[1994-12-16-RINGS] Mitsuya Nagai vs Masayuki Naruse

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Finally, a couple of RINGS matches at the end of the year! Pretty dramatic, with quite a few close calls on KO's. Nagai pelts Naruse, who is on the receiving end for most of this, with some nasty kicks.

[soup23]

Great match that escalated in hatred. Naruse throughout the match showed be inferior in strikes and as a result had to resort to more desparation, clinching, submission attempts. Well done story.

[Loss]

This date is December 16, not December 17, so I updated the thread.

[PeteF3]

I have nothing to say about this, other than this was fast-paced and enjoyable.

[Zenjo]

On paper this wasn't a standout match. Naruse in particular looked really young. Nagai had a bit more experience and you always felt that he had a slight edge. I loved the spirit in which this was fought. Both men were giving their all. Some nice matwork and counters, they'd clearly been training hard. Not always the most polished, but like the crowd I found plenty to appreciate. Good stuff.

[superkix]

Really good match-up between two similar dudes. Nagai is the better striker while Naruse has a little more finesse on the mat. Loved the opening with Nagai striking hard and then hanging onto the front neck lock when Naruse tries to roll him off before it settles into an evenly contested match. Nagai will get the knockdown and Naruse will send him to the ropes. Things escalate from the ground with Nagai being particularly stiff with his shots. Naruse's struggling to find anything and finally lands a big spinning heel kick in the corner but when he tries to take him down with a judo toss, Nagai catches him with a sleeper for the win. Awesome finish.