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 2 years, 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.

Activity check

Shirakawa's last 4 fights had come over a period of 4 years, 1 month and 2 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year and 8 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.