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Yoshinari Nadaka: J-Kick’s Newest Starlet
The history of kickboxing in Japan is long and storied, and names like Tenshin Nasukawa and Takeru Segawa carry on that legacy today. There’s a new name on the J-Kick scene though that could soon be emerging as the next big thing out of the Land of the Rising Sun. He comes in the form of 5’4, 105-pound Yoshinari Nadaka. Nadaka is only 20 years old and already holds an impressive professional record of 43-5-1(Muay Thai and kickboxing combined), is on a 10 fight win streak, is the current Battle of MuayThai flyweight champion, and has 6 more Muay Thai titles to his name.
His latest masterclass came on Sunday night at RIZIN 31 in a kickboxing bout, where he made quick work of his opponent, Naoki Ishikawa. The fight was stopped 2:30 into round one after he managed to knock down Ishikawa three times, something that NadakaManiacs (unofficial name of the Yoshinari Nadaka fan club, subject to change) have grown accustomed to since he burst onto the scene.
Nadaka has made a big breakthrough in RIZIN over the past year where he’s gone 4-0 in his first four fights, ending each one by KO/TKO before the third round. In between bouts with RIZIN he’s been fighting in Battle of MuayThai (BOM), a Muay Thai promotion in Japan. In BOM he continued to stay scorching hot with three more KO/TKO’s in the first two rounds, retaining his BOM flyweight title spectacularly.
As you can see, Nadaka’s finishing ability is phenomenal and he’s hit his stride in this insane run of wins. It’s not like this is anything new to him though. Throughout his young career, Nadaka has 22 KO/TKO’s in 37 wins, equating to a 59.4% finishing rate. A percentage that points to a finishing ability that isn’t commonly seen in lighter weight classes, and especially at a weight where the maximum is 105 pounds.
How he finishes fights is further proof that Nadaka is one of the most exciting young strikers in the sport. Many fighters have a go-to weapon when it comes to finishing fights, a signature punch, kick, elbow or knee that they frequently use or set up to put opponents away. For example, Giga Chikadze has his “Giga-Kick”, or in technical terms a left-kick to the body that’s more detrimental to one’s liver than downing a bottle of Jack Daniel’s every night. Just take a look at Nadaka’s record and you’ll see a wide variety of finishes. The results in his 10-fight win streak are as follows; Decision, KO (liver kick, Round 1), KO (left high kick, Round 1), Decision, TKO (knees and Elbows, Round 2, KO (elbow, Round 2), KO (three knockdowns, Round 1), KO (left Elbow, Round 1), TKO (doctor stoppage, Round 1), KO (knee to the body, Round 1), TKO (three knockdowns, Round 1). From these stoppages, you can see that the left side of Nadaka’s body is where most of his power comes from, but just look at the diversity in finishes with punches, kicks, elbows, and knees!
I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention his trips and throws. In his fight against Yuushin at RIZIN 22, Nadaka throws his opponent all over the ring for the full duration of the bout. Seriously, go watch it on YouTube – it was like he was allergic to not throwing Yuushin on the ground.
At the age of 20 years old, Yoshinari Nadaka has plenty of time to get better. A sentence that should strike fear into any 105-pound kickboxer on the planet because he’s already damn good. You can see plenty of evidence of his ability in his fights uploaded to YouTube, check them out!
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