Japanese MMA legend Norifumi 'Kid' Yamamoto dies at age 41

K. Yamamoto started his MMA career in 2001. Photo: Reproduction/Instagrma @ kid_yamamoto

MMA lost one of its legends, Japanese Norifumi Yamamoto this Monday (17). 'Kid' had been diagnosed with cancer in August this year and was currently battling the disease. The lightweight's death was announced on his official Twitter account.

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“To everyone who supported Yamamoto KID. Yamamoto KID (41 years and 6 months old) battled cancer for a long time and passed away today on September 18th. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the fans who supported. Also, avoid interviewing the Yamamoto family, family members, friends, etc.,” said the tweet on Kid’s account.

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Yamamoto began his featherweight career in 2001 in Japan, his home country. However, the fighter achieved success after a move to lightweight. With a 17-year career in professional MMA, Kid has worked for organizations: Shooto, K-1, Hero's and UFC.

The lightweight fighter became Japan's biggest MMA star in 2005 after conquering Hero's. In the tournament, Yamamoto defeated Royler Grace, Caol Uno and Genki Sudo, all by knockout. As a result, he was considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world before his first retirement in 2007.

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Norifumi had 24 fights, 18 triumphs and six setbacks. His last fight in his career was in the UFC against Roman Salazar in February 2015. In his career, Kid won 14 consecutive victories against fighters such as Bibano Fernandes, Rani Yaya, Genki Sudo, Caol Uno and Jeff Curran.