Masaaki Noiri

Masaaki Noiri (野杁 正明) is a Japanese kickboxer, currently competing in the welterweight division of K-1.

On February 25, 2007, at the age of thirteen, Noiri participated in a try-out held by the K-1 kickboxing organization and was taken on as one of Japan's youngest prospects.

He began practicing karate as a teenager and had great success in both full contact karate and amateur kickboxing in his early teens, which included winning the K-1 Koshien 62 kg (136 lb) schoolboys tournament in 2009, two JKJO titles and a Shin Karate title.

Noiri continued to show promise by winning the New Japan Karate Federation's K-2 Lightweight Grand Prix on May 3, 2009.

He was then called upon to fight under the K-1 banner on August 10, 2009, at the K-1 Koshien 2009 King of Under 18 Final 16, where he defeated Ryo Murakoshi via knee strike knockout at the opening stage of the K-1 Koshien −62 kg/136 lb high school tournament.

Advancing to the quarter-finals at the K-1 World MAX 2009 World Championship Tournament Final on November 26, 2009, Noiri beat Keisuke Miyamoto by unanimous decision.

The final two stages of the tournament were held on December 31, 2009, at Dynamite!! 2009.

Noiri was drawn against the previous year's Koshien champion, Hiroya, in the semi-finals and caused an upset by winning a unanimous decision from the judges.

He then took another unanimous nod over Shota Shimada in the final to become the K-1 Koshien 2009 King of Under 18 Tournament Champion.

After turning professional in 2010, he became a mainstay in the Krush promotion and was victorious in the 2011 Krush Under-22 ~63kg Supernova~ Tournament.

Combat Press ranked him as the No. 1 super-featherweight kickboxer in the world between October 2021 and March 2023.

He was then removed from the rankings after he moved to the lightweight division.

He returned to K-1 Koshien the following year, with all four tournament rounds being held on the same night at the K-1 Koshien 2010 King of Under 18 Final on November 20, 2010.

He made it past Naoki Takeda with a unanimous decision victory in the first round, but was then eliminated by Keigo Ishida via decision at the quarter-finals.

Outside of kickboxing, Masaaki Noiri likes to spend time with his kids, eat food, and play games.

Noiri debuted as a professional kickboxer on March 14, 2010, in his home town of Nagoya, defeating Shinji Aseishi by unanimous decision.

Following this, he was recruited by Krush and went 3–0 in the promotion, including two KO wins, before entering the Krush First Generation King Tournament at −60 kg/132 lb which began on December 12, 2010.

He was victorious over Junpei Aotsu in the tournament's first round but was then defeated by Yuji Takeuchi in the quarter-finals on April 30, 2011.

Noiri floored Takeuchi in the second round and again at the beginning of the third when both men knocked each other down with concurrent left hooks.

Takeuchi, knowing that he had to stop Noiri to win the fight, came back aggressively towards the end of the fight, however, and violently knocked Noiri out with a left hook to send him crashing out of the tournament.

Despite having recently suffering the first loss of his professional career, Noiri was invited to the K-1 World MAX 2011 -63kg Japan Tournament Final, a one-night tournament made up of eight of Japan's best lightweights, on June 25, 2011.

He faced a tough test in the quarter-finals against the more experienced Ryuji Kajiwara.

The bout was called a draw after three rounds and so an extension round was added to decide the winner, after which Noiri was given a close split decision.

In the semis, he went up against the previous year's runner-up in Yuta Kubo and came out on the losing side of a unanimous decision.

He then returned to Krush to compete in the 2011 Under-22 ~63 kg Supernova~ Tournament.

After finishing both Violence and Daizo Sasaki in the same night on October 10, 2011, Noiri advanced to the tournament's final stage held at Krush.14 on December 9, 2011.

The semi-finals saw Noiri rematch Hiroya and cruise to a unanimous decision (30–27, 30–28, 30–28) after sending his opponent to the canvas in round one.

In the final, he went up against Koya Urabe and ended the fight with one of the year's most impressive knockouts.

After nullifying Urabe's superior boxing, he landed with a flying knee that ended Urabe's night towards the end of the first round, crowning him the tournament winner.

Noiri ended the year with a unanimous decision victory over Kengo Sonoda at Fight For Japan: Genki Desu Ka Omisoka 2011 on December 31, 2011.

To kick off 2012, he bested his first international opponent, Frenchman Cedric Peynaud, with a unanimous decision (30–28, 29–28, 29–28) at Krush.17 on March 17, 2012.

On May 20, 2012, Noiri ventured up to 64 kg/141 lb limit to face Raz Sarkisjan at the Hoost Cup.

The previously unknown Dutch-Armenian fighter scored a major upset with a unanimous decision win, flooring Noiri twice in the second round before getting dropped himself in the third.

Three months later, Noiri returned to 63 kg/138 lb and bounced back with a unanimous points (30–27, 30–27, 30–28) win over Makihira Keita at Krush.22.

The end of 2012 saw lightweight's previous kingpin Yuta Kubo move up in weight, and so Noiri then took his place as number one in the world rankings.

Combat Press also ranked him among the top ten featherweights continuously from September 2014 to January 2021.

Masaaki Noiri began kickboxing at a young age because of bullying in school.

As a schoolboy, Noiri began practicing Shin Karate, a style of full contact karate based on Kyokushin but modified to use boxing gloves and allow punches to the face.

He soon became an All Japan Junior Champion in the discipline.

He is a two-weight K-1 champion, having held the K-1 World GP Super Lightweight Championship between 2017 and 2018 and the K-1 World GP Welterweight Championship since 2021, as well as a one-time Grand Prix winner, having won the 2021 K-1 World Welterweight Grand Prix.