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Rin Nakai
Nakai lost to Leslie Smith via unanimous decision (27-30, 28-29, 28-29) at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Brisbane, Australia.
ANALYSIS
It was Nakai's second UFC fight and her first in 18 months, despite the fact that she was healthy for that entire period of time. It was reported earlier Saturday that Nakai had turned down so many potential fights during her absence that the UFC was considering releasing her. It was also reported that Nakai elected to sign a two-fight deal with the company instead of a four-fight deal and as a result, she is now a free agent. Given her performance on Saturday, it's possible the UFC will have zero interest in resigning her. Nakai is very strong and a good grappler, but she is too short to win any striking exchanges and her only way to wins fights is boring judge's decisions. She connected on just three of 13 takedown attempts against Smith.
It was Nakai's second UFC fight and her first in 18 months, despite the fact that she was healthy for that entire period of time. It was reported earlier Saturday that Nakai had turned down so many potential fights during her absence that the UFC was considering releasing her. It was also reported that Nakai elected to sign a two-fight deal with the company instead of a four-fight deal and as a result, she is now a free agent. Given her performance on Saturday, it's possible the UFC will have zero interest in resigning her. Nakai is very strong and a good grappler, but she is too short to win any striking exchanges and her only way to wins fights is boring judge's decisions. She connected on just three of 13 takedown attempts against Smith.