Kikuta had his MMA debut for the first tournament hosted in 1996 by Lumax Cup, which featured the use of
keikogi. Kikuta won after beating
Egan Inoue and
Masanori Suda. He then went to compete in the Vale Tudo Japan event, but was defeated by Mushtaq Abdullah by forearm choke. After returning to Lumax Cup, he won the 1997 tournament, too, defeating Suda again.
PRIDE Fighting Championships Kikuta made his worldwide MMA debut for the
PRIDE promotion at its second event, where he faced
Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert
Renzo Gracie in a special rules match. The fight turned out to be a slow, methodical bout which lasted six fifteen minutes rounds, whose end saw Renzo submitting Kikuta via
guillotine choke at the sixth one. Kikuta returned to PRIDE to face
Takada Dojo understudy
Daijiro Matsui. Again, the fight was a technical battle, ending with a draw after none of the fighters could finish the other. At PRIDE 20, Kikuta fought
Alexander Otsuka. This time the fight was a controversial one, with Otsuka throwing several knees to the groin which weren't penalized. Despite so, Sanae controlled the match with dominant positions and soccer kicks, and won by unanimous decision. At UFO Legend, Kikuta fought PRIDE competitor
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. The two grappling specialists exchanged assaults on the ground, with the Brazilian taking down Kikuta and attacking his
half guard before the Japanese capitalized on a failed
calf slicer to switch positions. Kikuta pressed from the top, but Nogueira regained full guard and scrambled to switch positions again, where the Japanese defended again from half guard. At the second round, Kikuta looked to take the match to the ground again, but it took a sudden twist when Nogueira landed a surprising right hook, knocking Sanae out completely. Nogueira was declared the winner. Sanae fought again for PRIDE in the event Shockwave 2005, taking on
Makoto Takimoto, judo gold medalist and apprentice to
Hidehiko Yoshida. Kikuta opened the fight pulling guard, after which the two judoka traded positions and submission attempts with Sanae coming over in most of them. Having maintained the advantage for all of the three rounds both standing and on the ground, Kikuta was given the unanimous decision win.
Pancrase After a single match for
Shooto, Kikuta joined the
Pancrase fighting organization in April 1994. He scored big victories over veterans
Minoru Suzuki and
Ryushi Yanagisawa, and shortly after he founded the Grabaka team along with
Genki Sudo, Eiji Ishikawa and Hiroo Matsunaga. Kikuta also participated in the
ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in April 2001 and won its 88 kg class. In September 2001 he won the title of Pancrase Light Heavyweight Champion. He currently runs the
Grabaka gym in
Nakano, Tokyo, which trains fighters such as
Kazunori Yokota,
Akihiro Gono, and formerly
Genki Sudo, and
Kazuo Misaki.
Ultimate Fighting Championship In his sole apparition for
Ultimate Fighting Championship, Kikuta took part in the event
Ultimate Japan III in April 2000. He defeated
Eugene Jackson in dominant fashion, taking him down and locking an armbar for the submission.
World Victory Road On January 4, 2009, at
World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku Rebellion 2009, Kikuta faced fellow judoka
Hidehiko Yoshida. The bout started characteristically slow, with Kikuta taking Yoshida down and tentatively exchanging strikes with him. At the second round, Kikuta opted for pulling guard and pursuing an
ankle lock, but Yoshida remained on top and landed several punches through his guard. Afterwards, however, Kikuta reversed and got the mount, unloading ground and pound until the end of the round. The third round saw Yoshida stunning Kikuta with a punch and scoring a judo throw, but Sanae took his back and kept striking on him for the rest of the match, eventually winning the decision. ==Championships and accomplishments==