Hirotaka Nakada survived some early adversity to beat Ryo Asami by decision in a catchweight contest at Pancrase 323. He was badly cut in the opening round but rallied to win the last two rounds.
Asami landed a solid right in the opening round that opened up a cut underneath his opponent’s left eye. The referee paused the contest so the doctor could take a look but Nakada was able to continue.
Asami continued to push the pace, ducking under an elbow attempt from Nakada to take him down. His opponent eventually worked his way up as they finished the round clinching against the cage.
Keizuke Takazawa / Fightgraph
Close contest
In the second round it was Nakada who pushed the pace, landing punches to the head and body. Asami countered with a single leg attempt but could not take him down.
He eventually secured a double leg takedown but could not capitalize with any strikes or submission attempts from Nakada’s guard. Both men looked tired but in a close contest the third round was alwayy likely to prove decisive.
It was Nakada who seized the initiative firing a straight right hand through the guard of his southpaw opponent. Asami countered with some low kicks, one of which swept the 25 year old off his feet.
Keizuke Takazawa / Fightgraph
Nervous wait
Asami secured a single leg takedown which he eventually completed but again Nakada was able to escape and stand back up. He then scored with some punches in the final exchanges.
It was a nervous wait for both men but all three judges favoured the striking of Nakada over the cage control of Asami with the scorecards all reading 29-28. The winner improves to 4-1 while the loser drops to 10-12.
Pancrase 323, Tokyo, September 11th
Hirotaka Nakada def. Ryo Asami via Decision (Unanimous)
Ryo Kawamura def. Yuji Arai via KO (Knee) at 3:03 of R1
Kazuki Kasai def. Genpei Hayash via Decision (Unanimous)
Yusaku Kinoshita def. Kenta Takagivia via Submission (Ninja Choke) at 1:39 of R1
Shinsuke Kamei def. Kisa Miyake via Decision (Split)
Tatsuhiko Iwamoto def. Raiki Endo via Submission (Anaconda choke) at 2:47 of R2
Toshinori Tsunemura def. Joji Hirata via Decision (Unanimous)
Satoru Date def. Kohei Kiriyama via TKO (Punches) at 1:19 of R2
Yura Naito def. Takuma Watabe via Submission (Armbar) at 1:11 of R1
