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Toby Imada is a retired American mixed martial artist who competed professionally from 1998 to 2013. In the course of his extensive career, which spanned 49 fights, he fought under the banners of various promotions.
Across his career, Imada amassed an impressive record of 30-18-1. Out of his 30 wins, one victory was an incredibly impressive performance on the ground against the upcoming challenger for the UFC welterweight championship, Jorge Masvidal.
Toby Imada and Jorge Masvidal locked horns back in May 2009. Fighting for the Bellator MMA promotion, they faced each other in the Semi-Finals of Bellator's Season One Lightweight Tournament at Bellator 5.
The bout between Toby Imada and Jorge Masvidal was back and forth, with the former successfully keeping the pressure on 'Gamebred'. In the third round, Masvidal picked up Toby Imada and held him upside down behind his back. Imada showed brilliant fight IQ by utilizing his absurd position to execute an unpredictable submission. It was truly astonishing.
He wrapped his legs around Jorge Masvidal's neck in a triangle, paving the way for an inverse triangle choke submission. The move rendered Jorge Masvidal unconscious on the ground.
The sheer brilliance of his submission move helped Imada earn the Submission of the Year award from various MMA media house magazines in 2009. It went down as one of the greatest moments in MMA history.
Masvidal and Imada were scheduled to fight again in a rematch during season 2 of Bellator MMA. However, the fight failed to materialize, much to Jorge Masvidal's dismay.
In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Jorge Masvidal revealed that he had been campaigning for a rematch against Toby Imada ever since he lost, but he was released by Bellator MMA before the fight ever took place.
Did Toby Imada and Jorge Masvidal ever compete in the UFC?
Toby Imada was never a part of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Nevertheless, he competed in many of the best MMA promotions at the time, including Kage Kombat, IFC, Extreme Challenge, King of the Cage, and of course, Bellator MMA.
In addition to MMA, Imada also competed as a professional kickboxer and garnered a record of 5-3-0. In his last fight, he faced Hiroyuki Takaya in the Japanese promotion Shoot Boxing in November 2013. The two went the full distance of three five-minute rounds and the bout was declared a draw by the judges.
