Kunimoto vs Nakamura

Who won Kunimoto vs Nakamura?

Keita Nakamura beat Kiichi Kunimoto by during the main card of RIZIN 41, on Saturday 1st April 2023 at Maruzen Intec Arena Osaka in Osaka.

The scorecards were announced as in favor of winner Keita Nakamura.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Welterweight division, which meant the weight limit was 170 pounds (12.1 stone or 77.1 KG).

Kunimoto vs Nakamura stats

Kiichi Kunimoto stepped into the octagon with a record of 20 wins, 9 loses and 2 draws, 2 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 10 by submission.

Keita Nakamura made his way to the cage with a record of 35 wins, 11 loses and 2 draws, with 8 of those wins by knock out and 16 by submission.

The stats suggested Nakamura had an advantage in power over Kunimoto, with a 23% knock out percentage over Kunimoto's 10%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Kunimoto had a slight advantage over Nakamura, with a 50% submission rate over Nakamura's 46%.

Kiichi Kunimoto was the older man by 3 years, at 42 years old.

Nakamura had a height advantage of 1 inch over Kunimoto. Despite this, both fighters had equal reach.

Kunimoto was the less experienced professional fighter, having had 17 fewer fights, and made his debut in 2006, 2 year and 5 months later than Nakamura, whose first professional fight was in 2003. He had fought 29 less professional rounds, 65 to Nakamura's 94.

Kunimoto vs Nakamura form

Kiichi Kunimoto had beaten 2 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight before this contest, he had lost to Daichi Abe at RIZIN 34 on 20th March 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Maruzen Intec Arena Osaka, Osaka, Japan.

Previous to that, he had beat Takahiro Kawanaka at RIZIN Trigger 1st on 28th November 2021 by unanimous decision in the 1st round at Kobe World Memorial Hall, Kobe.

Going into that contest, he had been beaten by Jason Jackson at Bellator 236 on 21st December 2019 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Neal S. Blaisdell Center, Honolulu, United States.

Before that, he had lost to Ed Ruth at Bellator 224 on 12th July 2019 by knockout in the 2nd round at WinStar World Casino, Thackerville.

He had won against Ryuichiro Sumimura at RIZIN 12 on 12th August 2018 by knockout in the 1st round at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Nagoya, Japan.

Activity check

Kunimoto's last 5 fights had come over a period of 5 years, 1 month and 14 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year and 9 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 10 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Kunimoto vs Nakamura?

Kiichi Kunimoto was a 5/4 (+130) underdog going into the contest, while Keita Nakamura made his way into the ring at 8/13 (-160) with oddsmakers.