Yasuomi Soda (左右田 泰臣, Sōda Yasuomi) is a Japanese kickboxer fighting out of the Silver Wolf Gym, the same gym of the legendary kickboxer Masato. He was the RISE kickboxing Super Lightweight champion, winning his title against Japanese kickboxer Koji Yoshimoto.[1]
Soda made his debut in 2009, when he participated in the RISE 59 RISING ROOKIES CUP. He won the tournament with victories over Ryuji Yamaguchi, Ishitsukasa Koichi and Atsushi Hori.[4]
Soda then went on to win his next eight fights, winning three of them by stoppage. His eleven fight winning streak earned him the chance to challenge Koji Yoshimoto for the RISE Super Lightweight title.[5][6] He suffered the first professional loss of his career, as Yoshimoto won the fight by unanimous decision.[7]
Soda bounced back with a TKO of Kim Dong-soo and a decision win over Komiya Yukihiro, which gave the chance the fight a rematch with Koji Yoshimoto.[8] Soda won the fight, and title, by majority decision.[9]
After winning his next two fights, Soda participated in the 2014 K-1 Super Lightweight Grand Prix. In the quarterfinals, he scored a second round TKO over Minoru Kimura. In the semifinals, he won a decision against Hiroya. In the finals, he fought Kaew Fairtex, and lost a majority decision.[12]
Krush title fights
Following this loss, Soda went on a 3-3 run, which included a win over Yuta Kubo and a second loss to Kaew Fairtex.[13] In August 2017, during Krush 78, Soda fought Jun Nakazawa for the Krush Super Lightweight title.[14] The fight went into an extra round, after which Nakazawa won a split decision.[15]
Soda participated in the 2018 K-1 Super Lightweight Grand Prix. He defeated Mo Abdurahman by a fourth round KO, but lost to Kaew Fairtex by an extra round decision in the semifinals.[16]
During Krush 104, Soda once again fought for the Krush Super Lightweight title, this time against Hayato Suzuki. The fight went into an extra round, after which Suzuki won a unanimous decision.[17]
