Takaku Fuke


Takaku Fuke, born Yusuke Fuke is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial arts fighter. He was most notably involved in the early days of Pancrase, at infancy of Mixed Martial Arts in Japan. Fight Matrix ranked Takaku Fuke was #2 Heavyweight and #4 Pound-for-Pound best MMA fighter in the world in 1994.

Background

Fuke was an active practitioner of judo in high school. After graduating from high school in 1989, he became a UWF trainee. There, he would train with likes of Tatsuo Nakano and Ken Shamrock. He debuted as a professional wrestler for UWF on August 13, 1990, against Masahito Kakihara. After the reborn UWF closed down in November, he would work for Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi. While employed with PWFG, he was involved in a proto-MMA match with kickboxer Lawi Napataya.

Combat sport career

At Pancrase 2 , he lost to Bas Rutten via TKO, following a knee to Fuke's liver. In November 1993, Fuke lost to Ken Shamrock via submission. In December 1994, Fuke took part in the King of Pancrase tournament, where he lost against Maurice Smith in the first round. At Pancrase 19, Fuke lost to Frank Shamrock.
In June 2003, he transferred to the new section "Pancrase MISSION" in Pancrase from "Pancrase Osaka.". He became a player belonging to MISSION next to Minoru Suzuki, and in the same month, participated in "U-STYLE" for the first time.
On November 7, 2014 at WRESTLE-1/ZERO-ONE KASSEN ~ Battle ZERO1 Vs. W-1 Tournament - Day 3, he worked a match with his old Pancrase alumni, Masakatsu Funaki. In February 2019, at WRESTLE-1 Keiji Muto Produce Pro-Wrestling Masters event, Fuke took part in a 6-man tag team match, teamed up with Mitsuya Nagai and Yoshiaki Fujiwara, against Jushin Thunder Liger, Riki Choshu and Tatsumi Fujinami.

Movie appearances