He was for a brief time one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport, a nearly untouchable offensive wunderkind who set the Far East ablaze with his transcendent talents. Norifumi Yamamoto turns 40 on March 15.
Yamamoto was an accomplished amateur wrestler before turning his focus to mixed martial arts in 2001. “Kid” soon surfaced as one of Japan’s top exports, as he started his career 17-1 and recorded wins over Genki Sudo, Caol Uno, Jeff Curran, Jadamba Narantungalag, Bibiano Fernandes and Rani Yahya. Yamamoto not only beat people but embarrassed them.