Kanna Asakura vs RENA fight went exactly as I thought it would

[chamcham]

Many people are saying that it was a shocking upset.
But I thought that Asakura was the favorite for this fight.

But I've watched nearly all of Kanna Asakura's matches.
It's impressive how much she has fought and won against tough competition at such a young age.

She is an elite wrestler trained by her father.
Her biggest weakness was her striking game and lack of KO power.
But I was impressed with her striking and increased strength in her recent bouts.

Asakura is a very technical wrestler. I knew it was over when it was obvious she could takedown RENA at will.
As long as RENA couldn't get in and throw some hard shots, Asakura would have the decisive advantage.

I wasn't sure how good RENA submission defense was on the ground.
But after today, we now know that RENA needs a lot of work.
It was disappointing to see that she wasn't used to defend a choke from her back.
You'd think that it is one of the most common submission attempts.

Asakura vs RENA


Asakura vs Maria HIGHLIGHTS


Asakura vs Sylwia HIGHLIGHTS


Asakura vs Sylwia


Asakura vs Aleksandra


It's amazing to see how RENA has gotten so far with such a limited arsenal.
Mainly strikes, liver shots, and one submission.

RENA still tries the ninja choke she learned from Josh Barnett. It's like it is the only submission she knows. So she goes for it every time. Someone needs to teach RENA some new submissions (and submission defense).

However, i am impressed with RENA's striking power and accuracy. I think she landed almost all of the shots when she rocked Irene at the very end. This was while Irene's head was constantly moving.

Really impressive year for Asakura. I think her loss to Alyssia Garcia was really due to Josh Barnett's coaching. Without Barnett in her corner or whenever she doesn't follow his advice (in her last match), Alyssa doesn't do very well.

Let's not forget that Asakura had to defeat Saori Ishioka to get the last spot in the RIZIN tournament

 

[leto1776]

I was mainly surprised at how terrified RENA was of the takedown. Totally different to how she acted against a grappler in her previous fight that evening.

 

[chamcham]

I was mainly surprised at how terrified RENA was of the takedown. Totally different to how she acted against a grappler in her previous fight that evening.

Kanna and RENA are good friends. At the beginning, i was wondering if they were both nervous to throw the first shot (because of their friendship). Also, I am not sure if they've ever sparred together either casually or in training.

Just like they said in one of the intros, Asakura is known for her tackles. She's very good at timing her shots.
RENA probably knew she would be on the ground at some points.

But I was disappointed with RENA's poor defense against the choke.
I expected RENA to have spent her last 2 years working on submission defense.

Even so, Asakura is a wrestling prodigy trained daily by her dad.
So it'd be hard for RENA to get to her level quickly.

I wonder how RENA vs Maria Oliveira would have turned out.
On the ground, Maria might have also submitted RENA.

 

[Wanderlei Industries]

This is what happens when an organization runs out of softballs to throw at their champion.

Angela Lee you're next.

 

[thatdude21601]

When Askura/Rena first showed up at AACC around the same time, Asakura probably tooled Rena over & over sparring. She probably spent 3 months+ just everyday riding top control on Rena. Maybe Rena had a flashback mid fight.

On the ground, Maria might have also submitted RENA.

When Fight Pass aired Shooto, Oliviera looked pretty bad on the ground too. That's the fight to have on the next card with Rena.

 

[manboy<3]

Thing that impressed me the most was Asakura's striking defense.

Asakura is not afraid to get into striking distance and dodge shots from an elite strike like Rena.

Her striking improvement is mostly in her defence which is all a wrestler really needs

Asakura's leg clinch game is very sexy

 

[EndlessCritic]

Asakura was a 2-1 dog against Oliveira. I had money on Asakura for that fight.

 

[chamcham]

Asakura was a 2-1 dog against Oliveira. I had money on Asakura for that fight.

Probably because Oliveira easily defeated Alyssa Garcia (who defeated Kanna Asakura in RIZIN).
I guess MMA Math fails again.

