PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Kenpachi Zaraki (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and van chan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). chan has chosen Numb as his entrance music. 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.

Zaraki
vs
chan

199 cm
24
210 lbs
7 - 2 - 0

188 cm
24
205 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Kenpachi Zaraki!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, van chan!
The judges for this bout are Yuuki Gou, Hirohito Nitta and Shigeki Sano.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Zaraki fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
chan doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Zaraki counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Zaraki sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Zaraki seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down chan for as long as he can get away with.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Zaraki stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. chan swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Zaraki trying to control but chan is working from the bottom.
Zaraki slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Zaraki won't allow chan to sweep him here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

chan looking for a guillotine here but Zaraki defends easily.
Zaraki controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Zaraki in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Zaraki lands a couple of decent looking shots.
chan looking to control.

chan looking for a guillotine here but Zaraki defends easily.
Zaraki working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zaraki advances to half guard.
chan has hold of Zaraki's hands but Zaraki slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
chan is in trouble now - Zaraki has advanced to mount!
Zaraki dominating with strikes here.
chan wants to hold on but Zaraki pushes him away.
chan is looking to get to half guard.
Zaraki controlling the pace for now.
Zaraki with shots to the head and body - chan looks very uncomfortable down there.
chan gets back to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
chan gets full guard.
Zaraki postures up in chan's guard and throws a big left but chan blocks it.
Zaraki works over chan with some ground and pound from guard.
Zaraki trying to control the position from guard on top but chan is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

chan looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Zaraki passes into side control.
chan is looking for a sweep.
chan looks gassed!
Zaraki trying to control the action but chan is working from the bottom.
Zaraki content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.
chan struggling a bit here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
chan manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Ground and pound from Zaraki.
Zaraki throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Zaraki looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
chan tries to roll over but Zaraki keeps him under control.
chan is trying to control but can't.
Nice strikes from Zaraki there.
Zaraki trying to control the pace.
Zaraki working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kenpachi Zaraki dominated that round.
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.

chan shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. chan showed some decent athleticism there.
Zaraki gets back to full guard.
chan throws and elbow that misses. Zaraki uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in chan's guard. Nice move by Zaraki!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
chan tries to strike from the bottom.
chan utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Zaraki accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Zaraki controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Zaraki has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

chan had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Zaraki defends it easily.
Zaraki sitting in guard here, content to control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
chan is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Zaraki avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Kenpachi Zaraki seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Zaraki tries for a takedown but chan circles away easily

so chan counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Zaraki is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Zaraki slips a nice elbow through chan's hands, connecting with chan's forehead.
Zaraki passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for chan!
chan is wriggling around trying to escape.
Zaraki will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zaraki tries to control but chan wriggling away.
Zaraki prevents chan from getting the reversal.
chan is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
chan is breathing heavily.
chan takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Zaraki lands a heavy elbow.
Zaraki lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Zaraki pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Zaraki postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. chan looks a forlorn figure.
Zaraki lands with some vicious ground and pound - can chan hang on?
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
chan is trying to escape the mount.
Zaraki landing strikes, looking to finish!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
chan really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Zaraki looking to finish chan with some ground and pound. This is bad for chan!
Zaraki looking to control but chan is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Zaraki lands a big shot there that rocks chan but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Zaraki unloading with bombs!
chan tries to reverse the position but Zaraki maintains control.
Zaraki lands a heavy elbow.
chan wants to hold on but Zaraki pushes him away.
Zaraki in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
chan is in all sorts of trouble here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zaraki postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. chan looks a forlorn figure.
Zaraki with a couple of short strikes.
chan in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
chan is trying to escape the mount.
Zaraki scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Zaraki lands a heavy elbow.
Zaraki has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of chan's face.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Zaraki looking to control but chan is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Zaraki lands a big elbow.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kenpachi Zaraki 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!

Zaraki shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Zaraki lands a nice short elbow.
chan blocking the ground and pound attempt from Zaraki.
chan gets back to full guard.

chan is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Zaraki defends well.
Zaraki scoring with punches to the head and body.
Zaraki missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Zaraki chips away with some ground and pound.
Zaraki is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Zaraki avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
chan takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Zaraki stands up over chan, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Zaraki trying to control the position from guard on top but chan is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

chan is looking for a triangle but Zaraki pushes his legs off easily.
Zaraki trying to control but chan is working from the bottom.
Zaraki scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Zaraki content to stall in guard here.
Zaraki connects with a couple of short punches.
Kenpachi Zaraki is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

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

chan has his foot on Zaraki's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Zaraki works his way back into a safe position though.
Zaraki pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. chan is keeping the position for now.

chan is looking for a triangle but Zaraki pushes his legs off easily.
Zaraki controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Zaraki is working chan over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Zaraki is pushing down on chan's leg trying to pass to half guard. chan is fighting to maintain full guard but Zaraki has managed to sneak the leg through.
Zaraki not doing much here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
chan missing with punches from the bottom.
chan tries to roll over but Zaraki keeps him under control.

chan actively working from the bottom here.
Zaraki controlling the action here.

chan is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Zaraki pulls his head out easily.
Zaraki not doing much here.
Kenpachi Zaraki overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's four 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.
Zaraki seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but chan does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Zaraki content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Zaraki throwing shots but chan is blocking nicely.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

chan actively working from the bottom here.
Zaraki with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Kenpachi Zaraki showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Zaraki, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Yuuki Gou scores the fight 30:27
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 30:27
Judge Shigeki Sano scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kenpachi Zaraki!