Judo brothers, enjoy the Nastula highlight and also the news that Nastula will be fighting in Japan in May/June. You heard it here first.
Nastula's style was good for MMA. 10y ago if MMA was popular and Nastula decided to pursue it hardcore with a top MMA team he would have been like Fedor or better.
now, i am afraid its too late for him. that said, i still think after 2-3 fights for him and some training in a good team, he could beat 90% of the HW out there. Barnett, he was crushing him badly until he got caught. He was winning that fight.
Always marveled at his judo. He should of started with submission fighting like an Abu Dahbai instead of top mma fighters where his window is getting smaller and opponents bring a lot striking. I often wondered what his judo opponents thought after fightinig him?
thats good news he got a fight.
i read that he was very eager to fight again.
probably because he needs money.
but it seems like he has been training seriously.
btw who was the guy who ended his win streak?
i think it was Stephan Traineau from France, but i am not 100%
He was the best. He wasn't protected like Yamashita was and he fought in every single A level during his prime. It's much harder to fight 10 A and A+ levels in one year and be undefeated than it is to fight 1 or 2.
Most people don't realize why Nastula stopped winning. He was unstoppable winning from '93 to '97 in a dominant fashion at 95kg.
Then they changed the light heavy weight class from 95 kg to 100 kg. The 11 lbs of difference was too much for him. He didn't have the stamina at 100kg and if you watch some of his matches at 100kg, he would be gassed towards the 5 minute mark. After they changed the weight class, he didn't achieve anything. In 2000 he was eliminated in the first round and retired. He tried coming back in 2004 but couldn't even qualify for the Olympics (I believe he was ranked 12th in Europe and only the top 9 could go). Then he went into MMA but again, at too high of a weight (usually weighing about 107 kg). In his MMA matches he does great but gasses. He gasses with 5 minute rounds in judo at 100kg so it's not a shock he was gassing with Pride's 10 minute first round.
I would have like to see him fight MMA at 205 which is closest to his successful competive judo weight (209lbs).
His win streak in judo was amazing. He would have picked up many more championships if they kept the weight class at 95kg.
I was under the impression that injuries also played a decent part in his later losses. Lets also not forget the mental fatigue that happens when an entire country is putting their national athletic hopes and dreams on your shoulders for a decade.
How long can somebody really keep a streak like that alive? As mentioned ablve, he fought in almost everything there was for years. He didnt go to event A as a tune up for event G some months later-- he went to events A, B, C, D, E to prove he was most dominant force in the world each and every time. He never tried to protect his reputation or let even one title slip past if he could help it.
Lets also not forget that he isnt from on of the most recognized powerhouse judo nations-- though interestingly enough Poland has had 3 or 4 of the worlds top-25 All-Time Judokas.
during his run was there anyone that was his antithesis?
or
was he just "the real Rickson" where as he was clearly better than everyone.
News:
Nastula will fight once in Poland in May and also in Asia. So it looks like he has two fights lined up. His fight in Poland will be against a Korean or Japanese opponent.