Brady Hiestand and Rinya Nakamura, UFC Vegas 121 weigh-in Credit: Patrick Danna/Cageside Press
Road to UFC winner Rinya Nakamura and Brady Hiestand finally faced off to close out the UFC Vegas 121 preliminary card on Saturday.
The pair had originally been booked to face off a couple of years back; Hiestand was a finalist of The Ultimate Fighter 29, giving them both some tournament experience.
The bantamweight fight started hot, with Hiestand chasing a takedown early. Nakamura flashed several kicks and connected to the body with one, trailing it with a hook that just missed. In a clinch, Nakamura landed a knee before Hiestand put him on the fence; they didn’t stay there long, with Japan’s Nakamura escaping back to center.
Another crisp body kick landed for Nakamura with just over a minute on the clock. Hiestand kept the pressure up, walking forward. A Nakamura leg kick landed. Hiestand shot from a little too far out in the final minute, with Rinya stuffing the attempt. Overall, an active first round with both men having their moments.
The action picked up in round two, with Nakamura starting to come on with the pair battling it out along the fence. Just as he started taking over, however, Hiestand got off the fence and nearly got back in control, before Nakamura took over, getting Hiestand to the cage wall. Nakamura got a hook in, and worked to get Hiestand down, though he would slip out the back door. Hiestand then rolled into taking the back, and got both hooks in, followed by a body triangle! With a minute to go, Hiestand got under the neck, and the rear-naked choke was in tight! Nakamura had nowhere to go, no way to escape, and too much time to deal with. Soon enough, he was tapping, and Hiestand had the win in an unofficial Road to UFC vs. Ultimate Fighter battle.
Official Result: Brady Hiestand def. Rinya Nakamura by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 4:07