Chihiro Nakajima

Chihiro Nakajima (born 24 November 1994) is a Japanese karateka and kickboxer, and competes in the super featherweight division of Krush, where he is the Super Featherweight champion.

As of February 2022, Combat Press ranks him as the sixth best bantamweight kickboxer in the world.

Early career

Nakajima made his professional debut against Manato Yasuda at K-1 Krush Fight 101 on May 18,2019. He won the fight by second-round technical knockout. Nakajima next faced Junpei Sano at K-1 Krush Fight 104 on August 31,2019. He won the fight by a third-round knockout, stopping Sano with a spinning back kick.

Nakajima faced Tomoya Yokoyama in his third professional appearance at Krush 111 on February 24,2020. He suffered the first loss of his professional career, as Yokoyama won the bout by unanimous decision.

Nakajima faced Naoki Yamamoto at Krush 117 on September 26, 2020. He lost the fight by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the fight 28-26 for Yamamoto.

Nakajima faced Kento Ito at Krush 125 on May 30,2021. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 30–28, 30-27 and 30–26. Nakajima knocked Ito down with a left hook in the second round.

Krush super featherweight champion

Super featherweight tournament

On September 3, 2021, K-1 announced that Leona Pettas had vacated the Krush Super Featherweight title. Accordingly, the promotion immediately organized a tournament in order to crown a new champion. Chihiro Nakajima was scheduled to face Satoru Nariai in the tournament quarterfinals, which were held at Krush 130 on October 31, 2021. Nakajima won the fight by a third-round knockout. He first knocked Nariai down with a right high kick, before finishing him with a left hook at the 1:05 minute mark of the last round.

Nakajima faced Yutaka in the penultimate bout of the tournament, at Krush 130 on January 28, 2022. He made quick work of his opponent, stopping him with a flurry of punches in the first round. Nakajima advanced to the tournament finals, which were held on the same day, where he faced Tomoya Yokoyama. The fight was a rematch of their February 24, 2020 meeting, which Yokoyama won by unanimous decision. Nakajima was more successful in their second encounter, as he won the fight by unanimous decision. He managed to knock Yokoyama down in the third round, which proved crucial, as the first two rounds were evenly scored.

Title reign

Nakajima faced the Shootboxing Japan super featherweight champion Yuki Kasahara at THE MATCH 2022 on June 19, 2022. He lost the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 30–28, 30–28 and 30–27. He failed to achieve much headway in the bout and was knocked down with a right hook in the third round.

Nakajima made his first Krush Super Featherweight title defense against Narufumi Nishimoto at Krush 144 on December 18, 2022. He retained the title by unanimous decision, with three scorecards of 30–28 in his favor. Nakajima knocked his opponent down with a left hook in the last round, which earned him a 10–8 round on all three of the judges' scorecards and proved to be the pivotal moment of the bout.

Nakajima was expected to face Han Kyungmin in a super featherweight bout at K-1 World GP 2023: inaugural Middleweight Championship Tournament on June 3, 2023. The bout was later bumped up to a 60.6 kg catchweight, as Kyungmin failed to make weight at the official weigh-ins. Nakajima stopped his opponent with a liver shot at the 1:06 minute mark of the second round.

Nakajima made his second Krush Super Featherweight title defense against Naoki Takahashi at Krush 153 on September 29, 2023.

Kickboxing

• Krush
  • 2022 Krush Super Featherweight (-60 kg) Champion
    • One successful title defense

Karate

• IKO Kyokushinkaikan
  • 2011 All Japan Youth (U-18) Championships -75 kg Winner
  • 2012 World Youth Elite (U-18) Championships -75 kg Winner
  • 2013 All Kanto Open runner-up
  • 2013 All Japan Open Rookie Award
  • 2016 All Japan Weight Championships -90 kg 3rd place
  • 2017 All Japan Weight Championships -90 kg Winner
  • 2017 All Japan Open Technique Award
  • 2017 All American Open 3rd place
  • 2018 All American Weight Championships Heavyweight Winner
  • 2018 All Japan Championships Semi Contact -80 kg Winner