Birthdate - 10/5/70
5'10" 200 lbs. - Japan

Athletic background - n/a

Professional background - UWFi(`92-`96), Kingdom(`96-`98), RINGS(`98-`02), Pride(`02)

Team - RINGS Japan

Career Highlights - n/a

Favorites -
- Cross Armbreaker
- Rear Naked Choke
- Dragon Screw Legwhip
- Spinning Backfist
- Dropkick
- Mid Kick

Ringwork Rating -
technique - 10
science - 6
counters - 7
transitions - 8
diversity - 7
power - 6
strikes - 8

Intangible Rating -
entertainment - 7
selling - 7
toughness - 7
carrying - 7
heat - 7
star level - 7

Place in History - Hiromitsu Kanehara's place in shoot-style wrestling and as a transitional star as MMA popularized in Japan. He beat many would-be stars to the up-and-comer spot in UWFi and got pushed reasonably well in the company's final years. Kanehara was mainly a good youngster who would go over the bland gaijins in passable matches and help keep upper tier guys established, all while honing his skills well. Kanehara really showed his stuff with the more realistic Kingdom, where he was a top star and had strong matches most of the time. In RINGS, Kanehara proved his skill with a strong 11-5-1 record with wins over the likes of Valentijn Overeem, Jeremy Horn and Dave Menne. As for losses, Kanehara has never lost to a fighter who wasn't world class in one form or another, which says a lot. He took all but one of those people the distance as well and that person was a significantly bigger Antonio Noguiera in the semifinals of a tough tournament. Outside of RINGS, Kanehara scored a win over RINGS regular Lee Hadsell and suffered a loss to Mario Sperry and in his first and only appearance in Pride, he suffered a quick loss to middleweight bulldozer Vanderlei Silva. Though MMA purist probably won't give much credit to a pro-wrestler turned decent "limited rules" shooter, Hiromitsu Kanehara has proven to be a game fighter for years. He's in his thirties now and banged up from all his years of noble service, so it's a safe bet he won't be doing much more in either realm. Regardless, Kanehara was an entertaining, energetic shoot-stylist who proved to be a strong star for several companies in each phase of his career.