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| Rin Nakai |
So you see all these year end lists with a fighter of the year and they open it up to fan voting. But here at the Big Bad Blog, I usually go in a different direction. And there's only one vote around here that counts and that's mine. This ain't a democracy. And there was one fighter that wasn't on any of these polls and the truth is there is only one female fighter in the world who went 5-0 in 2010 and snagged a championship. And that fighter is Rin Nakai. The Beautiful Backflip Woman is the Big Bad Blog 2010 Fighter Of The Year. And Rin accomplished that 5-0 in a very convincing fashion. She was born Oct. 22, 1986 in Matsuyama, Japan. That is the capital city on the island of Shikoku. Population is 500, 000. That's a long way from Tokyo. She still lives there and trains at Shooto Shikoku. She trained in judo and gymnastics and competed in both as a child. She was ranked #3 in judo in all of Japan when she was in high school. Rin made her MMA debut on the Oct. 1, 2006 Pamcrase show in Osaka with a TKO win over Asuka Ito. She broke Ito's nose. Rin is 5'1" tall and for the first part of her career, she fought at 125lb. After a win over WINDY Tomomi in Dec. 2008 gave her a 5-0 record, Rin decided to move up to 135lb. by hitting the gym and pumping enough iron to turn her into a pint size powerhouse. She returned on the Feb. 10 VALKYRIE show with a submission win over Mizuho Sato. After a win over Megumi Yabushita on the June 19 VALKYRIE show, Rin entered the VALKYRIE Open Weight tournament. She won her semi final with a submission win over Super Benkei. And she won the title over Mizuho Sato via TKO when she broke Sato's orbital bone. And last week, she finished the year with a win over HARI on the big Sengoku show. And after each victory, Rin backflips across the ring. One of the Japanese bloggers called it air dancing. So obviously Rin Nakai is a great fighter and a premiere athlete. Her preferred fighting weight is 135lb but in her match against Super Benkei, she weighed 145lb. Remember it was an open weight tournament and Super Benkei normally fights at 145. She went back to 135 for the Sato fight and weighed 139 for the HARI fight because HARI is a heavier fighter too. Rin could be tough to beat because of her well rounded skills. She is very quick on the ground and has excellent punching power. And her legs are so thick, she is hard to take down. She has a low center of gravity. She may be short but very powerful. Rin's sense of showmanship and her willingness to do sexy photo shoots are quickly making her a celebrity in Japan. Given the opportunity, she could be a star here too. Then maybe you'll see her on those year end popularity contests.
After this wonderful year, she only fought once in 18 months before picking up her career again well into 2012. I love Rin. She's a total one off. She's fascinating, compelling and complex, a great fighter and great entertainer but her fighting career seems to have stalled since 2010.
ReplyDeleteShe's certainly not fulfilled her amazing potential and she's now 26.
Hopefully in 2013 we'll see something special from her but at the moment, I'm not so sure.
The problem was VALKYRIE's parent company GCM went bankrupt at the end of 2010. And Rin didn't want to work for JEWELS because of their limited MMA rules. So it just took time for her to find a new home. PANCRASE only became a real option earlier this year when Sakai bought the company. He's loaded. He even got her to move to Tokyo. So I expect Rin to be more active in 2013.
ReplyDeleteHopefully Rin will be more active. It looks like she's in Japan to stay which means that we're unlikely to see her facing the really top fighters though.
DeleteI thought her recent performance against Dani West was cynical in that she ran away for 3 rounds but wrestled Dani down for long enough in the first 2 without attempting much on the floor knowing this would be enough for the judges in Japan. She wouldn't have got away with those tactics elsewhere. It was definitely a plan of somebody's making. She didn't look good though.
What's your honest opinion of Rin?
Do you think she's good enough to mix it with the best and if so, at what weight?
I'll be honest, I can't make my mind up. Maybe at 125lbs she could but I think at 135 or above she'd have problems.
Someone like Nunes would probably rearrange her face and if she couldn't submit Dani West in 2 fights, then there's no way she could submit Ronda Rousey, an Olympic judoka and current superstar. I may be wrong but I'd be interested to know what you think.
She is under contract to PANCRASE and they will bring in gaijin fighters to fight her. There isn't much competition in Japan in her weight class. Her height is always going to be an issue at 135 but Rin is an elite fighter. What she has in common with other elite fighters like Megumi Fujii and Ronda Rousey is she was an athlete as a child. I think the fight vs West was odd because West missed weight and that dictated Rin's strategy. She's very quick on the ground and she has punching power. Two of her fights have ended by injury stoppage. In this fight, I would have like to seen some ground and pound from her. That could have got her a finish.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your comments and find them interesting. Although Dani West was unprofessional being above weight, Pancrase treated her badly and hopefully, this doesn't make it difficult for them to attract top gaijins.
ReplyDeleteRin is an exceptional national athlete and given her achievements as a child in gymnastics and judo must have extraordinary ginetics but her performances against Dani West have given me doubts as to whether or not she can really make it to the top as a 135lb fighter.
The likes of Ronda Rousey and others may be a step too far. I'd love to be wrong because I think there is something special about Rin - something I almost can't put my finger on. She's certainly a beautiful woman, exceptional athlete, great fighter and great entertainer but she's definitely a complex character.
I can't wait to see what she does next.