Tenshin Nasukawa is one of the most intriguing talents in combat sports.
At 19, he possesses ring savvy well beyond his years. Combine that with his pure athleticism, and you have a recipe for a downright terrifying competitor despite his youthful appearance.
The latest example of that came Sunday at Rizin FF’s year-end event. Facing kickboxing veteran Yuta Hamamoto, Nasukawa lengthened his highlight reel with a savage flying knee. Here’s the slow-mo:
While flying-knee knockouts are almost always brutal, Nasukawa’s is particularly impressive as he adjusted to a moving Hamamoto. Twisting midair, he landed the knee with enough accuracy and power to cleanly end the contest.
That would have been a good night for Nasukawa on its own, but Hamamoto wasn’t his only victim. Competing in the one-night flyweight kickboxing tournament, Nasukawa faced Yamato Fujita a few hours later and posted what might have been an even scarier stoppage win.
Just 30 seconds into the fight, Nasukawa drilled Fujita with a left hand, staggering him. Seeing that his foe was wounded, Nasukawa kept the pressure high until the official knockdown call. Fujita got back up but was visibly dazed from the blitz. Smelling blood, Nasukawa rinsed and repeated twice more, scoring three knockdowns (and the official TKO call) at 1:27 of Round 1.
Given his age and high-flying style, the sky is the limit for Nasukawa. Look for him to continue thrashing opponents in Rizin in 2018.
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