Now every MMA fan in the world is wondering about this guy.
Naoya Ogawa.
Not so much about how strong he is, but it's about, why the hell the Japanese are going crazy over him?
I mean let's face it. Ogawa's looks are not as good as, let's say, Tsuyoshi Shinjo, a former New York Mets outfielder who once posed for American GQ magazine, but most importantly, Ogawa really hasn't done much in MMA.
But Ogawa has a huge following in Japan.
Do you know why?
Even though he is still an active fighter, Ogawa is already a myth in the world of pro-wrestling. A myth is a status, in the Japanese pro-wrestling world, which can only be achieved by breaking "The Code of Pro-wrestling."

Everyone can see why a fighter like Kazushi Sakuraba has strong a following in Japan, perhaps all over the world, after conquering a series of top MMA fighters, but after all, Ogawa only fought in three PRIDE fights. I personally don't even consider the other two or three MMA fights he had outside of PRIDE, such as vs. Matt Ghaffari in LEGEND and vs. Yoji Anjo in K-1, as a part of his legitimate MMA record. Well, let's forget the numbers for now because so-called MMA records are quite deceiving anyway.
You can't possibly say I am better than Barry Bonds because I hit 70 homeruns in the AA's (forget the AAA's) last year, right?
It's the same for Ogawa. When you look at his past opponents, you have to wonder, what does this MMA record of 6 –0 exactly mean?
The Japanese however are absolutely going bananas over Ogawa because almost everyone remembers what happened on January 4th, 1999.
On that day, all of Japan saw a different Naoya Ogawa.

First off all, let me explain little bit about Japanese Pro-wrestling.
Apparently, Pro-wrestling is Pro-wrestling everywhere you go, and that means all bouts are worked fights. It really is a fight-show performed by top athletes and bodybuilders. Sometimes I even consider it, a sports-like performance art.

The biggest difference however between Japanese pro-wrestling and pro-wrestling in other countries, especially from the 60's to the mid-90, was their selling point.
It sounds ludicrous considering a pro-wrestling bout is in fact a carefully scripted story, but Japanese pro-wrestling, really was about "who is the strongest?"

Sure, some fans do enjoy an acrobatic and gymnastic-like Lucha Libre-style of entertainment pro-wrestling, but at the same time, fans know how to enjoy a bout full of wrestling, submission and kick boxing techniques.
It's about creating your own fantasy, "my favorite pro-wrestler is actually much stronger than Mike Tyson" like illusions. Almost like how art collectors became obsessed with specific artist.

Then some may think the quickest way of becoming a popular pro-wrestler in Japan is to step into the ring against a top wrestler, and ignore the script, beat the crap out of him in front of a large audience.

Yeah right. You can't do that.
If you do that, then you are finished in the business. No promoters would take the risk of booking a pro- wrestler who doesn't follow the rules.
Besides, in this country, you can get slammed with lawsuits a couple hundred times for that also, but really, it is so disrespectful as a professional, and as a human.
However, in the fifty-year history of Japanese pro-wrestling, this has happened not only once but a few times.
And the last villain who broke the code was Naoya Ogawa - back in January 4th, 1999. This was supposed to be an ordinarily pro-wrestling bout but it turned into a hideously dreadful fight.
After loosing nearly fifty pounds and transforming himself into a full-blown all-round fighter instead of just a Judo-ka, this was Ogawa's first appearance in a New Japan Pro-wrestling (NJPW) event, that is, in front of the national audience.
The eyes of 55,000 fans in Tokyo Dome grew wide when they saw a slim Ogawa. His body was no longer a typical Judo-ka, Solid Square box-like, but he was limber and lanky, almost like a heavyweight kick boxer.

The bout began with Ogawa's straight right into the head of Shinya Hashimoto, probably the most popular pro-wrestler of the NJPW at the time. Hashimoto immediately counters with a left low kick but Ogawa comes back with a right jab followed by a left straight but Hashimoto sways back by a hair.
At this point, Hashimoto is already looking puzzled but continues with his pro-wrestling move, a spinning chop. It catches Ogawa in the stomach but it doesn't hurt him at all. Well, it's a pro-wrestling move. It's not supposed to hurt the opponent. Ogawa goes on throwing right – left punch combinations and Hashimoto's face begins forming a mountain range.
Hashimoto immediately grabs Ogawa and pushes him against the corner.
The referee calls for a break but Hashimoto keeps his head down squeezing Ogawa to the corner, taking his time. It's a secret moves in pro-wrestling to calm the opponent down settling the situations.

