PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Elmeri Koira (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Akira Sakurai (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Koira
vs
Sakurai

175 cm
18
176 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

184 cm
22
188 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Prefers standup

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 2 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Elmeri Koira!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Akira Sakurai!
The judges for this bout are Hirohito Nitta, Tatsuya Matsuyama and Yukihiro Shimada.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Koira lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Sakurai keeps the fight on the outside.
Sakurai punishes Koira's body with a nice straight punch.
Sakurai fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Koira on the side of the head.
Sakurai avoids a kick to the body.
Sakurai lands a head shot.

Sakurai shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Sakurai showed some decent athleticism there.
Sakurai slips a nice elbow through Koira's hands, connecting with Koira's forehead.
Koira wants to get back to full guard.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Sakurai in particular looking to stall.
Sakurai missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sakurai thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
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.

Sakurai is trying to work for a kimura. He's got his hands clasped together - this could be trouble! No, Koira has managed to free his arm - good work.
Koira is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Sakurai scores with a couple of nice shots.
Sakurai trying to pass the guard but Koira defending well.
Sakurai drops an elbow to the side of Koira's head.
Sakurai seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Sakurai throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Sakurai throwing shots but Koira is blocking nicely.
Nice strikes from Sakurai there.
Sakurai winds up and cracks Koira with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Sakurai looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sakurai throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Sakurai wants to lay and pray for a moment but Koira keeps working.
Sakurai missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Sakurai wants to pass to mount but Koira is defending the position.
Koira is breathing heavily.
Koira has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Sakurai is working away from the top position though.
Sakurai throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Koira throws a sloppy body shot

and Sakurai counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Sakurai throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Sakurai working the head and body with strikes.
Sakurai thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Koira's head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sakurai wants to pass the guard but Koira is defending well.
Sakurai prevents Koira from improving his position.
Sakurai is looking to take a break and control but Koira is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Sakurai passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Koira!
Sakurai landing strikes from the mount.

Sakurai jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Koira is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Koira and Sakurai has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.

Sakurai working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Sakurai looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Koira taking a bit of punishment here - Sakurai scoring with strikes.
Sakurai in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Sakurai working the body and head with strikes.
Sakurai scores with a couple of short elbows.

Koira is rocked!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Sakurai lands a decent elbow from side control.
Oh Koira is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Koira dodges the ground and pound from Sakurai.
Sloppy strikes there by Sakurai.
Sakurai in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
An elbow from Sakurai crashes against the mat.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
The ground and pound from Sakurai seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Koira parries the strikes from Sakurai easily there. Sakurai is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Koira to escape.
Koira dodges the ground and pound from Sakurai.

Sakurai tries for a kimura but Koira is defending well.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Sakurai looks frusrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Sakurai throws a hook to the side of Koira's head but Koira sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Sakurai fails with a takedown attempt.
Koira seems to have got his legs back now.
Koira throws a sloppy head kick and Sakurai moves out of range easily.

That's six minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Sakurai swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Sakurai throws a lazy right hand but Koira sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Sakurai digs a good body shot into Koira's ribs.
Sakurai throws a head kick that misses
and Koira counters with a low kick, right behind Sakurai 's knee.
A head kick from Koira lands but Sakurai takes it in his stride.
Koira jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Sakurai moves out of range as Koira throws a body kick.
Koira lands a nice leg kick that just misses Sakurai's sensitive parts.
Koira tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Koira wants to clinch.

That's seven minutes gone in the round.
Koira lands a head kick!
A head kick misses from Koira.
Koira misses the shot to the body.

Sakurai looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Koira avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Sakurai.
Sakurai is looking to pass Koira's guard but actually Koira recovers to full guard.

Sakurai is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! Koira is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! Koira has escaped and now he's on top!

That's eight minutes gone in the round.
Koira postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.

Sakurai looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Koira preventing the sweep.

Sakurai has thrown up a leg looking for a triangle. Koira doesn't defend quickly enough and Sakurai has managed to lock this one up! Can Koira escape?! NO! He's tapping out! Damn, that was a quick submission - congrats to Sakurai on a fantastic submission victory.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 8:50 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle). Akira Sakurai!