Back in 2008 Takeya Mizugaki was showing the world what a top Japanese banthom weight champion was made of in the WEC. Then for 6 years and some change, Mizuaki fought the best fighers that the UFC could throw at him.
Then it all came crashing down back in December 2016 with a TKO loss to Eddie Wineland at 3:04 of the first round on the UFC on Fox 22 – VanZant vs. Waterson card. At that point it seemed that the writing was on the wall. It was a sign that the end was near with his UFC run. He was released from the UFC roster the following month.
After his release from the UFC Takeya Mizugaki wondered what to do. He had 19 fights combined in the UFC and WEC. He thought about hanging up his gloves and just retiring. It was really hard for him at this time and he struggled with this decision. He took some time off to recover from his injuries and felt like he totally lost his motivation to fight.
That all changed when he was offered a 3-year contract from a relatively new MMA organization that is based in Russia called ACB Absolute Championship Berkut (https://acbmma.com/en). Their logo says “Less Show, More Fight”. Mizugaki says that he heard they have really highly skilled fighters and is looking forward to his life after the UFC. He wants to show the world the Japanese Warrior Spirit!
