is a Japanese professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

. Starting her MMA career in 2006, she has participated in the organizations

Pancrase is a Japanese mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Tokyo. It was founded in 1993 by professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. The name was based on pankration, a fighting sport in the An ...

Smackgirl Smackgirl was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion focused solely on Women's mixed martial arts, female fighters. The promotion also held grappling and amateur events along with its main line of professional MMA cards. After financial difficul ...

Valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ( or ; from ) is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become ('single fighters' or 'once fighters').Orchard (1997:36) and Li ...

and the

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

. Nakai has been rated amongst top ten of Women's Flyweight and Bantamweight fighters between 2006 and 2018.

Biography

Nakai was born on October 22, 1986, in

Matsuyama 270px, Matsuyama City Hall 270px, Ehime Prefectural Capital Building is the capital city of Ehime Prefecture, on the island of Shikoku, in Japan and is also Shikoku's largest city. , the city had an estimated population of 505,948 in 243,541 h ...

Ehime Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,334,841 and a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Toku ...

. She started training in

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

at the age of three. She was ranked #5 in judo in all of Japan in

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

and #3 in

senior high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

. She graduated from Takanawadai High School (a Middle School attached to Tokai University) and later dropped out of

Teikyo University is a private university headquartered in the Itabashi, Tokyo, Itabashi ward of Tokyo, Japan. It was established in 1931 as Teikyo shogyo, Commercial High School (帝京商業高等学校). It became Teikyo University in 1966. It is part of Teik ...

Early MMA

Nakai started fighting on October 1, 2006. She defeated Asuka Ito by TKO (technical knockout), after breaking Ito's nose at ''Pancrase 2006 Blow Tour''.

Smackgirl

On May 19, 2007, she fought against Kazue Matake in her first fight for the

promotion and won the decision. On September 6, 2007, she fought against Asha Ingeneri in Smackgirl and defeated her on round one, at 1 minute 3 seconds with an armbar. On April 25, 2008, she defeated Kanako Takeshita at her final fight for the Smackgirl promotion.

Valkyrie

On December 7, 2008, she fought against WINDY Tomomi at the 4th "Pancrase-ism"-sponsored event and won by TKO with a mounted punch. Nakai had a year and two month-long gap before her next fight. On February 11, 2010, she played against Mizuho Sato at VALKYRIE 04, which was her first fight for the

VALKYRIE In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ( or ; from ) is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become ('single fighters' or 'once fighters').Orchard (1997:36) and Li ...

promotion, and won by Kimura Lock. On June 19, 2010, she fought against

Megumi Yabushita is a retired Japanese female mixed martial artist, kickboxer, professional wrestler and judoka. She has participated in several Japanese professional wrestling and mixed martial arts promotions. She is a Japanese national judo champion and a form ...

at VALKYRIE 06 and won a 3–0 decision. On September 26, 2010, she fought against Mayumi Aoki in the semi-final of the women's open-weight class first champion decision tournament of VALKYRIE 07, and won with an armbar. On November 28, 2010, she faced-off again with Mizuho Sato in the women's open-weight first championship tournament final of VALKYRIE 08. Nakai defeated Sato by Doctor Stoppage, when it was suspected that Sato had fractured of the orbital floor of her left eye. This win also earned Nakai the Valkyrie tournament win. On December 30, 2010, in the VALKYRIE-sponsored match of the "Battlefield - Soul of Fight" event held at the Ariake Coliseum, she fought Mika "HARI" Harigai and won by Keylock submission. This extended Nakai's winning streak from her debut to 10 and this achievement landed her on the front page of Tokyo Chunichi Sports the following day.

Return to Pancrase

On September 4, 2011, Nakai fought Danielle West to a split-decision draw at "Pancrase - Impressive Tour 9". On December 1, 2012, Nakai would rematch Danielle West at "Pancrase - Progress Tour 14", with Nakai this time defeating West by unanimous decision. Nakai returned to Pancrase on May 20, 2012, defeating Kyoko Kimura via submission due to an armbar at Pancrase Progress Tour 6. Nakai faced Mayumi Aoki in a rematch at ''Pancrase Progress Tour 10'' on September 1, 2012. The fight was part of the opening round of the bantamweight Queen of Pancrase tournament. Nakai defeated Aoki by TKO in the second round. On December 1, 2012, Nakai faced Danielle West in a rematch for the bantamweight Queen of Pancrase title at ''Pancrase Progress Tour 14''. She defeated West by unanimous decision to become the first bantamweight Queen of Pancrase. There was a good deal of controversy surrounding the bout however, as some journalists, and observers accused Pancrase of " fixing" the match. West came in 1 kg heavy for the fight and as a result Pancrase officials made her cut weight a second time on the day of the fight to prevent her from re-hydrating. Beyond a second weight cut they also informed her that no knees or chokes would be allowed. However officials failed to inform West that the rule would only apply to her, Nakai would have no restrictions. West was only made fully aware of this discrepancy mid-fight. Following the fight West was also informed that even if she had won the contest it would have been declared a draw or no-decision. On May 11, 2014, she fought against

