Yoshiro Maeda prooved MMA still has plenty of positions to innovate in yesterday with his performance at Rizin 32 against Mitsuhisa Sunabe.
The 40 year old Japanese ace secured a decision victory – but what many will remember from the fight is how Maeda chose to break down his opponent once he got back control. Typically in MMA when a fighter secures back control it it’s to be expected they either want to finish with a Rear naked choke – highest percentage submission in MMA or they want to transition to a good ground and pound position.
However Maeda did something extraordinary. Once he settled into back control he started raining kicks to the head of his opponent. Take a look.
The two were game and exchanged sportsmanlike greeting after the fight.
Yoshiro Maeda and Mitsuhisa Sunabe, moments after kicking the shit out of each other #RIZIN32 pic.twitter.com/fvqBul1TZg
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) November 20, 2021
Soccer Kicks sounds just like Yoshiro Maeda, glad to see he picked up The W at RIZIN! One of my favorite violent fighters growing up, extremely underrated fighter! https://t.co/JAmUKgMacB
— Shooto's Roots (@SurfingMoonWolf) November 20, 2021
Mitsuhisa Sunabe's nose is smashed from an accidental clash of heads with Yoshiro Maeda, but this excellent fight is continuing anyway because both of these veteran stars are awesome. #Rizin32
— Robert Sargent (@MMARising) November 20, 2021