Rinya Nakamura refuses to make callout after hearing boos during performance at UFC 298
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Rinya Nakamura beat Carlos Vera with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC 298 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
Take a look inside the fight with Nakamura, who at around 14-1 was by far the biggest betting favorite on the card.
Rinya Nakamura vs. Carlos Vera
Result: Rinya Nakamura def. Carlos Vera via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Updated records: Nakamura (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC), Vera (11-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC)
Key stats: Nakamura had more than 13 minutes of total control time in the 15-minute fight.
Nakamura on the fight's key moment
“I feel good that I won, but I’m not satisfied with my performance. Carlos was tougher than I expected. He tried to attack many times from the (bottom). I got kind of defensively tired, so that’s why I’m not satisfied.”
Nakamura on having more fan-friendly performances
“(Hearing) booing from the arena is the most damage to me. I need to brush up every part of my martial arts. I just had four years to transition to MMA, so I have a lot of things to do.”
Nakamura on what he wants next
“I want to fix (my hand) as soon as possible and I’m back to practice with the other. I can train the other parts accept my right hand, so I’ll still go hard training and I want to be back at June. I can’t choose the opponent with tonight’s performance, so anyone is fine for me.”
To hear more from Nakamura, check out the video above.
UFC 298 Images
[vertical-gallery id=2716057]
[vertical-gallery id=2716047]
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.
