How much potential does Kanako Murata have?

[grilledcheese]

Honestly I thought she looked amazing. Her first pro fight, zero amateur experience. Her standup was okay but she already looked more comfortable than McMann looks after 6 years of MMA. Kanako passed well and tried 3 or 4 different submissions. Most people would have tapped to that shoulder lock she had in the first round.

Her take-downs were on point and she went 3 rnds without gassing.

I know Im biased but she already looks world lvl for mma without even training full time. During this whole time she is still training for the Olympics.

She also just started training MMA in Sept. 2015 I think.

 

[kingcillo24]

Probably good enough to be on this season of tuf

 

[chamcham]

I was impressed with her first fight at Rizin.
I hope someone can help her with striking.

Kanako already fought at King of the Cage (KOTC) Firefight this year.
So she's definitely open to fighting in America.
I'd like to see her in Invicta. Maybe a UFC Japan fight card once she has more experience.



Overall, I think Kanako did much better in her RIZIN debut than RENA. RENA won by flying armbar, but her opponent was clearly outstriking her. Also, whenever RENA took her opponent down, she seemed completely lost and didn't know what to do. This makes sense because of Shootboxing rules, which is what RENA is used to. As soon as Shootboxing fighters hit the ground, they have to stand up. So whenever RENA took down her opponent in RIZIN, you can see her hesitate as she was trying to figure out what to do. It seemed like ground and pound was still foreign to her.