Bantamweight, Rui Imura (12-4) vs. Nghiem Van Y (5-1)
Rui Imura
-Submission threat
-Excellent back take
-Good jiu-jitsu
-One-dimensional/Poor standup
Rui competes under the Pancrase banner, so footage of him is extremely limited. From what I’ve seen and heard, he’s a decent grappler but has underwhelming striking. His wrestling also doesn’t quite match the level of his ground game. It’s tough to gauge exactly what to expect from Imura, but based on what’s available, I don’t see him as a serious threat to win this season.
Nghiem Van Y
-Fast hands
-Good movement
-Heavy leg kicks
-Explosive
-Hits hard
-Poor TDD
-One-dimensional/No ground game
Van avenged his only career loss in a rematch and currently holds a regional title in Vietnam. He’s a pure striker with an abysmal ground game, and his weak takedown defense only makes that more apparent. That said, his striking is legitimately solid: he brings a nice mix of speed, technique, and power. He can get a bit overzealous with explosive shots, which often leads to him gassing out later in fights. On the feet, Van is a real threat to anyone. The key to beating him is pressure; pin him against the cage early and look for takedowns. If you give him space, he’s more than capable of landing something big and riding that momentum.
Prediction: I don’t know a ton about Imura, but stylistically, he’s built to get past someone like Van. Van’s ground game has major holes, and with eight submission wins, Imura clearly knows how to exploit that. In Van’s loss to the Brazilian, he had no answers off his back and gave up mount far too easily. If he does that here, it’s game over. The big question is whether Imura can get it to the ground before Van clips him with something. I’m leaning toward Imura being able to close the distance, eat a few shots if needed, and secure the takedown en route to a submission win.
