Earlier this year, the RTU finals from season one concluded and contracts were handed out. This weekend, at UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs The Korean Zombie in Singapore, Japan’s Rinya Nakamura becomes the first RTU winner to make his debut as a member of the UFC roster. Now he gets to pass off his advice to those competing in the season two semifinals on Sunday.
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“This is a really lucky thing to experience the UFC’s Octagon,” Nakamura said. “I experienced it three times, so I’m really used it, and that helped me relax now. Just have fun and experience it.”
In all three RTU fights, Nakamura earned first-round finishes, quickly making him a fighter that people wanted to keep their eye on. Being able to compete in Singapore once again after his first-round knockout last year in the semifinals is something that is special to Nakamura.
“This is my second time fighting in Singapore,” Nakamura said. “I am used to how to spend my time in this area. This is more relaxing than last time.”
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The 28-year-old bantamweight has a record of 7-0 and despite the success that he had on RTU, he went back to the drawing board after his victory in February in order to continue his growth as a mixed martial artist.
Part of that improvement included going down to American Top Team to train with some of the best fighters in the world. Nakamura knew that this would only hold benefits for him.
“I needed to fix every skill in order to fight with the Top 15 fighters, so I prepared striking skills, grappling skills,” Nakamura said. “I trained at American Top Team for months and I trained with super strong guys every day, so that was really amazing for me. I’ll make sure to show you guys I am much better than last time.”
His first test as a UFC fighter comes against Fernie Garcia, who won a UFC contract on season five of Dana White’s Contender Series. Garcia has yet to find a UFC win after losing his first two bouts to Journey Newson and Brady Hiestand.
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Nakamura isn’t underestimating Garcia’s power and knows he needs to stay aware of his striking throughout the entire fight. But that’s also where Nakamura feels that he will be able to capitalize.
“I think I have better speed and explosive power,” Nakamura said. “I think I am smarter than him about the fight.”
With six of his seven victories coming by way of finish, five of them in the first round, “Hybred” has his sights set on another show-stopping performance in front of the Singapore crowd. He has spent time envisioning what the path to victory could be like.
“Every time I walk into the cage, every time I am going to be a different fighter. I simulated the fight in my brain, so I have many ways to finish him, but I don’t know which way it will happen,” Nakamura said.
Even though it’ll only be his first UFC fight as a member of the roster, the sky is the limit for Nakamura after the skills he showed during season one of RTU, and that’s something he believes.
“This place is just the bottom of a huge mountain, so I need to climb to the top,” Nakamura said. “I am super excited to climb to the top.”
