is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Once a student of legendary professional wrestlers Billy Robinson, Lou Thesz and Akira Maeda, Tamura was known for his skills in catch wrestling and is considered to be one of the greatest shoot wrestlers of all time. Competing exclusively in shoot style wrestling, Tamura began his career with UWF Newborn and later joined its successor group UWF International before transitioning to mixed martial arts. A professional MMA fighter from 1995 until 2008, he competed for the PRIDE Fighting Championships, RINGS, DEEP, DREAM, and fought at K-1's 2007 and 2008 Dynamite!! events. He is a two-time RINGS Openweight Champion and holds notable wins over Renzo Gracie, former UFC Welterweight Champion Pat Miletich, former UFC Middleweight Champion Dave Menne, former Pancrase Super Heavyweight Champion Tsuyoshi Kosaka, former Pancrase Openweight Champion Masakatsu Funaki, Olympic judo gold medallist Makoto Takimoto, three-time sambo champion Volk Han, and Kazushi Sakuraba. Tamura currently serves as an Executive Director for LIDET Entertainment's professional wrestling promotion GLEAT. Professional wrestling career UWF Newborn (1989–1990) A former sumo wrestler for the Okayama University of Science High School, Tamura debuted in 1989 in the UWF Newborn in a losing effort against Minoru Suzuki. He soon revealed himself as a promising rookie, but he was forced to put his career in a long hiatus after a match with Akira Maeda on October 25, in which Maeda hit him with a full force knee strike and fractured his orbital bone. Tamura took an entire year to return, and he only had time to work in one event before UWF closed. UWF International (1991–1996) After UWF's demise, Tamura followed to its main successor group, UWF International, where he was put under the tutelage of Nobuhiko Takada. Debuting with a victory against Masahito Kakihara, Tamura was spunky and could even demand respect from older veterans, as demonstrated during a bout against Yoji Anjo where Tamura broke a hold, delivered several kicks to Anjo's head and kicked him out of the ring. In 1992, after making his shootfighting debut before boxer Matthew Saad Muhammad, submitting him with a rear naked choke, Tamura was sent to United States to learn catch wrestling under Lou Thesz, who helped refine Tamura's submission skills and ground game. He returned a few months later with a new, polished grappling style, defeating Kazuo Yamazaki in a match without shin guards on October 23.