Hashimoto continues to push Ogawa in the corner and the referee frantically calls for a break and finally, after a while, Hashimoto steps back from the corner, but soon after, Ogawa, once again, goes for right – left combinations and Hashimoto lowers his head and bear hugs Ogawa by the ropes. Again, the referee calls for a break but this time, instead of just hanging on, Hashimoto purposely hits the referee with a backhand blow. It's pro-wrestling's secret way to signal the referee that something is wrong. The referee could have called the bout no contest or disqualified Hashimoto for hitting him, to not only end the problem but to rescue Hashimoto. The referee however comes back up and still demands a break. And in the next moment, Ogawa pulls Hashimoto's trunks and forces him to the ground, and gets the full mount position.

From this point on, it was like a public execution.
Ogawa pounded on Hashimoto's face numerous times and then went for the armbar but immediately got up and soccer-ball-kicked Hashimoto's face a few times, followed by a solid hook to the back of his head.
Hashimoto quickly got up and stood in the corner signaling the referee to tell Ogawa to calm down but on that night, nothing was stopping the Crazy Judo King.
Ogawa again took Hashimoto to the ground, got the back mount, and brought down his left fist on the back of Hashimoto's head, let's see, about 20 times. Then Ogawa got up and with his left foot stepped on Hashimoto's back, while he was virtually out racked on his stomach by the apron side, with his right foot he stomped on the back of Hashimoto's head and soccer-ball-kicked his face.
Hashimoto's nose was shattered and he was KO'd, lying on the white elevated runaway just outside the ring.

The entire country was buzzed by this incident.
This Ogawa – Hashimoto bout became opium for every Japanese fight fan. Everybody was talking about this. Even some old conservative mainstream media were discussing it. Yes, there were some skeptics, who claimed it was still a "pro-wrestling bout," but the majority of the public saw it as a foul play.

The cause of this incident was crystal clear, well, at least from the pro-wrestling media's point of view.
Antonio Inoki, the founder of NJPW, was the mastermind behind the scene and incited Ogawa to whip on NJPW's top wrestler. Why? Well, the definition behind this theory was - Without having an extremely rigid breakwater backing him up, Ogawa, who left the life of a salary man working for JRA (Japan Racehorse Associations) to become a pro-wrestler, would never jeopardize his career in the business by breaking the rules you are not supposed to break. When a female wrestler named Shinobu Kandori, a former Judo national champion, broke the code and demolished a star wrestler Jackie Sato in the bloodshed, the promoters confined Kandori for three days at the hotel, and eventually, she was forced to leave, not only the business, but the country for a while. (She actually went down as low as washing dishes at Japanese restaurant in New York City but she made a comeback and now became one of the most popular women pro-wrestlers in Japan)

Almost every expert in the Japanese pro-wrestling world has said that this whole incident was about the restoration of power.
Ever since Inoki became a Japanese senator back in 1989, he slowly and surely lost control of NJPW. He was simply too busy doing politics - hanging out with Fidel Castro discussing the possibility of a sea urchin business in Cuba or convincing Sadaam Hussein to release Japanese hostages held in Iraq during the Gulf War. Despite the founder's preference, while he was gone, NJPW started to change, shifting towards the entertainment pro-wrestling.
Lastly, NJPW signed Atsushi Onita, the popular pro-wrestler who invented, what I call, a freak show style pro-wrestling such as "electrified bob wire death match" to participate in January 4th event.
Inoki was furious, but before everything, he felt the urgency to remind NJPW fans that the selling point of his pro-wrestling is not entertainment; it indeed is an aura of real fighting, which could only be created by real fighters.

Therefore, he ordered his latest disciple, at the time, Ogawa, to crash their star wrestler and stop the adverse current running inside the minds of fans and management executives of NJPW. The overdrive of Ogawa was Inoki's message that pro-wrestling without a concept of the real fight is nothing but a joke.

