Yujiro Kushida, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
Yujiro Kushida (櫛田 雄二郎, Kushida Yūjirō, born May 12, 1983) is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Kushida and is a former one-time NXT Cruiserweight Champion.
He is best known for his nine year tenure in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former six-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and a two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion (with Time Splitters teammate Alex Shelley). He was the winner of the 2015 and 2017 Best of the Super Juniors tournaments, the 2016 Super J-Cup, and the 2017 Pro Wrestling World Cup, a tournament co-promoted by NJPW with What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW) and Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro). Kushida previously made appearances for NJPW's American partner Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former ROH World Television Champion.
Kushida began training for a mixed martial arts (MMA) career at Nobuhiko Takada's Takada Dojo while in junior high school. He made his professional MMA debut in 2003 for the ZST promotion, winning the following year's ZST Genesis Lightweight Tournament. In 2005, he retired from MMA, ending his career with an undefeated record.