Top 10 Global Knockouts of 2014
Nakajima's Spinning Wheelhouse
Pancrase 257
March 30 | Yokohama, Japan
James Goyder: A spinning wheel kick is something a fighter might try once in a while in front of a mirror but seldom in an actual fight because, while it looks great, this technique is incredibly difficult to execute effectively against a skilled opponent. If you miss, then you are likely to leave yourself exposed not just to a counter strike but also to criticism that you are showboating and not taking the fight seriously. This risk-to-reward ratio is why it’s rare to see spinning wheel kicks attempted, let alone landed, but when a fighter succeeds in pulling it off the results are absolutely spectacular.
Taichi Nakajima did exactly that against Marcio Cesar at Pancrase 257, swinging his back leg around in a 180 degree arc which culminated in his heel collecting cleanly with the chin of the experienced Brazilian. There was no need for a follow up, no sooner had his opponent hit the floor with a thud than the Japanese fighter was off on a well earned lap of honour around the ring to celebrate this technical and brutal “Knockout of the Year” contender.
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Marcio Cesar is a Chute Boxe-reared brawler and despite no longer being with the team, still fights like it. To say he's not big on defense would be an understatement. That said, while Nakajima is a very smooth, technical striker, he had only ever knocked one opponent out in his pro career, and that was in his debut. Nakajima had shown he had a kicking arsenal in the past, but nothing like this. Nakajima is not a power hitter by trade, but this is the sort of knockout that shows what can happen when technique, accuracy and surprise intersect. The result can be absolutely devastating, even if the attacker isn't blessed with natural, crushing power.
It's also sweet, because knockouts like this tend to be rare in Pancrase. Pancrase has a far more liberal ruleset than your average MMA promotion in 2014, having allowed soccer kicks and stomps (but not knees to the head of grounded opponents, for whatever reason) for years. When you see a brutal KO in Pancrase, it's often a fighter getting dropped, then his head punted. In fact, both of the co-main events on the Pancrase 257 had finishes in this vein, with Kiyotaka Shimizu and Isao Kobayashi soccer kicking Atsushi Yamamoto and Kuniyoshi Hironaka respectively into oblivion. Yet, in spite of two finishes like that in the evening's biggest affairs, neither could hold a candle to Nakajima's handiwork.
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