This is a list of Shooto world champions at each weight class. Shooto is a Japan-based mixed martial arts (MMA) promoting and sanctioning organization founded first in 1985 as a particular fighting system, and then in 1989 as an MMA promotion.
Shooto used to promote different weight classes than the Association of Boxing Commissions, which are used by most MMA promotions. On January 1, 2015, weight limits were changed to the divisions established by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Then, on January 1, 2017, the names of the weight classes were also changed to the names established by NSAC.
Current champions +MenDivisionChampionSince DefensesMiddleweight Taiga Iwasaki 0Welterweight Ryuichiro Sumimura 0Lightweight Yuji Ephoeviga 0Featherweight Sasuke 3Bantamweight Kanata Nagai 0Flyweight Ryoga 0Strawweight Koyuru Tanoue 2 +WomenDivisionChampionSince DefensesStrawweight Emi Fujino 0 Park Bo-hyun (interim) 0Super Atomweight Ayaka Watanabe 1Atomweight Hikaru Aono 0
Men's championships Middleweight Championship Weight limit of 83.9 kg (185 lb) The weight limit was 83 kg (183 lb) prior to January 1, 2015. The Middleweight Championship was known as the Light Heavyweight Championship prior to January 1, 2017. No. Name Event Date Reign(total) Defenses1 Kenji Kawaguchi Shooto: Shooto May 31, 1991 2 Erik Paulson Shooto: Vale Tudo Junction 3 May 7, 1996 Paulson vacated the title on September 28, 2000 when he retired from the sport.3 Masanori Suda Shooto: Treasure Hunt 1 January 12, 2002 Suda vacated the title on February 17, 2006, at his retirement ceremony.4 Shiko Yamashita Absolute Fighting Championships 16 April 22, 2006 5 Siyar Bahadurzada Shooto: Back To Our Roots 4 July 15, 2007 Bahadurzada vacated the title on April 14, 2012 after signing with the UFC.6 Yushin Okami Shooto 2024 Vol.8 November 30, 2024 Okami vacated the title on February 28, 2026.7 Taiga Iwasaki Professional Shooto 2026 Vol.5 July 20, 2026 (incumbent)
Welterweight Championship Weight limit of 77.1 kg (170 lb) The weight limit was 77 kg (169.8 lb) prior to January 1, 2015. The Welterweight Championship was known as the Middleweight Championship prior to January 1, 2017. No. Name Event Date Reign(total) Defenses1 Yasuto Sekishima Shooto: Shooto May 12, 1990 2 Shooto: Shooto August 3, 1991 ? days Ishikawa vacated the title in 1991 to compete as a lightweight.3 Naoki Sakurada Shooto: Shooto October 17, 1991 Sakurada vacated the title on January 18, 1997, when he retired.4 Hayato "Mach" Sakurai Shooto: Las Grandes Viajes 3 May 13, 1998 5 Anderson Silva Shooto: To The Top 7 August 26, 2001 Silva vacated the title on January 9, 2002, after signing with Pride.6 Jake Shields Shooto Hawaii: Soljah Fight Night July 9, 2004 7 Akira Kikuchi Shooto: Year End Show 2004 December 14, 2004 8 Shinya Aoki Shooto: The Victory of the Truth February 17, 2006 Aoki vacated the title on May 21, 2010 after years of not defending it, fighting for other promotions, and fighting primarily as a lightweight.9 Luis Ramos Shooto Brazil 17 August 6, 2010 Ramos vacated the title on August 9, 2011, after signing with the UFC.10 Hernani Perpetuo Shooto: Gig Tokyo 15 August 25, 2013 — Ryuichiro Sumimura Shooto 2025 Vol.6 July 21, 2025 —Perpetuo vacated the title on November 3, 2025, due to suffering an injury in training, rendering him unable to defend the title.11 Ryuichiro Sumimura —November 3, 2025(incumbent)
