Report Last Updated - 3/02
Birthdate - n/a
5'11" 230 lbs. - Shiga, Japan
Team - The Alliance
Style - Submission Fighting
Career Highlights
- Wins the 1995 Lumax Cup tournament by defeating Hiroyuki Yoshioka, Susumu Yamazaki, and Eagan Inoue
- Beats Kimo by unanimous decision at UFC XVI
- Defeats Pete Williams by decision at Ultimate Brazil
- Beats Tim Lajick at UFC XXI after his corner throws in the towel
- Goes to a draw with RINGS star Antonio Noguiera
Striking - Tsuyoshi Kohsaka is many things, but striker is not one of them. He is cautious with his stand up fighting and aims to wear people down with short jabs and low kicks. When he takes people down he may pepper them with punches, but it is mostly to force openings for his submissions.
Wrestling - Being a top notch Judo practioner, Kohsaka can do the takedowns, but when he meets wrestlers he can be at a loss. He is quite strong for his size and is pretty good at maintaining the top position.
Hooking - The well-known TK Guard is a half guard that is named for Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, who mastered it. He works very well out of it and can do countless number of submissions, though he favors attacking the legs.
Strengthes - Kohsaka is everything people expect in Japanese fighters: collected, well-conditioned, and highly skilled. He is a determined grappler, who waits for his openings and will not let them slip away.
Weaknesses - Fighters rarely have all three dimensions, but the best are usually capable in even their weakest area. TK is not much of a striker, but he is smart with it. He will draw an overconfident striker in and take them down, but if he cannot Kohsaka struggles.
Outlook - Since a loss in UFC, Kohsaka has pretty much dropped out of the MMA scene, except for RINGS. Here he has met and put over some of the best: Yvel, Noguiera, and Couture. Kohsaka is still relatively young and his name has definate value. It is hard to predict what this Alliance member will do, but it seems unlikely that we've heard the last of him.