PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Hiro Sakurai (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Francesco Albertini (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Francesco Albertini has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Sakurai
vs
Albertini

185 cm
20
205 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

178 cm
23
200 lbs
6 - 6 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Solid chin

Blitzkrieg Formula 5000
Blitzkrieg Formula 5000

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Hiro Sakurai!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 6 - 0, fighting out of London, Francesco Albertini!
The judges for this bout are James Atkins, Richard Clark and Andrew Berry.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sakurai has a takedown stuffed.
Albertini walks into a left hand.
Albertini throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Sakurai.
Albertini looks to land a left hand but Sakurai moved out of range nicely.
Albertini takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Albertini tries to clinch but Sakurai moves out of range.
Sakurai jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Sakurai waving his hands out infront of him, looking to distract Albertini.
Albertini misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Albertini throws a nice looking combination but Sakurai bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Sakurai tries to clinch up
and Albertini counters with a left and a right that stings Sakurai.
Sakurai jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Albertini tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Sakurai counters with a stiff right hand.
Sakurai just misses with a punch to the body.
Sakurai wants to clinch.

Albertini closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the ropes.

Sakurai breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Albertini swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Sakurai throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Albertini sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Sakurai shoots and misses

and Albertini moves into the clinch.
Albertini tries for a takedown but Sakurai manages to get underhooks.
Sakurai misses with a hook from the clinch.

Albertini escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Sakurai shoots for a double leg takedown but Albertini sprawls well. He's pushed Sakurai's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Hiro Sakurai. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Albertini slips a straight right by Sakurai.
Sakurai lands a jab.
Sakurai fails with an attempt to clinch.
Hiro Sakurai seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Albertini ducks right into an uppercut from Sakurai.
Sakurai tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Albertini counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Albertini wants to clinch but Sakurai slips to the side
and Sakurai counters with a straight right hand.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Sakurai tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Albertini counters by clinching up.
Albertini wants to break free but Sakurai has control.
Albertini prevents the takedown attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sakurai lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Albertini backwards.
Albertini wants to break free but Sakurai has control.
Albertini taking a breather.
Albertini tries for a takedown but Sakurai manages to get underhooks.
A short left from Sakurai.
A short right from Sakurai on the inside.

Albertini breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Albertini drives through and clinches with Sakurai against the ropes.

Sakurai breaks from the clinch.
Albertini is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Sakurai uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Albertini doesn't manage to clinch there - Sakurai circles away.

Sakurai shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Albertini keeping moving, preventing Sakurai from controlling successfully.
Sakurai stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Albertini swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Albertini trying to control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Albertini wants to control but instead he gets his guard passed and Sakurai is now in half guard.
Albertini wants to get back to full guard.
Albertini is in trouble now - Sakurai has advanced to mount!
Sakurai misses with a head shot.

Sakurai working for a guillotine from mount but Albertini is in no mood to give up.

Sakurai looking to secure an arm triangle but Albertini defends it well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Albertini tries to hold on but Sakurai pushes him away.

The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Sakurai working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Sakurai looking to control but Albertini is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Albertini tries to hold on but Sakurai pushes him away.
Sakurai lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hiro Sakurai dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Albertini scores to the head and body with a nice combination!

Albertini has Sakurai up against the ropes in a clinch.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Albertini wants a takedown.
Still in the clinch, Sakurai scores with a nice short uppercut.

Albertini's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Sakurai fails with an attempt to clinch.
Albertini tries to close the distance and clinch up but Sakurai swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Albertini wants to clinch
and Sakurai connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

It looks like Francesco Albertini has been cut.

Albertini pushes Sakurai up against the ropes in a clinch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Albertini fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Albertini tries to pull guard but Sakurai holds him up against the ropes and eventually Albertini drops back down to his feet.
Hiro Sakurai has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Francesco Albertini.
Sakurai scores with a shoulder strike.
Sakurai misses with a short punch on the inside.
A battle for position here, against the ropes.
With the two fighters working up against the ropes, Sakurai just misses with a elbow thrown towards Albertini's brow.
Albertini is looking to break free of the clinch but Sakurai has double underhooks.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Albertini tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.

Sakurai gets double underhooks and manages to take the fight to the ground.
Sakurai trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but Albertini manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!

Sakurai looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Albertini trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Sakurai doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Albertini controls from within his opponent's guard.

Sakurai had isolated an arm as going for an omaplata. Albertini is defending the submission well but is in a very vulnerable position. Sakurai Is leaning forward trying to finish the omaplata but decides to abandon it, and take Albertini's back instead.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Albertini looks to control his opponent's hands but he's not mananging it at the moment.
Albertini is keeping busy.
Sakurai throwing sloppy strikes.

Sakurai looking for the RNC.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Albertini just trying to survive but Sakurai is wriggling into a better position, looking to finish.
Will Sakurai go for the finish here or will he try and keep control of the position?
Albertini wants to control his opponent's hands but Sakurai gets his hands free.
Sakurai is controlling the position but Albertini somehow manages to roll and ends up with half guard.
Sakurai is figuring out what he wants to do next.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.

Sakurai wants to work for an arm triangle but Albertini is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Sakurai passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Albertini!
Sakurai is landing with some decent strikes but Albertini is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Albertini is desperately trying to get back to half guard.

Sakurai goes for an armbar but he's fallen flat on his backside there and now Albertini is on top in guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hiro Sakurai dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Francesco Albertini's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Albertini throws a jab when Sakurai was well out of range.
Albertini stuffs the takedown.
Sakurai misses with an uppercut. Albertini saw that one coming.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Sakurai throws an elbow that misses.

Sakurai gets a trip takedown into half guard.

Sakurai is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Albertini defends it well.

Sakurai is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Albertini is trying to stand back up but Sakurai is controlling him
Sakurai is nestled in close to Albertini, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Albertini is looking to control Sakurai's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Albertini avoid being mounted?
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Sakurai prevents Albertini from improving his position.
Sakurai trying to mount his opponent but Albertini defends it.

Sakurai is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Albertini doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Sakurai.
Sakurai is working hard to pass the guard. He's done it - he's now in full mount! Trouble for Albertini!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Albertini tries to hold on but Sakurai pushes him away.
Albertini keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.

Sakurai goes for an armbar but he's not got it… Albertini turns into him and now he's in Sakurai's guard.
Albertini looking to pass the guard.

Sakurai looking for a guillotine here but Albertini defends easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Sakurai looking for a triangle here. Albertini is fighting it but it looks tight! Sakurai pulls the arm across and this one won't last much longer! Nope, Albertini is tapping out - this one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:29 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle Choke). Hiro Sakurai!