Rin Nakai and Syuri returned at PANCRASE 279 Sunday at Differ Ariake. The show aired on UFC Fight Pass so I did watch the fights. Rin Nakai returns to PANCRASE after her two fight stint in the UFC. She plans to fight at Flyweight and what a lot of fans don't know is she began her fight career at Flyweight. There has been talk that she might try Strawweight but I doubt she can make 115. Her opponent here is Emiko Raika who retired from boxing and then decided to try MMA. She is now 40 years old. I've seen her before. She should have stayed retired. So this is really just a workout for Rin. But then we see the same problems Rin had in the UFC and long before that. She just isn't aggressive at the start of fights to the point where the ref tells both fighters to step it up. This is exactly why Rin lost in the UFC. Once Rin gets going, she is beating Raika easily. Unfortunately, the TKO stoppage was terrible. It was way too soon. Rin would have won anyway so she didn't need the ref's help. I didn't see anything new from Rin. She has skills especially on the ground. But this problem she has at the start of fights is easy to fix. I don't know why her trainer Wild Usami hasn't done that. And part of her problem is she trains in very primitive conditions and she can't even get sparring partners because of where she lives. As a result, Rin Nakai has regressed. In the other women's fight, veteran pro wrestler and kickboxing champ Syuri picked up her second win over 19 year old Brazilian Nicolle Caliari. This was a lot better than Syuri's first fight as it was set for three five minute rounds. So we got a better idea of where Syuri is in her MMA development. I thought she looked good. When Nicolle couldn't compete with Syuri standing, she took it to the fence and she couldn't compete with her on the ground either. A lot of the fight was on the fence even when it was on the ground. So it was going to be tough for Syuri to get a finish. But she got an easy unanimous decision win. Maybe next time PANCRASE will bring in someone more experienced. Nicolle was brought in for her looks and Syuri even mentioned that in her post match interview. Her goal is to get to the UFC and I think she has a good shot.
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