PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Shinnosuke Nakagawa (ranked 11 p4p, 54 weight class) and Macca Outback (ranked 4 p4p, 6 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Nakagawa might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Koto - CloZee. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Nakagawa
vs
Outback

190 cm
34
190
33 - 14 - 0

188 cm
33
193
31 - 12 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent MT
Very quick

Olympic wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Tempo Athletics

Conviction
Kersikov's Vitamin Clinic (160)

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the middleweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 33 - 14 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Shinnosuke Nakagawa!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 31 - 12 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Macca Outback!
The judges for this bout are Shirou Masuda, Kenichi Hosakawa and Yasuomi Hirokawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A swing and a miss from Outback.
Nakagawa avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Macca Outback seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Nakagawa bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Outback throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.
Outback throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Decent striking displayed by Nakagawa there.
Outback with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Nakagawa to score with a decent uppercut.
Nakagawa uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Outback.
Outback scores with a spinning back kick!
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nakagawa gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Outback.
Nakagawa throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Outback's waist but Outback gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Nakagawa off to one side.
Outback throws out a counter right but Nakagawa avoids it with no problem.
Outback throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Outback misses with a body shot.
Nakagawa appears to be looking for a counter takedown.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Outback attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.
Outback throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Nakagawa looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
A solid leg kick lands there for Outback.
Outback throws a leg kick but Nakagawa sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Nakagawa half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Outback takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Outback throws a big shot that misses.
Nakagawa checks the leg kick.
Nakagawa is looking to counter the offense by Outback and move into the clinch.
Nakagawa scores with a hook.
Outback pivots, looking for a leg kick but Nakagawa is out of range and Outback settles back down.
As Outback tries to get set, Nakagawa tries to push him back and clinch up but Outback manages to avoid the attempt.
Outback walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Nakagawa checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
Nakagawa lands a glancing blow to the side of Outback's head.
Outback misses with a shot to the body

and Nakagawa counters by clinching up.
Nakagawa misses with a punch on the inside.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Outback breaks from the clinch.
Outback looks to land a left hand but Nakagawa moved out of range nicely.
Nakagawa half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Nakagawa moves out of range as Outback strikes.
Outback cracks Nakagawa with a right hand to the side of the head.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Nakagawa moves out of range of the strikes.
Outback throws a leg kick

and Nakagawa counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Nakagawa is thwarting Outback's attempts to control the position.
Nakagawa has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Nakagawa cracks Outback with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nakagawa tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Outback is looking to improve his position but Nakagawa isn't that keen on the idea.
Outback in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Nakagawa tries to control but Outback wriggling away.
Outback tries to improve his position but instead Nakagawa has taken his back!
Outback avoids the strikes from Nakagawa.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Outback manages to reverse the position and now he's in Nakagawa's guard. Nice work there by Outback.
Outback sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Nakagawa is trying to keep Outback in close.

Nakagawa looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Outback controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Shinnosuke Nakagawa will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Outback ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Outback loads up on a big right hand but Nakagawa slips the punch.
Nakagawa tries to counter by clinching up but Outback breaks away and moves out of range.
Outback jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Outback shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Outback misses the jab.
Outback avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Nice straight punches there by Outback. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Outback.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Outback moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Outback missing with a left hand there. Nakagawa was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Nakagawa feinted with a counter takedown.

Nakagawa drives through and clinches with Outback against the cage.
Outback tries to throw a body punch but Nakagawa avoids it by throwing Outback back against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Outback prevents a body shot from Nakagawa.
A short right from Outback on the inside.
Outback is looking to break free of the clinch but Nakagawa has double underhooks.
Nakagawa has a couple of punches blocked by Outback.

Nakagawa breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
A slow jab from Outback misses its intended target.
Nakagawa looks to land a left hand but Outback moved out of range nicely.
Outback appeared to try and counter that last move with a leg kick.
Outback ducks under a wild hook from Nakagawa.
It seemed like Outback was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Nakagawa crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Outback - the referee stops the clock and Nakagawa gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Outback. Nakagawa manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Nakagawa displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Outback throws out the jab.
Nakagawa takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Nakagawa throws a shot to the body.
Outback misses with a leg kick.
Nakagawa is trying to close the distance and clinch up, after that failed offence from Outback.
Outback misses with a left hand

and Nakagawa counters with a single leg into guard. Outback didn't expect that.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Outback can't keep his opponent in guard - Nakagawa advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Outback felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nakagawa controlling the action here.
Outback trying to get back to full guard but Nakagawa takes advantage of the position and moves to full mount!
The referee warns Outback that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Shinnosuke Nakagawa overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Outback tries to improve his position but Nakagawa has taken his back! Nakagawa has a choke - it's sunk in pretty tight... Will Outback tap? No... maybe... yes! He's tapped! Nakagawa pushes Outback away and gets up to celebrate with his corner!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:59 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Shinnosuke Nakagawa!
Shinnosuke Nakagawa retains his middleweight title!
A very excited looking Shinnosuke Nakagawa made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.