Mister Takahasi, a former referee of NJPW, confirms this theory in his book "The Bloody Magic, The Toughest Acting," by stating,"many NJPW wrestlers called me, quite excited, and with one accord, criticized the way Inoki is playing the gray eminence and manipulating Ogawa."
Inoki has always said, "the sense of tension and nervousness is absolutely necessary for pro-wrestling" and he surely did achieve it, well, brought this back to NJPW with a tremendously talented fighter named Naoya Ogawa.

Ogawa and Hashimoto fought again, three months later, but this time, it was notably a pro-wrestling bout and this mean, between Ogawa and Hashimoto, or perhaps between Inoki and NJPW, something was agreed behind closed doors.
Then Ogawa and Hashimoto fought a few more times, of course, in pro-wrestling bouts, packing Tokyo Dome a couple times, and making a lot of money for NJPW and TV Asahi, but oddly enough, both Ogawa and Hashimoto left NJPW soon after.

Till this date, some people are still wondering about the Ogawa – Hashimoto bout on January 4th, 1999. Was this really a forced shoot fight? Or, was it superbly played "shoot style" pro-wrestling?
Except Ogawa, Hashimoto, and more than likely Inoki, no one knows the truth but the person who benefited the most, without a doubt, was Ogawa.
Just about everyone believe that was a real beating, and because of it, Ogawa inherited the "best fighter in Japan" status, a myth, Inoki used to posses in the 70's. For this reason, Ogawa can now stand on his own in the business, after two fights in PRIDE, he broke off from Inoki by rejecting the master's order to take on Jerome LeBanner in Inoki Bom Ba Ye 2001.

Since then, Ogawa has publicly stated that he is only willing to do MMA fights against worthy opponents. Worthy in a sense of challenging as a fighter, and rewarding as a professional, such as fight against Rickson Gracie or Mike Tyson.
Ogawa is a myth of Japanese pro-wrestling by demanding his opponents to be legendary fighters, and of course with an undeniably stellar record in Judo, he also elevated himself to a legendary status in Japanese fight world. Basically, he knew his price tag and just didn't go for the easy sales. (Master Ishii, back in 2002, disclosed the fact he had offered Ogawa, 80 million yen, approximately 750,000 U.S, dollars, for the LeBanner fight)

Now Inoki is gone from PRIDE hanging out with the K-1 boys and DSE was in desperate need of a Japanese star for the PRIDE GP 2004. And for Ogawa, since both Rickson and Tyson are still uncertain, and the myth Ogawa obtained from the Hashimoto bout followed by two PRIDE fights was approaching it's expiration date in today's Japanese fight world centered by MMA, not pro-wrestling, the situation was perfect for everyone involved.
"PRIDE fighters? Well, probably just a BIT better than an amateur athlete, right!?"
These were Ogawa's first words after making the decision of entering the PRIDE GP. He is still playing the game. A pro-wrestling game in MMA, and Ogawa is still winning. This makes him a very rare commodity, and in the world of professional sports, you can't ask for anything better.

Last year, I had an opportunity to have a dinner with a gentleman who heads one of the premier MMA organizations in Japan, who used to be a journalist for one of the best Japanese pro-wrestling magazines. We were eating and drinking till 4 in the morning, and one of the discussions we had, of course, was about the Ogawa – Hashimoto bout. This gentleman personally knows Hashimoto very well, and told me, "You know, I asked Hashimoto about that bout. I asked him 'so, was it real?' then Hashimoto smiled and shook his head slowly. (This usually means 'No' in Japanese culture)"
However, just as professional magicians would never disclose their real tricks, Japanese pro-wrestlers are known for being very secretive outside the pro-wrestler's circle.
So, was it real?

Well, at this point, I guess it really doesn't matter. Obviously, Ogawa is a gem, perhaps, a thoroughbred who came in from both Judo and pro-wrestling. The physical foundations and submission skills he built in Judo, with the showmanship and sense of professionalism acquired from pro-wrestling, undoubtedly, whether you like it or not, he is certainly a fighter to watch in this year's PRIDE GP. And usually, in the world of professional sports, that is called, a hot commodity.