PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Brett Michaels (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Pete Drago (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Michaels
vs
Drago

189 cm
18
192 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

188 cm
22
188 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Counter striker
Self confident

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Brett Michaels!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Pete Drago!
The judges for this bout are Taro Takaoka, Yukihiro Yamamoto and Yasuomi Hirokawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Drago fails to land with a series of punches.
Drago misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Michaels connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Drago uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Michaels.
Drago with a body punch. A glancing blow.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Michaels.
Michaels wants to control but Drago is keeping him busy.
Michaels taking a break here but Drago is having none of it and regains half guard.
Michaels wants to pass to mount but Drago is defending the position.
Michaels content to control rather than advance.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Drago looks like he's trying to stand up.
Michaels tries to pass the half guard into mount. Drago knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Michaels wants to control but Drago is keeping him busy.

That's two 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.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Drago tries to bum rush Michaels with a series of wild strikes but Michaels uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Drago lands a jab-cross combination.
Drago throws a nice looking combination but Michaels bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.

Michaels decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Drago is staying active underneath Michaels, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Michaels thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Michaels uses his free foot to push down on Drago's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Drago.
Michaels controlling from the full mount.
Michaels raining down shots from the mount!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Michaels tries to control but Drago wriggling away.
Michaels lands a big shot there that rocks Drago but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Michaels trying to control but Drago is having none of it.
Michaels is in the full mount, landing strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Michaels trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Drago is bucking up trying to escape but Michaels cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Michaels controlling the pace for now.
Michaels looking to control but Drago is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Drago is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Michaels shoots in and drives through. Drago sprawls well.
Drago throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Michaels.
Michaels lands with an uppercut that bounces Drago off the cage and back into rage.
Michaels takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
Good standup being displayed there by Michaels as he connects with a hook.
Michaels tries to move into range but Drago moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Michaels scores with a nice right hand.
Drago scores with a three punch combo!
Drago throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Michaels.
Drago throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Michaels lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Michaels dodges the punch combination from Drago.

Michaels clinches.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Michaels stalling.
Drago is breathing heavily.
Drago can't break the clinch.
Drago prevents a takedown attempt there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Drago is trying to break the clinch but Michaels is controlling him.
Drago has had enough of the clinch but Michaels keeps him there for the moment.

Michaels breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Drago lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Michaels circles away quickly and effectively.
Michaels shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Drago as he jumps to the side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Brett Michaels. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Drago leaves Michaels with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

Michaels has Drago up against the cage in a clinch.
Michaels drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Drago gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Michaels stalls.
Michaels scores with an uppercut up the middle.

That's two 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.
Michaels drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Drago gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Drago wants to break free but Michaels has control.
Drago being controlled against the cage.
Michaels keeps control of Drago as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.

Michaels escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Pete Drago seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Michaels closes the distance and clinches.
Drago wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Drago is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

Michaels lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Michaels seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Drago does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Michaels prevents Drago from standing back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Michaels throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Michaels stalling away here and it's allowed Drago to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
Michaels scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Michaels trying to control but Drago is working from the bottom.
Drago utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Michaels has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Michaels throwing strikes but missing.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Drago slips under a jab.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Drago tries to bum rush Michaels with a series of wild strikes but Michaels uses good footwork to avoid the assault.

Michaels looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Drago!
Michaels in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Michaels lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Michaels lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Michaels with a couple of short strikes.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Michaels has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Drago's face.
Drago is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
Michaels landing punches.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Brett Michaels dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Drago walks into a left hand.
Drago misses with a jab, cross combination.
Pete Drago is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Michaels gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Michaels lands with a right to the head.
Michaels working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Michaels lands a shoulder strike.

Michaels's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Drago fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Nice body punch from Michaels.
Drago takes a swing at Michaels's ribcage but misses.
Michaels jabs at Drago's body.
Drago takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.

Michaels darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Michaels missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Brett Michaels overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Drago takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Michaels is trying to control the action in half guard but Drago is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Michaels wants to pass to mount but Drago is defending the position.
Drago is staying active underneath Michaels, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.

Michaels gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Michaels lands a body shot.

Michaels pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Drago misses with a double jab

and Michaels counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Drago!
Michaels lands a nice shot to the head.
Michaels wants to control the pace but Drago is squirming around nicely.
Drago in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Michaels lands a heavy elbow.
Michaels with good strikes from the mount here!
Michaels trying to control but Drago is having none of it.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Michaels cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Drago is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
Michaels working the ground and pound effectively.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Michaels working the ground and pound effectively.
Michaels raining down shots from the mount!
Michaels has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Drago's face.
Michaels scores with a couple of good head shots there.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Michaels dominating with strikes here.
Pete Drago has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Brett Michaels is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Michaels connects with a couple of good shots from mount.

And that's the end of the fight!
Brett Michaels showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Michaels has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Taro Takaoka scores the fight 30:26
Judge Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 30:26
Judge Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Brett Michaels!