BARRET YOSHIDA 

Words by Brian Terhorst

Barrett is a soft spoken, fairly unassuming guy. His demeanor is the opposite of someone that commands great respect in the world of MMA. His record to date is five wins five losses and a draw. He is a master at Jiu Jitsu and he could easily be fighting with the WEC or UFC. This guy is a serious weapon. 

He chooses to fight with the lesser known Shooto League. Shooto is a league in Japan with an almost cult-like following. When we pressed him on why he choose to go with a less know league he explained,” I just wanted to prove I could do it. I could take other fights & make more money, but I choose Shooto on purpose. This is my first Shooto fight in six years. At this time I just want to concentrate on my Jiu Jitsu. Shooto is where it’s at.

His next fight is coming up in a few weeks in Tokyo. He will be fighting Hioki Hatsu. A solid all around fighter. Comfortable with standup fighting or Jiu Jitsu. Although this is a tough opponent Barrett has an interesting change up in his training routine. “I’m trying not to overtrain. I don’t want to push myself over the edge. In past fights I go so hard prepping for the fight I actually wind up injuring myself. 

His training crew consists of a pretty well rounded group. Kong (sitting quietly next to him during the interview) Is his self proclaimed ‘spiritual advisor’. He also works with War Machine, Philip Yoon, Guy Smith, Jeremy….(he keeps dropping names till he runs the whole Undisputed crew by us) Let’s just say, he has a bunch of great trainers in his corner making sure he is at the top of his sport. 

His training consists of the normal Jiu Jitsu matt work, mitt work, jump soles, boxing, speedbag sprints. Pretty much everything that normal fighters work at. “I also do Free Line. Yeah know, those skates that go under your shoes. Rip on the boardwalk. They’re fun but super hard. Good balance training. I also bodyboard. Plenty of cross-training, yeah?

“The Japanese call me highlander. After each win I don’t look happy unless I submit my opponent. Same as in the movie. I want to take all his powers. And I take all of his wins. All his opponents powers and wins. (starts laughing, Kong laughs with him) So that’s where the nickname comes from.” Barrett is also one of the Instructors at Undisputed. “I train for myself about 3 hrs a day. After that you can find me here teaching from 6:30 till around 10. Beginning to advanced Jiu Jitsu. 

“I’m also involved with the New Undisputed in El Cajon & the San Diego Wrestling Association. Kong here and Mike Pratt. We’re developing a regional comp league to be held at local high schools. It is an alternative to privately owned grappling tournaments. Giving some of our knowledge back to the kids. Plus, who knows? Maybe we’ll be farming a future world champion or world class athlete from this league. That’s what it is all about.”

This was a great interview with a really talented guy. I would tell you to catch him on March 28th at his Shooto Fight But unless you actually fly over to Japan that just aint happenin’. You’ll just have to settle for video uploaded to Youtube by fans. Meanwhile keep an eye on this fighter. We will too.