Nakahara vs Shirakawa

Who won Nakahara vs Shirakawa?

Yoshiki Nakahara beat Rikuto Shirakawa by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest during the main card of RIZIN 44, on Sunday 24th September 2023 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner Yoshiki Nakahara.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Nakahara vs Shirakawa division, which meant the weight limit was pounds (0 stone or 0 KG).

Nakahara vs Shirakawa stats

Yoshiki Nakahara stepped into the octagon with a record of 17 wins, 6 losses and 0 draws, 8 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 1 by submission.

Rikuto Shirakawa made his way to the cage with a record of 8 wins, 7 losses and 1 draw, 3 of those wins coming by knock out.

This was Yoshiki Nakahara's 5th fight in Rizin, having made his debut for the promotion in 2022.

Yoshiki Nakahara's Rizin record stood at 3-2-0, while Rikuto Shirakawa's came in at 3-3-0.

The stats suggested Nakahara had a slight advantage in power over Shirakawa, with a 47% knock out percentage over Shirakawa's 38%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Nakahara had a slight advantage over Shirakawa, with a 6% submission rate over Shirakawa's 0%.

Yoshiki Nakahara was the younger man by 1 year, at 31 years old.

Shirakawa had a height advantage of 1 inch over Nakahara.

Nakahara was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 7 more fights, and made his debut in 2012, 2 years and 10 months earlier than Shirakawa, whose first professional fight was in 2015. He had fought 10 more professional rounds, 53 to Shirakawa's 43.

Nakahara vs Shirakawa form

Nakahara had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 2 of them, going to the judges twice.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Chihiro Suzuki at RIZIN 40 on 31st December 2022 by knockout in the 1st round at Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan.

Previous to that, he had won against Akira Haraguchi at RIZIN 39 on 23rd October 2022 by knockout in the 1st round at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A, Fukuoka.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Tetsuya Seki at RIZIN 37 on 31st July 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Saitama Super Arena, Saitama.

Before that, he had defeated Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg at ONE on TNT 2 on 14th April 2021 by unanimous decision in the 2nd round at Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore.

He was victorious against Ruslan Emilbek at ONE Championship – Fists of Fury 2 on 5th March 2021 by knockout in the 1st round at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Activity check

Nakahara's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 2 months and 12 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 7 months and 21 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 8 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 1.6 rounds on average.

Shirakawa's last 4 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 9 months and 8 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 11 months and 10 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 10 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.5 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Nakahara vs Shirakawa?

Yoshiki Nakahara was a 2/9 (-430) favourite going into the contest, while Rikuto Shirakawa made his way into the ring at 31/10 (+300) with oddsmakers.