Kazuhiro Nakamura

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Profile

Kazuhiro Nakamura (born July 16, 1979) is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist and Judo black belt training out of the Yoshida Dojo.

He stands 5 ft. 11 in. (180 cm) tall and fights in the middleweight division (185 lbs.).

Nakamura is a PRIDE and UFC veteran and currently competes as a middleweight for World Victory Road's, Sengoku.

PRIDE

Kazuhiro Nakamura made his professional mixed martial arts debut after a highly decorated Judo career at PRIDE 25 on March 16, 2003. He faced Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and although he fought gamely for the first round and a half he was ultimately submitted with an armbar.

Nakamura picked up his first professional victory in his next bout as he scored a unanimous decision win over Daniel Gracie at PRIDE: Bushido 1.

A lacklustre victory over Don Caras Jr. (PRIDE 27) and submission win over Chalid Arrab (PRIDE: Bushido 3) followed before he rematched Nogueira at PRIDE: Bushido 4. Nakamura kept things close in the rematch but was comfortably defeated despite the judges announcing the fight as a "split decision".

At PRIDE: Final Conflict 2004, Nakamura scored the most impressive win of his career as he defeated former UFC middleweight champion, Murilo Bustamante via unanimous decision.

Nakamura closed out 2004 in disappointing fashion as he succumbed to a shoulder injury against Dan Henderson in 1:15 of his fight at PRIDE 28.

He kicked off 2005 with a 54 second TKO victory over decorated kickboxer, Stefan Leko at PRIDE 29.

In April, Nakamura faced off against former UFC heavyweight champion, Kevin Randleman in the opening round of PRIDE's 2005 16-man Middleweight (205 lbs.) Grand Prix. The bout took place at PRIDE: Total Elimination 2005 and in a pretty uneventful fight Nakamura was judged the unanimous decision victor.

Moving into the quarter finals, Nakamura met PRIDE middleweight champion, Wanderlei Silva. Nakamura was giving a good account of himself before he decided to take off his judo gi. While in the process of taking off the gi, Silva rushed him and landed some big punches that put a stop to the fight in short order.

Eliminated from the tournament, Nakamura met fellow defeated quarter finalist, Igor Vovchanchyn at PRIDE: Final Conflict 2005. Nakamura outgrappled the Ukranian en route to a unanimous decision win.

After defeating Japanese fan favorite, Yuki Kondo on New Year's Eve, Nakamura met heavyweight contender, Josh Barnett at PRIDE 31. Nakamura did well against his much larger opponent before eventually falling prey to a rear naked choke at 8:10 of round 1.

Nakamura bounced back from the fifth loss of his career by scoring three successive victories over Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos (PRIDE: Critical Countdown Absolute), Yoshihiro Nakao (PRIDE: Final Conflict Absolute), and Travis Galbraith (PRIDE 32).

In his last bout for PRIDE, Nakamura faced 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix winner, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at PRIDE: Shockwave 2006. Nakamura pushed Shogun all the way and kept things close but at the end of the third round Shogun was judged the clear cut unanimous decision victor.

UFC

With the demise of PRIDE, Nakamura was picked up by the UFC. He made his UFC debut at UFC 76 when he faced undefeated Brazilian, Lyoto Machida on the main card. Nakamura was unable to do much with Machida and after three tedious rounds was defeated via unanimous decision.

At UFC 84, Nakamura met fellow PRIDE veteran, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and kept things relatively close on the feet but succumbed to the power of Sokoudjou at the end of the round. He survived the round barely but was unable to continue because of a leg injury.

Following the successive losses, Nakamura was cut from the UFC.

Sengoku

Nakamura returned to Japan soon after where he signed with the recently established, Sengoku promotion. He made his debut for the organization and his middleweight (185 lbs.) debut at Sengoku: Fifth Battle against Paul Cahoon as part of an 8-man tournament set up by Sengoku to find a challenger for Kazuo Misaki. Nakamura snapped his three fight losing streak as he rode out a unanimous decision win over Cahoon.

In November, 2008, Nakamura faced off against Yuki Sasaki at Sengoku: Sixth Battle in the semi finals. Nakamura recorded another unanimous decision to move him into the final later that night.

He faced UFC veteran, Jorge Santiago in the final and claimed the first two rounds with his takedowns and ground control. The third round would not go the same way though as Santiago sprung to life and finished Nakamura with punches 49 seconds in.

After a ninth month break, Nakamura will return to action in August as he faces Kazuo Misaki in a number one contender match for Santiago's middleweight title.