Asakura > Oliveira > Garcia > Asakura

 

[Asurah]

I said she had a very good chance at upsetting RENA when the brackets were announced. People that said the whole GP was a cakewalk for RENA either got too caught up in the hype or wanted something to complain about. The main thing I was worried about was that her semifinal opponent was much better than RENA's, but Kanna ended up blowing through Oliveira.

RENA has only been seriously training grappling for about 2 years so I'm not surprised that she made some rookie mistakes, though she should have known better. I think she planned to explode up to her feet like she did against Nguyen but was unable to, leaving her neck completely open for too long.

Kanna has really stepped up her game since she started on true strength training, she's so much more powerful and explosive now. Hopefully RIZIN can bring in some of the top ranked Atomweights for her.

 

[chamcham]

Besides Alyssa Garcia, the other person to defeat Kanna Asakura was Syuri Kondo (who fought in the UFC this year) at Pancrase 277.
Syuri overwhelmed Kanna and I think she was also too strong for her.

I think Syuri would also beat RENA, but it would be by decision.
Syuri Kondo vs Maria Oliveira would be an interesting matchup.
I'd like to see that.

 

[leto1776]

Besides Alyssa Garcia, the other person to defeat Kanna Asakura was Syuri Kondo (who fought in the UFC this year) at Pancrase 277.
Syuri overwhelmed Kanna and I think she was also too strong for her.

I think Syuri would also beat RENA, but it would be by decision.
Syuri Kondo vs Maria Oliveira would be an interesting matchup.
I'd like to see that.

I think Syuri belongs at stw weight, while Kanna is an atomweight.

 

[kingcillo24]

Besides Alyssa Garcia, the other person to defeat Kanna Asakura was Syuri Kondo (who fought in the UFC this year) at Pancrase 277.
Syuri overwhelmed Kanna and I think she was also too strong for her.

I think Syuri would also beat RENA, but it would be by decision.
Syuri Kondo vs Maria Oliveira would be an interesting matchup.
I'd like to see that.

I think Syuri ended up signing a full time contract with the ufc.

 

[mmacasualviewer]

Rena was fighting actual looking soccer moms

 

[Big Al's Texas BBQ]

RENA still tries the ninja choke she learned from Josh Barnett. It's like it is the only submission she knows. So she goes for it every time. Someone needs to teach RENA some new submissions (and submission defense).

Rena's won by flying armbar also. Just saying.

 

[KenkaBancho]

I think she just blew it.

She escaped a similar spot with Andy Ngyuen so it's not like she doesn't know how to defend it. Sleepah holdos are also commonly used in Shootboxing. Most likely a brain fart on her part at the worst time imaginable.

Stylistically, Kanna is a good matchup against Rena since she has good wrestling and subs. I thought Rena would have taken this after her fight with Miyuu but it was dependant on knocking Kanna's face off. She wasn't as likely to catch Kanna in something like she did Miyuu.

 

[The Reed]

Thanks for letting us know Captain Hindsight. Any predictions for the Cyborg-Holm fight that just happened?

 

[PurpleStorm]

Carla Esparza had a great reversal of Calvillo in their fight the same night. She rolled directly into Calvillo instead of rolling away. That would be a good clip for Rena to study. Along with a lot of other ones like keeping the chin down, not putting both hands on the floor, keeping the underhooks away, not giving up the back etc.

 

[lukeuidswords]

I hope at least RENA's corner were telling her to just regain guard and stall out the round. There was less than a minute left, and while Asakura is a really good top player, she'd be pushed to finish in that time.

Newbie mistake on the mat. Asakura is a much more experienced grappler in both wrestling and MMA. RENA was shutting down her low-line singles excellently early on and with the right work I think she'd take a rematch. It's a good thing to have a rivalry.

 

[JohnMandick]

It was really weird how Rena wasn't defending her neck at all.

 

[Luffy]

I want to see Rena vs Angela Lee so badly still. Seriously, I'd pay for this fight. I'd pay for Kana vs Angela as well!! Please, make it happen.

Is Oliveira going to fight Rena next? Another fight I would like to see!