The year he turned 23, Yoshihiro Akiyama, then competing under his Korean name Choo Sung-hoon, joined the Busan City Hall judo team and began his career in Korea. In December 2000, he won the 81 kg division at the Korea Open. In 2001, he wore the national team emblem for the first time and won the Asian Judo Championships. He naturalized in Japan that October.
In 2002, competing for Japan, he beat South Korea’s Ahn Dong-jin in the final of the judo 81 kg division at the Busan Asian Games and won gold. In 2003, he reached the semifinals at the World Judo Championships. In 2004, he announced his retirement from judo and move to mixed martial arts, and won his debut at K-1 Dynamite on Dec. 31.
In 2005, he was knocked out at Hero’s. In 2006, he won the K-1 Hero’s light heavyweight tournament. That December he was disqualified for fighting with skin cream on his body and suspended indefinitely. In 2007, he beat Denis Kang by round-1 KO in Seoul.
The breakthrough yearThe year he turned 33, in February, he appeared on MBC’s The Knee-Drop Guru. Herald Muse wrote that a Choo Sung-hoon craze was sensed right after the broadcast. In March he recorded a track for an album, and in September he fought at Dream 6.
In 2009, he signed with the UFC and won his UFC 100 debut by decision in July. In October he held a wedding ceremony with Shiho Yano. In 2011, a daughter was born. In 2012, he lost by decision at UFC 144, his fourth straight UFC loss.
In 2013, he appeared in the pilot of KBS2’s The Return of Superman and joined the regular series in November. In 2019, he returned after three years and seven months at ONE Championship in Shanghai but lost by decision. In February 2020, he beat Sherif Mohamed by KO. In 2022, he beat Shinya Aoki by round-2 TKO in Singapore.
In 2023, he appeared in Netflix’s Physical: 100. In 2024, he appeared as captain of the physical team in TV CHOSUN’s Saengjonwang: Bujokjeonjaeng. In 2025, he appeared in SBS’s Hantang Project – My Turn and launched the sake Aki Green in December. In 2026, he began tvN’s Chaganae.
Yoshihiro Akiyama, known in Korea as Choo Sung-hoon (born Jul 29, 1975), joined the Busan City Hall judo team on Apr 1998, the year he turned 23, beginning his career in Korea. He became known on Feb 27, 2008, the year he turned 33, when he appeared on MBC’s The Knee-Drop Guru. His Busan Asian Games gold, won for Japan, came in 2002, the year he turned 27.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
Choo Sung-hoon, born in Osaka, Japan, trained in judo at Kinki University before coming to Korea and joining the Busan City Hall judo team.
Source 01 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Zainichi Korean who gave Japan a judo gold · opens in a new tab Only the month, April, was confirmed in news reports, not the day.Beat a Chinese competitor in the final of the event held at Olympic Park. In the semifinal he won by ippon over the Sydney Olympics silver medalist Jo In-chul.
Source 02 · Kukmin Ilbo (Korean) · 2000 Korea Open judo · opens in a new tab Kukmin Ilbo gave the time of the final as 10 seconds and Dong-A Ilbo as 18 seconds, so it is not used in the text.Listed in the second squad at 81 kg in the national team list announced by the Korea Judo Association, and wore the Taegukgi emblem for the first time.
Source 03 · Dong-A Ilbo (Korean) · The national team emblem he dreamed of · opens in a new tabWon the event held in Mongolia. It was his first international gold as a national team member.
Source 04 · Dong-A Ilbo (Korean) · Asian Judo Championships · opens in a new tab Only that the event began on the 14th was confirmed in news reports, not the date of the final.Naturalized in Japan after competing for Korea’s national team, taking the Japanese name Yoshihiro Akiyama.
Source 01 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Zainichi Korean who gave Japan a judo gold · opens in a new tabSource 07 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Ethnic Koreans of different nationalities at the Judo World Championships · opens in a new tab OSEN gave the timing as September 2001. The day was not confirmed. The reason for the naturalization is described differently across articles and is not given.Beat the world champion Jo In-chul by yuko in the final and won the gold medal.
Source 05 · Kukmin Ilbo (Korean) · 2001 National Sports Festival · opens in a new tabSource 06 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · National Sports Festival results for the 11th · opens in a new tabCompeting for Japan, he beat South Korea’s Ahn Dong-jin by decision in the final.
Source 01 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Zainichi Korean who gave Japan a judo gold · opens in a new tabReached the semifinals at the World Judo Championships, competing for Japan.
Source 09 · Mydaily (Korean) · K-1 match against Musashi · opens in a new tab Based on Mydaily’s account; the date of the event and the details of the result were not confirmed.FEG, which runs K-1, made the official announcement in Tokyo. He had stepped away from competition just before the Athens Olympics in August.
Source 08 · OSEN (Korean) · Transforms into a K-1 fighter · opens in a new tabSource 09 · Mydaily (Korean) · K-1 match against Musashi · opens in a new tabBeat Francois Botha by armbar submission 1 minute 54 seconds into round 1 at Osaka Dome.
Source 10 · OSEN (Korean) · Winning debut · opens in a new tabWas knocked out by a knee in round 1 of the event at Saitama Super Arena.
