By February 2004, he was initiated into the Pancrase stable, "GRABAKA" and studied under its founder, Sanae Kikuta. In March of that same year, he experienced a sparring match with MMA and Jiu-Jitsu legend Royce Gracie. He lost, but Ologun performed better than expected, as he was able to cut Gracie and make him bleed from his forehead. In a joke turned reality, he faced French kickboxer Cyril Abidi in K-1 Dynamite!! at the Osaka Dome on December 31, 2004. Billed as "The World's Most Dangerous Newcomer", Ologun won by three-round decision, and scored a surprise victory. This match was the only pure MMA rules bout on that night's card, giving Ologun a slight advantage due to his training and the fact that his opponent, while an accomplished kickboxer, wasn't prepared for MMA style fighting. Abidi was a last minute addition to the fight, Ologun's original opponent Mike Bernardo had to withdraw due to an injury. Additionally, there was confusion to the rule system of the bout as the captions showed it to be the general kickboxing rules but ended up as an MMA contest. Abidi was admonished for actions Ologun was doing repeatedly in the fight, such as mounted punches, which led fighting pundits to believe the fight was fixed. Abidi himself hinted the fight was fixed in a post fight interview. The Japanese media, which focused quite a bit of time on fighting events such as K-1 and PRIDE, soon dubbed Ologun Saikyō no Shirōto (The Strongest Amateur).