PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Michael Shin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Danny Hughes (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Shin
vs
Hughes

189 cm
18
180 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

185 cm
22
180 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Counter striker
Self confident

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Intelligent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Michael Shin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Danny Hughes!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Sano, Tatsuya Matsuyama and Yukihiro Shimada.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hughes shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Shin as he jumps to the side.
Shin defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Hughes.
Hughes fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Michael Shin has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Danny Hughes.

Hughes decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.

Hughes is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Shin tries to kick Hughes off in order to stand up. Hughes Avoids the leg push though and dives into side control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Shin is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Hughes has just dragged him back down to the mat.
Hughes throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Hughes scores with punches from side control.
Shin bucks up and tries to throw Hughes off but instead Hughes has got his back!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hughes is throwing strikes from the back here. Oh that last one was to the back of the head. Hughes gets a warning from the referee. He throws another strike to the back of the head straight away though and the referee has seen enough. He breaks up the two fighters and stands them back up. Hughes gets a real talking to here and is lucky not to get a point deducted. Hughes apologises and we restart here on the feet.
Hughes misses the shot to the body.
Shin fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Hughes manages to avoid it.
Hughes throws a right and a left that both miss.
Hughes misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.

Hughes shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Shin napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Shin is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Hughes is controlling him well.
Hughes wants to lay and pray for a moment but Shin keeps working.
Shin is trying to buck Hughes off.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hughes throwing strikes but missing, from side control.

Hughes tries for a kimura but Shin is defending well.
Hughes looks gassed!
Hughes is looking to take a break and control but Shin is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Shin tries to get back to his feet but has found himself mounted instead. Damn, that's gotta suck.
Hughes has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Shin is trying to stand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hughes working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Hughes controlling his opponent.

Hughes with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
Hughes trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Hughes is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Shin is trying to get to the cage to help him get back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hughes scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Shin?
Shin knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Hughes on the ground.
Hughes controlling from mount.

Hughes wants to finish this one by submission but Shin is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Hughes.

Hughes looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
You get the feeling that Shin really doesn't like being in this position too much.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Danny Hughes dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Shin throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Hughes throws a right hand that Shin ducks under and follows up with a left that Shin also avoids with ease.
Hughes is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.

It looks like Michael Shin has been cut.
Hughes fails with a takedown attempt.
Hughes shoots in for a double leg but Shin sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Hughes swinging wilding here.
Hughes dives in and grabs Shin's left leg, looking for a takedown. Shin pushes down on Hughes's head and hops out.
Michael Shin has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Danny Hughes.
Hughes is breathing heavily.
A cross from Shin lands.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shin dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Hughes will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Hughes shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Hughes takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Shin leaves Hughes with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Horrible takedown by Hughes or perhaps it was just good defense by Shin which made him look bad.
Shin connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Hughes swinging wilding here.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Hughes.
Hughes moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Hughes misses with a two punch combination.
Hughes tries for a takedown but Shin sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Hughes is defended easily by Shin.
Nice shot lands for Shin.
Danny Hughes is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shin tests Hughes's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Shin lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Hughes at a distance.
Hughes is trying hard to land a takedown here. Shin sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Hughes dives in and grabs Shin's left leg, looking for a takedown. Shin pushes down on Hughes's head and hops out.
Shin cracks Hughes with a good jab.
Shin connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Hughes momentarily.

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.
A decent looking cross lands there for Shin.
Shin slips a jab and a cross from Hughes.
Shin stuffs the takedown attempt from Hughes. Hughes gets slowly back to his feet.
Shin works Hughes's body with a nice hook.
Shin scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Hughes is looking to score with low kicks.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Hughes tries to bum rush Shin with a series of wild strikes but Shin uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Shin misses with a series of wild punches.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Michael Shin will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Michael Shin's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Hughes throws a leg kick but Shin moved away.
Shin misses with a hook. Hughes ducked under it nicely.
Shin bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Hughes's head.
Shin lands a nice looking body shot.
Hughes throws a left and a right that both miss
and Shin cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Hughes wants to land a leg kick but Shin is out of range.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hughes takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Hughes throws a left and a right that both miss
and Shin counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Shin throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Hughes stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shin pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Hughes fails with the takedown
and Shin counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Hughes takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Hughes throws a combination that misses
and Hughes takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Hughes shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
letting Shin counter with a right hand.
A lazy left from Shin finds it's target.
Hughes misses with a double jab
and Shin counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Hughes takes a jab right on the kisser.
Hughes misses with a takedown
and Shin counters with a nice uppercut.
Michael Shin has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Danny Hughes.
Hughes tries for a takedown but Shin circles away easily
enabling Shin to counter with a crisp jab.
Jab by Shin.

Hughes darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Hughes trying to mount his opponent but Shin defends it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hughes trying to control the action but Shin is working from the bottom.
Shin looks like he's trying to stand up.
Danny Hughes has got the better of the ground game so far.
Shin is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Hughes scores with a couple of nice shots.
Shin is trying to stand up here but Hughes is controlling him well.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Hughes trying to control the pace.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Hughes seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Shin does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Nice strikes from Hughes there.
Shin wants to stand back up but Hughes manages to pass into side control.
Hughes works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Hughes takes a little break here. Shin wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Hughes trying to control the position but Shin is working away.

And that's the end of the fight!
Danny Hughes comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Hughes 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 Shigeki Sano scores the fight 28:29
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 28:29
Judge Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Danny Hughes!