Shooto Watanabe is a retired Japanese male mixed martial artist who competed in the Bantamweight division.
He entered college and stayed away from wrestling for a while, but was impressed by Masato's retirement match and decided to follow the same martial arts path as his father.
[4] He followed this up by scoring a unanimous decision victory in the semifinals against Nobuyuki Kanaizuka at ZST: SWAT!
[7] Watanabe would make his Fighting NEXUS debut 3 months following his failed title challenge for the ZST title, kicking off his NEXUS career nearly identical to his ZST debut, a rear-naked choke victory in just 85 seconds.
This win would spur on a 9-fight unbeaten streak, in which he would capture the vacant Fighting NEXUS Bantamweight Championship in December 2018, and score 2 victories under the DEEP promotion.
[8][9][10] With an impressive unbeaten streak stretching back 2 and a half years, Japan's premier MMA promotion, Rizin Fighting Federation announced that Watanabe would be facing rising prospect and UFC veteran, Naoki Inoue on August 9, 2020 at Rizin 22.
Former RIZIN Bantamweight Champion Kai Asakura chose the slot to face Watanabe.