Wataru Sakata

Who is Wataru Sakata?

Wataru Sakata is a Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He has a professional MMA record of 11-13-0 as of December 31, 2003.

He started his career in Akira Maeda's Fighting Network RINGS in 1994 after being trained by Animal Hamaguchi. He made the transition to mixed martial arts in the late 1990s along with the rest of the promotion. His tenure in RINGS was not very successful. In fact, the zenith of his notoriety came when he was beaten senseless in the backstage area by Maeda during a post match interview after losing a bout too quickly for Maeda's liking.

When RINGS collapsed in 2002, Sakata participated in PRIDE Fighting Championships fights and joined Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE as a freelancer. He gradually began wrestling more. He joined the off-beat wrestling "opera" federation HUSTLE in 2008 and became the top face in the promotion. His biggest victory came when he defeated and seemingly "destroyed" cyborg wrestler The Esperanza.

Sakata was married to model Eiko Koike on August 29, 2007. They have one child together.