Lightweight Championship Weight limit of 70.3 kg (155 lb) The weight limit was 70 kg (154.3 lb) prior to January 1, 2015. The Lightweight Championship was known as the Welterweight Championship prior to January 1, 2017. No. Name Event Date Reign(total) Defenses1 Yuichi Watanabe Shooto: Shooto March 29, 1991 Watanabe vacated the title on August 25, 1991 for unknown reasons.2 Tomonori Ohara Shooto: Shooto October 17, 1991 ? days Ohara announced his retirement in November 1992 and thus vacated the title.3 Yuki Nakai Shooto: Vale Tudo Access 2 November 7, 1994 ? days Nakai suffered an eye injury at Vale Tudo Japan 1995 which forced him into retirement in April 1995.4 Caol Uno Shooto: 10th Anniversary Event May 29, 1999 Uno vacated the title on December 17, 2000 to compete in the UFC.5 Takanori Gomi Shooto: To The Top Final Act December 16, 2001 6 Joachim Hansen Shooto: 8/10 in Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium August 10, 2003 7 Vítor Ribeiro Shooto: Year End Show 2003 December 14, 2003 8 Tatsuya Kawajiri Shooto: Year End Show 2004 December 14, 2004 Kawajiri vacated the title on January 23, 2007, after suffering a knee injury which prevented him from defending his title in the mandatory time period per Shooto regulations.9 Takashi Nakakura Shooto: Shooto Tradition 1 May 3, 2008 Nakakura vacated the title on September 21, 2009, declaring that he wasn't ready to properly defend it after losing a non-title fight to Takanori Gomi.10 Willamy Freire Vale Tudo Japan 2009 October 30, 2009 Freire vacated the title on May 30, 2010 to compete in the UFC.11 Kuniyoshi Hironaka Shooto: Shootor's Legacy 3 July 18, 2011 Hironaka vacated the title on November 29, 2015 for unknown reasons.12 Koshi Matsumoto Mobstyles Present Fight & Mosh April 23, 2016 Matsumoto vacated the title in February 16, 2020, when he signed with ONE Championship.13 Yuki Kawana Professional Shooto 2020 Vol.4 in Osaka July 12, 2020 14 Yamato Nishikawa Professional Shooto 2021 Vol.6 September 20, 2021 Kawana vacated the title on June 14, 2024.15 Shutaro Debana Shooto 2024 Vol.6 July 28, 2024 16 Yuji Ephoeviga Professional Shooto 2026 Vol.2 March 29, 2026 (incumbent)
Featherweight Championship Weight limit of 65.8 kg (145 lb) The weight limit was 65 kg (143.3 lb) prior to January 1, 2015. The Featherweight Championship was known as the Lightweight Championship prior to January 1, 2017. No. Name Event Date Reign(total) Defenses1 Kenichi Tanaka Shooto: Shooto September 8, 1990 2 Kazuhiro Sakamoto Shooto: Shooto May 31, 1991 3 Noboru Asahi Shooto: Shooto March 27, 1992 4 Alexandre Franca Nogueira Shooto: Renaxis 4 September 5, 1999 Nogueira vacated the title on May 7, 2006, after suffering a knee injury which prevented him from defending his title in the mandatory time period per Shooto regulations.5 Lion Takeshi Shooto: The Devilock May 12, 2006 6 Akitoshi Tamura Shooto: Back To Our Roots 3 May 18, 2007 7 Hideki Kadowaki Shooto: Back To Our Roots 8 March 28, 2008 8 Lion Takeshi Shooto: Shooto Tradition 4 November 29, 2008 (918 days)9 Hatsu Hioki Shooto: The Way of Shooto 3: Like a Tiger, Like a Dragon May 30, 2010 Hioki vacated the title on May 31, 2011 to compete in the UFC.10 Yutaka Saito Professional Shooto January 11, 2016 Saito vacated the title on March 31, 2021 to compete in Rizin.11 Sasuke Professional Shooto 2021 Vol.5 July 25, 2021 (incumbent)
Bantamweight Championship Weight limit of 61.2 kg (135 lb) The weight limit was 60 kg (132.3 lb) prior to January 1, 2015. The Bantamweight Championship was known as the Featherweight Championship prior to January 1, 2017. No. Name Event Date Reign(total) Defenses1 Mamoru Yamaguchi Shooto: R.E.A.D. Final December 17, 2000 2 Masahiro Oishi Shooto: To The Top 10 November 25, 2001 3 Ryota Matsune Shooto: 8/10 in Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium August 10, 2003 Matsune vacated the title on December 15, 2005, after suffering a knee injury which prevented him from defending his title in the mandatory time period per Shooto regulations.4 Akitoshi Hokazono Shooto 2006: 7/21 in Korakuen Hall July 21, 2006 Hokazono vacated the title on January 26, 2008, when he retired.5 Masakatsu Ueda Shooto: Back To Our Roots 8 March 28, 2008 6 Shuichiro Katsumura Shooto: The Way of Shooto 2: Like a Tiger, Like a Dragon March 22, 2010 7 Koetsu Okazaki Shooto: Shooto Tradition 2011 April 29, 2011 8 Hiromasa Ougikubo Great East Japan Earthquake Reconstruction Support Charity May 18, 2012 9 Kyoji Horiguchi Shooto: 2013 2nd Round March 16, 2013 Horiguchi vacated the title on October 20, 2015 to compete in the UFC.10 Shoko Sato Professional Shooto October 15, 2017 — Ryo Okada Professional Shooto 2020 Vol.3 May 31, 2020 — Sato vacated the title on November 30, 2020, in order to compete with ONE Championship.11 Ryo Okada — November 30, 2020 12 Tatsuya Ando Professional Shooto 2022 Vol.2 March 21, 2022 Ando vacated the title on June 11, 2024.13 Shoji Saito Shooto 2024 Vol.5 July 21, 2024 — Kanata Nagai Shooto 2025 Vol.5 May 25, 2025 —14 Kanata Nagai Shooto 2025 Vol.8September 21, 2025(incumbent)
