YA-MAN

Ren Sugiyama (杉山 怜), better known by his ring name YA-MAN, is a Japanese kickboxer, mixed martial artist and YouTuber.

He currently competes in the lightweight division of RISE.

Combat Press ranks YA-MAN as the fifth best bantamweight kickboxer in the world, as of July 2022.

YA-MAN made his professional debut against Taiki Sawatani on the prelims of RISE 122 on February 4, 2018.

He won the fight by split decision.

Two of the judges scored the bout 30–28 and 30–29 in his favor, while the third judge scored the bout 30–28 for Sawatani.

After successfully winning his first professional fight, YA-MAN was placed in the 2018 RISING Rookies Cup.

He was booked to face the winless Kazuyoshi at RISE 124 in the tournament quarterfinals.

YA-MAN won the fight by a first-round technical knockout, stopping Kazuyoshi with eight seconds left in the opening round.

YA-MAN faced Kosuke Kai in the penultimate bout of the tournament, which was held at RISE 126 on July 16, 2018.

He won the fight by split decision, with scores of 29–28, 28–29 and 29–27,

YA-MAN advanced to the tournament finals, held on the prelims of RISE 128 on November 2, 2018, where he faced Taiki Sawatani.

The pair previously fought at RISE 122, in YA-MAN's professional debut, with YA-MAN winning by split decision.

He was less successful in the rematch, as Sawatani won the fight by unanimous decision, with all three judges awarding him a 29–28 scorecard.

YA-MAN faced the undefeated Keisuke Monguchi (2–0–1) at RISE 132 on February 3, 2019.

He lost the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 30–28, 29–28 and 29–27.

YA-MAN faced YUU in his sixth and final fight at featherweight at RISE 132 on May 19, 2019.

He won the fight by unanimous decision.

Two of the judges scored the bout 30–28 in his favor, while the third judge awarded all three of the rounds to YA-MAN.

After amassing a 4–2 record at featherweight, YA-MAN moved up to super featherweight (-60 kg).

He was booked to face the 2019 Shinkarate K2 Grand Prix winner Ryota Saito at Stand up Kickboxing Vol.1 on December 22, 2019.

YA-MAN knocked Saito down once en-route to winning the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 29–26, 30–27 and 30–26.

YA-MAN was next booked to face Senichi at Rise 142 on September 4, 2020.

The bout was contested at lightweight (-62.5 kg), which represented a 5 kg move up in weight in his last two bouts.

He won the fight by unanimous decision, with all three judges awarding him every single round of the fight.

YA-MAN faced the seventh ranked RISE super featherweight contender Taishi Hiratsuka at Rise El Dorado 2021 on February 28, 2021.

He lost his first fight on RISE's flagship event series by unanimous decision, with scores of 29–28, 29–28 and 30–28.

At a press conference held by RISE on April 15, 2021, it was revealed that YA-MAN would face the seventh ranked RISE super-lightweight contender Yuma Yamaguchi at Rise on Abema 2 on June 15, 2021, in an "open finger glove" match.

Both fighters competed in MMA gloves under this rule-set, in a three-round three-minute bout.

There were no extension rounds, as is normal under the regular RISE rule-set and the fight could only end in knockout or technical knockout, any decision would result in a pre-determined draw.

YA-MAN's fight with Yamaguchi was one of two such matches held at the event, with RISE representative Takashi Ito stating he would introduce an OFG belt and rankings, should it prove to be popular enough.

During the press conference, YA-MAN revealed that he had volunteered to fight under this rule-set, although he remained respectful of his opponent, stating: "...I hope Yuma Yamaguchi is coming in with a mentality like 'If I lose to a guy like this [who's only been training for five years], I'm getting weaker, and it's probably best I retire soon'".

YA-MAN had a poor start to the fight, as he was knocked down with a left hook in an exchange after managing to corner Yamaguchi.

He continued pressuring when the fight action resumed and was able to rally back in the second round, as he knocked Yamaguchi with a left uppercut to a right hook combination.

Yamaguchi was unable to beat the eight-count following the knockdown, forcing the referee to wave the fight off at the 1:53 minute mark.

YA-MAN stated his desire to fight the winner of the other OFG bout on the card, between Yuma's brother Hiroto and Yoshimichi Matsumoto.

On August 24, 2021, several additional bouts were announced for Rise World Series 2021 Yokohama, which was scheduled to take place on September 23, 2021.

Two of these bouts were "open fingers glove" fights, which saw Hiroto Yamaguchi faced Tatsuya Inaishi and YA-MAN face the second ranked RISE lightweight contender Tomohiro Kitai.

The rule-set was slightly tweaked prior to the event taking place: fights which don't end in stoppage would no longer result in a pre-determined draw, but would be judged just the same as a fight which took place under the regular RISE rules.

On September 22, the two fighters were engaged in a brief onstage scuffle during the face-offs, in which Kitai initiated physical contact when he shoved YA-MAN.