldid=10235, Dream 6 - Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 Final, Dream 2 - Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 Opening Round, Pancrase - 1998 Neo-Blood Tournament Second Round, Pancrase - 1997 Neo-Blood Tournament, Round 1, Pancrase - 1996 Neo-Blood Tournament, Round 2, Pancrase - King of Pancrase Tournament Second Round, Pancrase - King of Pancrase Tournament Opening Round, Pancrase - Yes, We are Hybrid Wrestlers 4, Pancrase - Yes, We are Hybrid Wrestlers 3, Pancrase - Yes, We are Hybrid Wrestlers 2. "[7] However, this did backfire on Funaki on at least one occasion. Kim Ji-young, an ordinary woman in her 30s, suddenly shows signs of being inhabited by others such as her late mother and older sister, and the stories of the people connected to her. Tojo Clan advisor Katsumi Sugai and Yomei Alliance leader Tsuneo Iwami reveal themselves to be the masterminds behind the conflict, and in an attempt to halt Kiryu's interference, kidnap Haruka and Haruto. Funaki then retired from mixed martial arts competition, he had a retirement ceremony in Pancrase in late 2000. Kiryu confronts Shibusawa and duels against him, and emerges victorious. About. Josh Barnett said, "when you're that good, you can have a guy thinking he's doing so much better than he expected and have no idea that they're just letting you last like a cat playing with a mouse.

Funaki, seeing a opportunity to shine and showcase what he could do, wanted to follow. [41] They lost the titles to Danshoku Dino and Yoshihiro Takayama in their third defense on April 29.

On July 10, 2013, Funaki was announced as part of Keiji Mutoh's new Wrestle-1 (W-1) promotion. Nishikiyama calms her down, but she then escapes from the hospital and goes back to the only place she feels safe: Sunflower Orphanage, which is now closed and in ruins. For Yakuza 3 Kiryu leaves Kamurocho for Okinawa, where he now runs the Morning Glory (アサガオ) Orphanage. In Yakuza 2, the fifth Chairman of the Tojo Clan, Yukio Terada, is assassinated and Kazuma Kiryu wants Sohei Dojima's son Daigo to take the clan's leadership and prevent an upcoming yakuza families war. 2: Middleweight GP 2008 First Round. The victory elevated Shamrock to star status and launched the MMA career of both men. [64], In a popularity poll from 2018 by Sega, Kiryu took the 2nd position behind Goro Majima.

He is also the co-founder of Pancrase, one of the first mixed martial arts organizations and non-rehearsed shoot wrestling promotions (following five years after the inception of Shooto but predating America's Ultimate Fighting Championship). The English subtitled version was released by Sega Europe on August 15, 2006 on the game's European website. At the opening seconds of the first round of the match, Funaki came at his former charge with a series of kicks, practically forcing Minowa to catch one of the kicks. Funaki went on to become one of the greatest fighters in Pancrase history, defeating other MMA legends such as Bas Rutten, Ken Shamrock, Frank Shamrock, Minoru Suzuki, and Guy Mezger. Sooner or later, I want to announce something different. In the film, Like a Dragon, an adaptation of the first Yakuza game, he is portrayed by Kazuki Kitamura. Funaki was eliminated from the Middle-weight Grand Prix. In Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, Kiryu is imprisoned for three years. Funaki signed a contract with FEG's MMA promotion, DREAM. On August 31, 2009, Funaki signed a one-year contract with All Japan, following a tag team victory with Mutoh against Minoru Suzuki and Masahiro Chono. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Another subject of rivalry between the two friends is their secret love for Yumi, who looks up to them as her older brothers. Funaki capitalized immediately, leaping directly into a heel-hook. Funaki came close to finishing the match earlier with an ankle lock, but Rutten miraculously escaped and continued to fight. Funaki was also Pancrase's biggest star; Josh Barnett described him as the "symbol of Japan", Frank Shamrock labeled Funaki "the golden boy" of Pancrase, and Guy Mezger called Funaki "hands down the smartest and most skilled fighter in Pancrase next to Ken Shamrock".[1][2]. [19][20][21] During the promotion's inaugural event on September 8, Funaki teamed with Masayuki Kono in a tag team match, where they were defeated by Katsuyori Shibata and Kazushi Sakuraba. Funaki was matched against Kiyoshi Tamura at the opening round of the Dream 2: Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 First Round in Saitama, Japan. After defeating them Kiryu chases Yasuko to the roof, where he finds her and Saejima bound and gagged by Katsuragi. Eventually, Kiryu and Ryuji fight atop Kamurocho Hills. Funaki periodically shows up in All Japan for tag team matches but has not expressed a will to contend for titles again. Furthermore, Nagoshi said this difference is shown across the series. 15 years later, with Seo Gun living in Australia and Park Hae-won living in South Korea, fate reunites them. With help of detective Date, Kiryu manages to learn the truth of the money. Funaki is widely considered to be one of the greatest Japanese fighters in mixed martial arts history. Take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat. He idolized Bruce Lee above all others, but also eagerly watched the films of Sammo Hung and Sonny Chiba. [3][4], In creating Kazuma Kiryu, there were some issues regarding how realistic his position and age were. "[17] In April 2017 Sega confirmed that while Yakuza 6 will end Kiryu's story, the series will still go on. Funaki closed guard around Sakuraba before opening it up to spin for a kneebar, and for a moment Funaki appeared to secure Sakuraba's leg, but he was thwarted by a combination of Sakuraba's submission acumen and their position against the ring ropes.

