Birthdate - 12/17/69
5'11" 193 lbs. - Okayama, Japan

Athletic background - Sumo, Baseball, Submission Wrestling

Professional background - UWF(`88-`91), UWFI(`91-`96), RINGS(`96-`01), Pride(`01-), U-Style(`02-)

Teams - RINGS Japan; U-File Camp

Career Highlights -
- Becomes a top player in the UWFi by giving Super Vader a fight in the company's major tournament in 1994
- Makes it to the finals of the Battle Dimensions tournament `96
- Defeats Illouukine Mikhail to win Battle Dimensions `97 and become the first heavyweight champ
- KOs one of his mentors, Nobuhiko Takada, in Takada's retirement match in front of over 50,000 at Pride 23
- Opens his own shoot-style company in early 2003, U-Style, which continues the UWF legacy

Favorites -
- Cross Armbreaker
- Left Leg Kick
- Kneebar
- Jump High Kick
- Half Crab
- Guillotine Choke

Ringwork Rating -
technique - 10
science - 6
counters - 8
transitions - 8
diversity - 7
power - 8
strikes - 9

Intangible Rating -
entertainment - 7
selling - 9
toughness - 8
carrying - 8
heat - 8
star level - 8

Place in History - Kiyoshi Tamura's role in the shoot-style world is that of both a top star, talent and now a promoter himself. He began getting pushed in the second UWF as a fiery young fighter who never backed up. His push resumed with the UWFi, where after the company was firmly established he began getting set up to be Nobuhiko Takada's successor in the native star role. His problems with Gary Albright and the company's somewhat sudden death never fully allowed Tamura to see his star be established. RINGS was his next stop and the timing couldn't have been better. The group's star and main draw, Akira Maeda, was slowing down and Tamura took over where he left off. Younger, smaller, more dynamic and some would say the best ever at the shoot-style, Kiyoshi Tamura was an instant hit with RINGS and kept it alive in its final years. When the company went to shoots, he went with them and succeeded better than many of his peers. His 8-5-0 record in RINGS includes wins over Pat Miletech, Jeremy Horn and Renzo Gracie. Injuries began catching up with him in 2000 though and Tamura, not able to successfully adapt to full MMA rules, has been 2-4 since his last impressive outing in RINGS a decision loss in late 2000 to Antonio Nogueria. Kiyoshi Tamura is a strong draw though, amongst the best in MMA, and he's parlayed that into starting U-Style and has been running successful styles and trying to establish new stars like all the UWF incarnations before him.