PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Evgeny Drakul (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hiro Kobayashi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Kobayashi is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by HBO Boxing 24/7 Original Theme . Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Drakul
vs
Kobayashi

166 cm
23
163 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

177 cm
19
165 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Counter striker
Very quick

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Powerful

Final Strike Clothing
Final Strike Clothing

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Evgeny Drakul!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Hiro Kobayashi!
The judges for this bout are Lou da Vinci, Joseph Jones and Jonathan Paton.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kobayashi staying out of range there.

Drakul closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

Drakul working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Drakul trying to control the action but Kobayashi is working from the bottom.
Kobayashi prevents Drakul from moving into mount.
Kobayashi seems a little lost for a moment, as Drakul dominates the positioning.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kobayashi is looking to reverse the position.
Drakul is looking to take a break and control but Kobayashi is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Kobayashi tries to buck Drakul off but Drakul is having none of it.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Kobayashi takes a swing at Drakul's ribcage but misses.
A swing and a miss from Drakul.
Kobayashi misses with a looping right.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Drakul on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Kobayashi throws a hook but Drakul avoids it easily.
Kobayashi throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Drakul misses with a hook.
Kobayashi displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Drakul throws out the jab.
Kobayashi moves away from the strike by Drakul.
Kobayashi closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Drakul throws a predictable looking body shot
and Kobayashi cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Drakul pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Drakul misses with a body shot.
Kobayashi lands with a shot to the body.
Drakul closes the distance and clinches up with Kobayashi, looking for a takedown. Drakul pushes Kobayashi against the cage but Kobayashi circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
A big right from Kobayashi misses.
Kobayashi slips under a jab.
Kobayashi throws a right and a left that Drakul avoids nicely.
Kobayashi throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.

That's four 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.
Kobayashi throws a lazy right hand but Drakul sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Drakul ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Kobayashi is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Kobayashi misses with a low kick.
Drakul swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Kobayashi slips under a jab.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Drakul throws a big shot that misses.
Kobayashi misses with a looping left.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Evgeny Drakul will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Kobayashi staying out of range there.
Drakul blocks a jab.
Drakul avoids a punch combination nicely.
Kobayashi scores with a nice strike.
Drakul is really struggling to find his range with his punches. Kobayashi's reach advantage is clearly causing him problems.
Drakul shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Kobayashi pinned against the cage. Kobayashi gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A big right from Kobayashi misses.
Drakul is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kobayashi avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Kobayashi ducks under a wild hook from Drakul.
Drakul uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Kobayashi.
Kobayashi lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
A big left from Kobayashi misses.
Drakul misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Kobayashi.
Drakul throws a hook to the side of Kobayashi's head but Kobayashi sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Kobayashi misses with a jab, cross combination.

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.
Kobayashi throws a hook but Drakul avoids it easily.
Kobayashi slips under a jab.
Kobayashi takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Drakul throws a jab but it's blocked by Kobayashi.
Kobayashi throws a series of punches but Drakul moves out of range.
Kobayashi throws a low kick but Drakul avoids it.
Drakul misses the shot to the body.
Drakul fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Kobayashi avoids it really well and circles away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Drakul thuds his right hand into Kobayashi's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Kobayashi uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Drakul.
Kobayashi misses with a hook. Drakul ducked under it nicely.
Drakul throws a body punch but Kobayashi moves out of range.
Drakul misses with a straight left.
Drakul lands with a cross.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Drakul is looking to clinch but Kobayashi is avoiding it.
Kobayashi swings away with a leg kick that misses.
Drakul throws a jab when Kobayashi was well out of range.
Drakul bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Kobayashi ducks under a wild hook from Drakul.
Kobayashi blocks a jab.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Kobayashi misses with an uppercut. Drakul saw that one coming.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Drakul.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Hiro Kobayashi will probably get the nod - 10:9.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! And we move into the final round!

Kobayashi misses with a few strikes there.
Drakul throws a jab when Kobayashi was well out of range.
Drakul gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Kobayashi counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Drakul checks the leg kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Drakul tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Kobayashi counters with a nice low kick that buckles Drakul's knee momentarily.
Drakul moves away from the strike by Kobayashi.
A big right from Drakul misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kobayashi missing with a left hand there. Drakul was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Kobayashi is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Drakul.
Drakul misses the jab.
Drakul fails to land the takedown.
Kobayashi lands a glancing blow to the side of Drakul's head.
Drakul swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Kobayashi misses with a looping right.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Kobayashi swings away with a body shot that misses
enabling Drakul to counter with a crisp jab.
Kobayashi is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Drakul.
Kobayashi looks to throw the jab but Drakul is out of range.
Drakul ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Drakul connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Kobayashi momentarily.
Hiro Kobayashi seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Kobayashi falls off balance throwing a combination
and Drakul connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Drakul throws out a token jab with nothing on it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kobayashi misses with a low kick.
Kobayashi falls off balance throwing a combination
and Drakul counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Drakul misses with a looping right.
The fighters circling - Drakul throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Kobayashi moves out of range as Drakul strikes.
Hiro Kobayashi is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Drakul misses with a looping right.
Kobayashi throws a leg kick that is checked

and Drakul counters by moving into the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Drakul putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Kobayashi in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Drakul wants to stall.
Drakul has Kobayashi pressed against the cage, preventing Kobayashi from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Come on Drakul - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Kobayashi working hard to break the clinch.
Drakul with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Kobayashi is pushing Drakul up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Kobayashi tries to stall but Drakul uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Kobayashi breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Kobayashi stalks Drakul and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Drakul's face. Drakul staggers backwards, shaken.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Hiro Kobayashi.
I think Kobayashi has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Lou da Vinci scores the fight 27:30
Judge Joseph Jones scores the fight 28:29
Judge Jonathan Paton scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Hiro Kobayashi!