Pushing Boundaries

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No matter the strength of the grassroots feminist movement in MMA, one basic principle holds true when it comes to marketing fights featuring women to a predominately male audience: Sex sells.

It explains why Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate did a promo in their best eveningwear prior to their first meeting in Strikeforce. It explains why the Ultimate Fighting Championship marketed the debut of Invicta Fighting Championships on UFC Fight Pass as “a date with ‘The Karate Hottie.’” It also explains why, despite featuring one of the deepest talent pools in the history of the long-running reality show, a commercial for “The Ultimate Fighter 20” could have doubled -- as some astutely pointed out -- as a spot for the next iteration of “American’s Top Model.”

While it is unfortunate that talent is sometimes minimized in favor of appearance -- after all, you do not hear UFC Fight Night “Hunt vs. Nelson” being marketed as “a date with Roy Nelson” -- plenty of savvy and self-aware female fighters are taking advantage of the current climate. If you do not believe Rousey and Tate have embraced their softer side to accelerate their ascent, you have not been paying attention.

As the UFC continues to build the depth of its women’s divisions, a new cast of characters will begin to emerge. Some will follow the lead of Rousey and Tate, and some will not. Those who can find the right blend of toughness and femininity -- or #TUFStrength and #TUFBeauty, not necessarily in that order -- will most likely have an advantage over their peers.

Enter Rin Nakai, who will make her Octagon debut against Tate at UFC Fight Night “Hunt vs. Nelson” on Saturday at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Since 2011, Nakai has plied her trade with the Japanese promotion Pancrase. Her notoriety has little to do with her fighting ability. Whether that was her choice or the result of a push from external forces is not completely clear.

For about an eight-month period, Nakai submitted a total of 41 videos to the Pancrase YouTube channel. The first, uploaded on Nov. 2, 2012, is innocent enough, as she spends most of the 78-second clip throwing punches and kicks at air with music playing in the background. The 41st, added on July 20, 2013, begins with Nakai eating what appears to be some type of pudding and ends with her provocatively caressing her leg in front of the camera.

“I thought this is a MMA channel??? more like soft porn! Is this how you expect to get REAL fans??” reads one of the comments under the video.

While labeling such an offering as pornographic is a little extreme, Nakai’s YouTube collection is a vault of the bizarre. While some videos are nothing more than brief glimpses into her training, many more feature a scantily clad Nakai performing relatively mundane tasks like vacuuming, hanging out at the beach or enjoying a meal. Still other videos depict Nakai dressed as a rabbit, covered in beetles or lifting weights while topless. All of the above scream Japanese eccentricity and are certain to draw more attention to the 27-year-old as her debut with the world’s largest MMA promotion draws near.

Nakai claims she has no regrets.

“All the videos on my channel are fun,” she told Sherdog.com in a translated interview via email. “Each one has a theme. I love nature, so No. 18 (fishing video) and No. 33 (roses) are probably the ones I like the best. Being outdoors in nature relaxes me. I prefer being outdoors than training and martial arts.”

Despite Nakai’s claims, there appears to be a three-way disconnect regarding how the whole thing came about. According to a statement provided by Pancrase, Nakai and her coach, Fumio Usami, were the brains behind the operation.

“It is not requested by Pancrase; we just posted whatever Rin and her coach sent to us on the Pancrase official [YouTube] site,” the statement read. “We thought it might be a great idea to get attention from casual male fans who are not in MMA.”

According to Nakai, the videos arose out of financial need.

“Some people are taken aback. It was a way to market myself and to collect enough funds to cover my travel expenses to Tokyo,” she said. “During his time as a fighter, my coach, Usami, could not participate in many events due to lack of funds, and that was a concern for us, so the photos and videos were my strategy to get the necessary funding.”

Usami, meanwhile, claims Pancrase requested one video per week for almost a year, although they are no longer producing content for the channel. As far as money resulting from the project, Usami is at a loss.

“No profit. Zero,” he said via email. “If there is a way to make a profit, please someone teach me.”

Lost amid all the hoopla surrounding her online presence is the fact that Nakai is unbeaten in 17 fights since making her professional debut in 2006. While some have accused the Japanese bantamweight of padding her record against mediocre opposition, Nakai has vanquished some of her most noteworthy competition of late, posting triumphs against established veterans Tara LaRosa and Sarah D’Alelio in her last two bouts.

“She’s really freaking strong on the ground,” said LaRosa, who dropped a split verdict to Nakai nearly a year ago. “Like, stupid strong.”

A muscular 5-foot-1, Nakai figures to have home-cage advantage on her side against Tate. While that edge may not be nearly as significant as it was when her run to becoming Queen of Pancrase was reportedly aided by some last-minute rule changes, Nakai’s comfort level should be significantly greater than if she was debuting stateside.

LaRosa, for one, hopes people can overlook the Japan native’s marketing plan and focus on the athlete in the Octagon.

“She’s a really good person. She really, really is. I urge everybody to look past the videos. It was stuff that was just done for promotion’s sake that I’m not sure her heart was completely into doing,” LaRosa said. “I’d like for people to look at her skill set and look at what she’s bringing into the cage as a fighter and not so much all the pageantry of it all.”

LaRosa was admittedly skeptical about Nakai’s persona before meeting her, but the Invicta FC talent emerged from a post-fight exchange with a new outlook.

“She was a super sweet person when we fought,” LaRosa said. “I have a lot of respect for her -- just after talking to her after the show -- whereas before I was like, ‘I’m gonna have to check this out; here comes the queen.’ But she was really cool to me.”

The truth: Nakai might be a little too nice for her own good. Where many fighters speak of exciting fights, finishes and belts, Nakai sounds more like a beauty pageant contestant when discussing her MMA goals. Instead of armbars, knockouts and bonuses, she is focused on building friendships, ending poverty and promoting world peace.

“I hope that my participation in the UFC will help to increase its popularity in Japan and Asia. Also, personally, I am entering this event wishing it will help to strengthen the friendship bond between the U.S. and Japan and contribute to world peace,” she said. “I do not feel I have achieved anything yet. I do not have much time now, but if I can free up some time, I would like to do volunteer work and connect with more people. If I get money, I would like to donate it to help orphans and handicapped people.”

All noble goals aside, what might seem semi-normal in Japan could portray Nakai as something of a fetish sex symbol to other demographics. Her in-cage attributes will be secondary, at least initially.

“I think the first impression will be about her looks. Those who do not know her will be attracted to her figure and character, but our ultimate goal is that ... they get interested in MMA,” Usami said. “Rin Nakai is strong, with a will to win, and it is her strength that we hope will make her popular.”

The spectacle will not end under her new employer, not when Nakai is fighting where she made her name. Case in point: UFC President Dana White told reporters earlier this summer that Nakai’s representatives called him asking if she could wear a prom dress during her walkout.

“She can wear a [expletive] wedding dress for all I care,” he said with a smirk, before summing up all things Nakai with one succinct remark: “It’s Japan.”

It is more than just Japan, however, although Nakai’s videos do tend to conjure up a bit of Pride Fighting Championships nostalgia. This is also about women’s MMA. The UFC did not book Nakai for a card in Japan by accident. Pairing her with Tate was just an added bonus, even if Nakai herself does not sound especially confident about her debut.

“I don’t feel it’s the best timing [to go to the UFC].” Nakai said. “Personally, I would have preferred to do this much later, but people around me and the UFC believe this is the right time, so even though I had my doubts, I have decided to participate.”

Ready or not, Nakai is coming to the Octagon, a legion of YouTube followers in tow.

All translations provided by Taro Irei