Ulka Sasaki Reveals He Planned To Stick With MMA Until 40, Then Retire.

Pro-Wrestling almost never happened for Ulka Sasaki

Ulka Sasaki vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Ulka Sasaki is currently a professional wrestler in Japan for NOAH. Coming up soon, he has the most important wrestling match in his life when he faces WWE’s Shinsuke Nakamura at Noah The New Year 2025 on January 1, 2025. But, all this almost never happened. 

Sasaki was a successful mixed-martial artist holding a current record of 24-10. Sasaki fought for mainly Shooto and Deep in Japan, but in 2014, he got the call to go to America and compete for UFC. In August of 2014, Ulka Sasaki won his UFC debut via first round submission and was awarded a performance of the night bonus. He went on to fight in UFC until 2018, where he last lost to current UFC Flyweight Champion Alexandre Pantoja.

Sasaki then went on to RIZIN until 2023. He then had an exhibition wrestling match in 2023 for Noah before making his official wrestling debut in 2024 at the Noah The New Year 2024 event. Now, a year later, Shinsuke stands in his way. Now, Ulka Sasaki sat down with Noah and revealed all this almost never happened, as he had plans to stick with MMA.

I thought about doing MMA until I was about 40 & then opening a gym. But watching Great Muta v Shinsuke Nakamura really changed my life. I was so excited before the entrance, and I could really feel the excitement and anticipation for this match

His opponent, Shinsuke Nakamura, also spoke to Noah and revealed that he thought Ulka should’ve went to wrestling long before.

When I was wrestling in Japan, and Ulka was still in Shizuoka, there was a tour there. At that time, I told him that he had pretty good looks, was tall & had a background in MMA, so he should stop wasting time and try pro wrestling.

Now, they can test their skills against each other in the new year!

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