Funaki's MMA career began when he founded Pancrase along with Minoru Suzuki. On January 4, 2012, Funaki made a special appearance for New Japan at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome, where he teamed with Masayuki Kono to defeat the Seigigun team of Yuji Nagata and Wataru Inoue. [10] In localizing the games, the character was often referred to by his first name, but by Yakuza 4, producer Yasuhiro Noguchi made him most commonly called Kiryu in an attempt to make him fit with the other main characters also called by their last names. In a match against Jason DeLucia, Funaki allowed Delucia to catch him in a kneebar in order to create drama and planned on using a rope escape once Delucia had the submission locked in. Funaki's last high level bout in 1995 would be a rematch with Frank Shamrock. This film serves as a prequel of the first Yakuza game describing Kiryu's youth where he meets recurring characters from the series. Finally, Funaki faced Ken Shamrock for a third time at the finals, but although Masakatsu was able to fend Ken off for several minutes, he was mounted and submitted with an arm triangle choke, the same hold Shamrock had used in their first match. [11] During the match, Nagata broke Funaki's orbital bone, sidelining him from in-ring action for an estimated six months. Despite Funaki's body being very broken down from injuries, he returned for a fight against the legendary Rickson Gracie at Colosseum 2000 held at the Tokyo Dome. The same basis was used for Yakuza 2 where the narrative focuses more on the new character Kaoru Sayama rather than Kiryu. Masakatsu Funaki was scheduled to face Russian fighter Magomedkhan "Volk Han" Amanulayevich Gamzatkhanov in a fight resembling the Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling format for the Fighting Network Rings (RINGS) organization. However, chief Masayoshi Yokoyama stated the character would mature across the storyline. However, Kiryu is wounded when reaching Tachibana who ends up getting killed by Lao Gui, a Chinese assassin who was hired by Dojima to set up the Empty Lot murder and frame Kiryu. [24] After his release, Kiryu returns to his home town, Kamurocho, but due to his patricide he is marked for death by the entire yakuza community. Kurylo still found more fun when doing the yells for the fight scenes. Nishikiyama then kills himself with Jingu. Funaki retired from competition after a win over Tony Petarra in September 1999 due to accumulated injuries and, according to fellow Pancrase fighter and friend Bas Rutten, being burnt out from the hectic Pancrase schedule. Funaki did,Often teaming with fellow wrestler Akira Nogami have many memorable matches with Yoji Anjo and Tatsuo Nakano belonging to UWF and became the first person to take the Shooting Star Press from Yamada. The police conclude that the shooting is none of their concern, and Kiryu is sentenced to prison.

By Yakuza 4, Kiryu was seen as "indestructible" by the staff, and as a result, he was made the last character playable in the game, following three new characters that stood out thanks to their different traits. Add the first question. Ryuji, through working with the Jingweon mafia, attempts to destroy Kamurocho and Kiryu to be the only dragon in Japan. [15] He lost the title to Suwama on March 17, 2013.
[34] Eurogamer similarly commented that "Despite all the violence, Kazuma is quite a personable bloke, whose love for his friends sees him banged up for ten years over a murder his 'brother' Nishiki committed. Later that night, Dojima kidnaps Yumi from Serena, with Nishikiyama attempting to interfere only to be restrained by Dojima's bodyguards.

Kazuma Kiryu, once one of the most fearsome yakuza and known as the "Dragon of the Dojima Family," comes back to Kamuro-cho after a ten year jail sentence.

Ki-hong is an architect working in Finland on ... See full summary ». Funaki is widely considered to be one of the greatest Japanese fighters in mixed martial arts history according to Sherdog.com Sherdog.com ranked him as the #1 mixed martial artist in the world for the years 1996 and 1997, and also had him ranked as a top 4 pound for pound fighter from 1993 to 1998. [12] Funaki returned to the ring on June 17, 2012. He was born on March 13, 1969 (51 years old) .

Instead of entering high school, he applied to the New Japan Pro Wrestling Dojo. [71] Yakuza producer Daisuke Sato stated that "As far as it comes down to the whole Tekken thing, if Harada-san actually says he wants to use Kiryu, then hey.

Funaki signed a contract with Fighting and Entertainment Group's MMA promotion, DREAM. At this point, its three residents are Kazuma Kiryu, Akira "Nishiki" Nishikiyama and his younger sister, Yuko Nishikiyama.

However, the installment Yakuza 6: The Song of Life was meant to conclude Kiryu's role in the franchise. 12, Dream. The general set up ... See full summary », Cult Japanese director Takashi Miike draws inspiration from the popular Playstation 2 title Yakuza for this unhinged tale of underworld violence in Tokyo starring Goro Kishitani and Kazuki ... See full summary ».
[21], Nogashi was impressed by Kiryu's Japanese voice actor, Takaya Kuroda, due to how he sang in the music minigame.

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