Hisaki Kato

The Japanese Musketeer
Loses his path to a title shot against Chidi Njokuani
MiddleweightBellator
December 1, 2017
Kato lost to Chidi Njokuani via unanimous decision (27-30, 27-30, 27-30) at Bellator 189 on Friday in Thackerville, Okla.
ANALYSIS
Prior to this fight, Kato had not lost since 2015 and was hoping to put himself into title contention with a victory here. Unfortunately for him, Njokuani was able to halt his momentum with a decision victory. Kato has been very successful with his striking in Bellator, but he struggled to close the distance and land against the long and rangy Njokuani. Kato has still gone 3-2 in Bellator, plus another win in Bellator kickboxing, so it should not take very much for him to get back on track in the promotion's shallow middleweight division.
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Plays it safe against Ralek Gracie
MiddleweightBellator
January 21, 2017
Kato defeated Ralek Gracie via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) at Bellator 170 in Inglewood, Calif. on Saturday.
ANALYSIS
The first round of this fight was nothing special. There was not a lot of action until about 20 or so seconds left. Kato landed a nice Superman punch, which floored Gracie. Gracie threatened with a leg submission, and Kato escaped to his feet at the end of the round. There was even less action in the second round. Gracie finally scored a takedown in the second half of the last round. He passed to mount with a little less than a minute, but Kato was able to hold on and make the final bell.
Set to face Ralek Gracie at Bellator 170
MiddleweightBellator
November 22, 2016
Kato will fight Ralek Gracie at Bellator 170 in Los Angeles, MMAFighting.com reports.
ANALYSIS
Kato is coming off back-to-back knockout victories over Yuta Watanabe and A.J. Matthews, improving his professional MMA record to 7-2. The 34-year-old will face the 31-year-old Gracie, who is six years removed from his last professional fight and holds a 3-0 record. The match will be held at The Forum in Inglewood, California on Jan. 21.
Stop A.J. Matthews in the first round
MiddleweightBellator
October 21, 2016
Kato defeated A.J. Matthews via TKO (punches) at 4:58 of round at Bellator 162 on Friday in Memphis, Tenn.
ANALYSIS
As expected, this fight was basically a war. Kato hurt Matthews early, but when he tried to swarm he got caught himself. Matthews had some moments of success. However, Kato continued to come forward and land hard kicks to the body and then follow up punches. After an extended stoppage due to an eye poke, Kato continued to push the pace. He hurt Matthews with some strikes and swarmed. The referee allowed Matthews to fight back to his feet, but he could not finish the round. Per the broadcast, Kato outlanded Matthews 47 to 24 in the one round fight. Kato has now picked up back-to-back wins after falling to Melvin Manhoef late last year. He will be a fixture in the Bellator middleweight title picture going forward.
Hisaki Kato:
MiddleweightBellator
November 20, 2015
Kato will enter his welterweight fight with Melvin Manhoef as a -140 favorite at Bellator 146 on Friday in Thackerville, Oklahoma.
ANALYSIS
Kato took on accomplished kickboxer Joe Schilling in relative obscurity at Bellator 139. "The Japanese Musketeer" overcame huge odds, however, to land a perfect superman punch that would turn Schilling's lights out. Still with just six professional MMA bouts to his record, Kato will take on another dangerous striker in Melvin Manhoef. A trained "Kudo" practitioner (described as a medley of Kyokushin Karate with Jiu Jitsu elements), Kato will need to find Manhoef's chin early in this scrap. Manhoef's ability to absorb damage has been greatly diminished, but can still throw thunderous leg kicks.