Source 11 · Mydaily (Korean) · Kim Min-soo and Choo Sung-hoon lose by round-1 KO · opens in a new tabBeat Melvin Manhoef with a round-1 armbar at Yokohama Arena. The Herald Business wrote that he won the championship belt with a 9-1 record less than two years after his debut.
Source 12 · Mydaily (Korean) · Hero’s light heavyweight champion · opens in a new tabSource 13 · The Herald Business (Korean) · Becomes Hero’s champion · opens in a new tabIt came out that he had fought with skin cream on his body, and he was disqualified and suspended indefinitely. He says he will carry this for the rest of his life.
Source 14 · Nocut News (Korean) · KO win over Denis Kang · opens in a new tab Based on Nocut News’s Oct. 28, 2007 article. The date of the fight and the organizer’s original announcement were not confirmed.Won by round-1 KO over Denis Kang in the main event at Jangchung Gymnasium in Seoul. It was his comeback fight, ten months after the suspension.
Source 14 · Nocut News (Korean) · KO win over Denis Kang · opens in a new tabTalked about his experiences as an ethnic Korean in Japan, and Herald Muse wrote that a Choo Sung-hoon craze was sensed right after the broadcast. A song he sang on the show led to his taking part in an album.
Recorded a new arrangement of Park Sang-min’s “Hana-ui Sarang.” The full fee was to be donated to a social welfare foundation.
Source 19 · Kyunghyang Shinmun (Korean) · Surprise singing debut · opens in a new tabBeat Masanori Tonooka at the mixed martial arts event at Saitama Super Arena.
Source 18 · Weekly Donga (Korean) · How Choo Sung-hoon lives as a tough guy · opens in a new tabThe UFC announced the signing on its website. It was a move away from K-1.
Source 20 · OSEN (Korean) · Leaves K-1 for the UFC · opens in a new tabBeat Alan Belcher by split decision (2-1) in Las Vegas. He came out in trunks bearing the Taegukgi and the Hinomaru side by side.
Source 21 · Sports Kyunghyang (Korean) · Winning UFC debut · opens in a new tab The date is in Korean time.Married the Japanese top model Shiho Yano in a ceremony at a hotel in Japan.
Source 22 · SBS (Korean) · Wedding · opens in a new tabSource 23 · Kangwon Ilbo (Korean) · Wedding with Shiho Yano · opens in a new tab SBS gave the marriage registration as January and Mydaily as March, so it is not used in the text.A daughter was born.
Source 24 · Star News (Korean) · Birth of a daughter · opens in a new tabFought a welterweight bout at Saitama Super Arena, his fourth straight UFC loss.
Source 25 · Hankyung (Korean) · UFC 144 decision loss · opens in a new tabAppeared looking after his daughter for two days while his wife was on a trip.
Source 26 · Xports News (Korean) · The Return of Superman pilot · opens in a new tabAppeared in the regular series after the pilot.
Source 27 · TV Daily (Korean) · Joins the regular series · opens in a new tabLost 0-3 by decision to Agilan Thani in Shanghai. It was his return after three years and seven months and his ONE Championship debut.
Source 28 · Hankyung (Korean) · Comeback after three years and seven months · opens in a new tabKnocked out Sherif Mohamed with punches 3 minutes 4 seconds into round 1.
Source 29 · Sports Seoul (Korean) · Lightweight bout with Pola Yang · opens in a new tabSource 30 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Round-2 TKO win over Aoki · opens in a new tab Only the month, February, was confirmed in news reports, not the day.Fought a lightweight bout in Singapore, his first fight in two years and one month, since February 2020.
Source 30 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Round-2 TKO win over Aoki · opens in a new tabAppeared as one of the 100 contestants. It ranked No. 1 on Netflix’s South Korea Top 10 series chart in its first week.
Source 31 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Netflix’s Physical: 100 · opens in a new tabAs captain of the physical team, competed to survive for 10 days in the Sabah jungle in Malaysia with Kim Dong-hyun and Park Ha-yan.
Source 32 · OSEN (Korean) · Saengjonwang: Bujokjeonjaeng first broadcast · opens in a new tabA fake reality show in which he appeared with Lee Kyung-kyu, Tak Jae-hoon, Lee Su-ji and others.
Source 33 · bnt News (Korean) · Hantang Project – My Turn · opens in a new tab The date is from the scheduling notice in a pre-broadcast article (July 31, 2025).The first batch of 40,000 bottles sold out, and 20,000 more were brought in on Jan. 16, 2026.
Source 34 · Newsis (Korean) · Aki Green sells out · opens in a new tab Only mid-December, as given by Newsis, was confirmed for the launch, not the day.A variety show in which he and the actor Cha Seung-won travel around Asia in search of spicy food.
Source 35 · TV Report (Korean) · Chaganae · opens in a new tabEND OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 1998–2026 · not a complete list of work. “Key moment” is an editorial label, not a measure of success.
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Sports · Japan
Jul 29, 1975 —
Ages are counted from the birth year 1975: the year of the event minus 1975, birthdays aside. “Key moment” labels and the connecting story are AgeTrail's editorial reading.
Fact-checked: 2026.09.30 · An independent archive, not affiliated with the person or their agency.