Sarah D'Alelio Sarah D'Alelio (born December 13, 1980) is a professional Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. She competed in the 135-pound women's bantamweight division for Invicta Fighting Championships and has also fought for Strikeforce (mixed martial ...

in Pancrase and won the decision. She fought against Tara LaRosa in Pancrase on September 29, 2013, winning a 2–0 decision.

UFC

In 2014, Nakai made her move to the American

promotion. When Nakai began competing for the UFC, the organization did not have a women's

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing up to and including 51 kg (112 lb) for a title fight. Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of boxin ...

division (-56.7 kg), so she had to compete at

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

(-61.2 kg). Her UFC debut took place at UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Nelson on September 20, 2014. Her opponent was

Miesha Tate Miesha Theresa Tate ( ; born August 18, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist. She currently competes in the women's Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in which she is a former UFC Women's Bant ...

, who at the time was ranked second in the women's bantamweight rankings. Nakai would lose the fight by 0-3 decision and was the first loss in her MMA career. At UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Mir on March 19, 2016, she faced Leslie Smith and lost a 0–3 decision.

Post UFC

On July 24, 2016, she fought against

Emiko Raika Emiko Raika (来家恵美子, born January 24, 1975, in Kyoto, Japan) is a Japanese female professional boxer and mixed martial artist. Although more Japanese women have taken up traditionally male sports such as karate, kickboxing and wrestlin ...

279 and won by TKO with an elbow on the ground. On September 29, 2016, Nakai competed at Rizin World Grand Prix 2016: 2nd Round . She defeated the decorated female wrestler Kanako Murata via 3rd round submission (Rear Naked Choke) to improve her record to 19-2. On February 24, 2018, she made a comeback at DEEP 82 IMPACT for the first time in a year and two months. She fought against Kim Ji-young, taking the mount position and winning the TKO with a series of elbow strikes. At Deep Jewels 24, Nakai faced Kaewjai Prachumwong, defeating her via TKO stoppage in the second round. On October 22, 2019, she fought against Titapa Junsookplung (alias Diamond Rose the Rocket) at Deep Jewels 26 and defeated her with an armbar. She fought Shoko Fujita in the Deep-Jewels Flyweight Grand Prix quarterfinal bout at Deep Jewels 36 on March 12, 2022., winning by TKO. On May 8, 2022, she fought Tae Murayama in the DEEP JEWELS Flyweight Grand Prix semi-final held at Deep Jewels 37, winning by armbar in the second round. She advanced to the final on the same day, defeating Shizuka Sugiyama via armbar at the end of the first round, winning the Grand Prix, and becoming the first Deep Jewels Flyweight Champion. Nakai faced Aoi Kuriyama on February 18, 2023, at Deep Jewels 40. She won the fight by a second-round submission. Nakai was scheduled to defend her Deep Jewels Flyweight championship against Aoi Kuriyama on May 26, 2024, at Deep Jewels 45. Kuriyama withdrew due to injury, and was replace by Namiko Kawabata. She won the fight by a third-round technical submission.

Championships and accomplishments

** First VALKYRIE Open Weight Championship (2010) *

** First Bantamweight Queen of Pancrase Championship (2012) *

Fight Matrix Fight Matrix is a mixed martial arts ranking system portal. It is one of the sport's most recognized ranking websites. Software According to website, "The rankings on this site are software generated, produced by a proprietary engine (CIRRS � ...

** Highest Quarterly Ranking: 1/01/2010, #2 Women Flyweight

Mixed martial arts record

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Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

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, Decision (unanimous) , Pancrase 258 , , align=center , 3 , align=center , 5:00 ,

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Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

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Kyoko Kimura is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. Throughout her 14-year career, she competed in Big Japan Pro Wrestling, Ibuki, Ice Ribbon, JWP Joshi Puroresu, NEO Japan Ladies Pro-Wrestling and World Wonder Ring Stardom, a ...

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Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

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References

External links

Profile
at Fightergirls.com

at

*
Official blog

Official blog (old)

Professional MMA record for Rin Nakai
at Sherdog {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakai, Rin 1986 births Japanese female mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Ultimate Fighting Championship female fighters Living people Sportspeople from Matsuyama, Ehime Martial artists from Ehime Prefecture 21st-century Japanese sportswomen