Over the first half of the 2000s Norifumi ‘Kid’ Yamamoto was unquestionably one of the greatest talents in MMA. Standing just 5’ 4”, he blitzed the K-1 Heroes 165lb Middleweight Grand Prix, defeating Royler Gracie, Caol Uno, and Genki Sudo all by KO. His knockout of Kazuyuki Miyata, via flying knee just four seconds into round 1, is one of the fastest in MMA history.
On Sunday, August 26th, however, the 41 year old founder of Japan’s Krazy Bee Fight Team revealed that he’s been diagnosed with cancer. Yamamoto announced the news in a short post on Instagram.