Flyweight Championship Weight limit of 56.7 kg (125 lb) The weight limit was 56 kg (123.5 lb) prior to January 1, 2015. The Flyweight Championship was known as the Bantamweight Championship prior to January 1, 2017. No.NameDateDefenses1 Mamoru Yamaguchi December 14, 2003 2 Shinichi Kojima October 14, 2006 Kojima vacated the title on February 27, 2010 after suffering an ACL injury in his right knee which prevented him from defending his title in the mandatory time period per Shooto regulations.3 Yasuhiro Urushitani May 30, 2010 Urushitani vacated the title on December 10, 2011 to compete in the UFC. Ryuichi Miki drew with Yosuke Saruta for the vacant title on July 27, 2013.4 Ryuichi Miki November 9, 20135 Masaaki Sugawara May 3, 20156 Hiromasa Ougikubo April 23, 2016— Ryuya Fukuda July 12, 2020 Ougikubo vacated the title on January 31, 2021. Fukuda was promoted to undisputed status. 7 Ryuya Fukuda January 31, 20218 Tatsuro Taira July 3, 2021 Taira vacated the title on May 21, 2023 to compete for the UFC.9 Jo Arai November 19, 2023— Yuto Sekiguchi January 19, 2025 Arai vacated the title on May 18, 2025. Sekiguchi was promoted to undisputed status.10 Yuto Sekiguchi May 18, 202511 Ryoga Arimoto November 16, 2025
Strawweight Championship Weight limit of 52.2 kg (115 lb) The weight limit was 52 kg (114.6 lb) prior to January 1, 2015. The Strawweight Championship was known as the Flyweight Championship prior to January 1, 2017. No.NameDateDefenses1 Rambaa Somdet November 23, 2009 Somdet vacated the title on April 16, 2011 due to a partially torn left bicep.2 Junji Ikoma April 29, 20113 Mikihito Yamagami November 5, 2011 Yamagami vacated the title in December 2013 when he moved up in weight.4 Shinya Murofushi January 13, 20145 Yoshitaka Naito September 27, 2014 Naito vacated the title on April 7, 2016 when he signed with ONE Championship.6 Ryohei Kurosawa July 17, 2016 Kurosawa vacated the title in 2017.7 Yosuke Saruta October 15, 2017 Saruta vacated the title on November 30, 2019, after signing with ONE Championship.8 Hiroshi Minowa January 26, 2020— Junji Sarumaru November 7, 2021 Sarumaru was promoted to undisputed champion status on August 1, 2022, after Minowa vacated the title.9 Junji SarumaruAugust 1, 202210 Jo Arai September 19, 2022 Arai vacated the title on December 2, 2024, after moving up to flyweight.11 Koyuru Tanoue December 29, 2024
Women's championship history Women's Strawweight Championship Weight limit of 52.2 kg (115 lb) No. Name Event Date Reign(total) Defenses1 Emi Fujino Professional Shooto 2024 Vol.4 May 18, 2024 (incumbent)
Women's Super Atomweight Championship Weight limit of 49.9 kg (110 lb) No. Name Event Date Reign(total) Defenses1 Mina Kurobe Professional Shooto 2020 Vol.5 August 1, 2020 2 Satomi Takano Professional Shooto 2021 Vol.7 November 6, 2021 3 Ayaka Watanabe Professional Shooto 2023 Vol.3 May 21, 2023 (incumbent)
Women's Atomweight Championship Weight limit of 47.6 kg (105 lb) No. Name Event Date Reign(total) Defenses1 Chihiro Sawada Professional Shooto 2022 Vol.7 November 27, 2022 Sawada vacated her title on July 24, 2024, after signing with ONE Championship.2 Aira Koga Shooto Colors vol.3 August 3, 2024 Koga vacated her title on November 30, 2025.3 Hikaru Aono Professional Shooto 2026 Vol.2 March 29, 2026 (incumbent)
Defunct title Heavyweight Championship Weight limit of 120.2 kg (265 lb) The weight limit was 100 kg (220.5 lb) prior to January 1, 2015.