[1995-12-19-RINGS] Mitsuya Nagai vs Nikolai Zouev

[superkix]

It's Nikolai Zouev, which means a lot of rolling around, trapping arms and legs with arms and legs. That's, of course, not a bad thing and Nagai is fun in that he's trying to counter and do his own thing, and while he's not the strongest on the mat, he looks pretty good here. Zouev usually has answers to Nagai's kick attempts but not always, and he nearly gets knocked out of the ring by a series of kicks and knees in the corner. There's an awesome moment in the match where Nagai tries for a big kick, Zouev slides underneath to sweep the leg and transitions seemlessly into the rear choke. Zouev has some great holds, sometimes pretzeling Nagai in various ways, but Nagai will also find ways to put Zouev in predicaments. He fights for an armbar, which Zouev tries to bridge his way out of before finding an escape and reversal with an armbar of his own. They kind of slap it out at the end and Nagai snags a front necklock, holding on when Zouev takes him down to force the tap out. Good stuff.