Ken Yasuda

Ken Yasuda (born May 2, 1971 in Kyoto, Japan) was a Japanese professional bodybuilder. He was formerly a mixed martial arts head coach for the Tokyo Sabres of the International Fight League. Yasuda died suddenly on August 6, 2023 at 52 years old. Biography Yasuda was born in the Japanese city of Kyoto to a family that boasts 46 generations of samurai warriors. As a child Yasuda dreamed of becoming a pro baseball player, and was drafted as a pitcher by a major league team after high school. Yasuda chose instead to play baseball at the University of Southern California, where he developed a love of weight lifting and physical conditioning from fellow USC alum Mark McGwire. An injury to his pitching arm eventually forced Yasuda to abandon his dreams of pitching in the major leagues. Yasuda then became involved in bodybuilding. He resides in Los Angeles, California. Baseball Because he grew up in Japan, Yasuda was an avid baseball player. Despite being drafted by a major league team, he chose to earn a college degree at the University of Southern California and play baseball there . Always considered to be too short to pitch in the U.S., Yasuda began to weight train to increase his strength. It was during this time that Yasuda met baseball great Mark McGwire and began training with him. While at USC, Yasuda got a ligament injury to his pitching arm and could no longer play. Bodybuilding After his arm injury, Yasuda focused full-time on his new passion, bodybuilding. He soon became the first Japanese man to become a Musclemania Professional Bodybuilder after taking Mr. Japan Title in his first Mr. Japan competition. He has always been a finalist in top bodybuilding competitions like Excalibur and Superbody World Championships, Mr. World Championships and Musclemania Professional World Championships. While competing he has beaten the current Mr. Universe, Mr. USA, and Mr. France.