the other's skills and never engaged in the entire fight. Retirement fight Takada's final match was against his former student Kiyoshi Tamura. There was both story and controversy between them, as Tamura had challenged Takada several times without an answer, and then walked out of UWF International in 1995 to work for Fighting Network Rings. Tamura was also reluctant to fight at the event, as he shared cards with Kenichi Yamamoto, another Takada understudy he had a personal enmity with. Tamura dropped Takada with a leg kick, but the match was paused when he landed an accidental heavy low blow. After recovering, Takada took Tamura down and worked a few strikes through his guard, but he escaped to his feet. In the second round, Tamura connected with a combination and knocked Takada out. The bout was followed by a reconciliation between Takada and Tamura, the latter of whom cried and stated: "Thank you for giving the people their dream and hope for twenty-two years." Takada's proper retirement ceremony was hosted after the main event between his other student Kazushi Sakuraba and Gilles Arsene. Former UWF wrestlers like Tamura, Yamamoto, Yoshihiro Takayama, and Anjo attended the ceremony, along with Pride fighters like Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Wanderlei Silva and Gary Goodridge. Inoki also came to the ceremony. After retiring, Takada ran his mixed martial arts training facility, Takada Dojo, where he helped train fighters. He also stayed on in a management role at Pride and its parent company Dream Stage Entertainment until it was purchased by Zuffa in 2007. Rizin Fighting Federation (2015–present) In 2015, Takada returned to mainstream MMA when he signed on as a spokesperson and matchmaker for the Rizin Fighting Federation, Takada works alongside Nobuyuki Sakakibara and other former Pride employees. Works (1993) (2005) 10.11 (2012) Championships and accomplishments New Japan Pro-Wrestling IWGP Heavyweight Championship (1 time) IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) IWGP Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Akira Maeda Nikkan Sports Match of The Year (1996) vs. Shinya Hashimoto on April 29 Pro Wrestling Illustrated Ranked No. 27 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1995 Ranked No. 43 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the PWI Years in 2003 Ranked No. 13 of the 100 best tag teams during the PWI Years with Akira Maeda in 2003 Tokyo Sports Best Tag Team of the Year (1986) –