PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Baki Balboa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jun Ito (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Baki Balboa has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Balboa
vs
Ito

181 cm
22
170 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

180 cm
23
175 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Determined

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Baki Balboa!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Jun Ito!
The judges for this bout are Taro Takaoka, Hirohito Nitta and Yuuki Gou.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Balboa checks the leg kick nicely there.
Ito throws a body punch but Balboa moves out of range.
Balboa tries to clinch but Ito is having none of it.
Ito tries to clinch but Balboa is having none of it.
Jun Ito seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Balboa shoots in and drives through. Ito sprawls well.
Balboa jabs away that one connects to the head of his opponent.
Ito closes the distance and lands a one-two.
A jab from Balboa misses.
Donk. Ito catches Balboa right on the button with a cross.
Ito slips under a jab.
Ito tries to clinch but Balboa is having none of it.
Ito is looking to clinch but Balboa is avoiding it.
Balboa shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Ito as he jumps to the side.
Ito will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balboa just misses with a punch to the body.
Ito staying out of range there.
Some wild striking there from Balboa.

Ito instigates a clinch.
Ito keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Balboa's efforts to push away.
Ito lands a damaging elbow.
Ito softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Ito landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Balboa looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.

Ito successfully pulls guard.
Balboa wanted to stand there but Ito had control of the position.
Ito is pulling down on Balboa's head. It's preventing any offense from Balboa, at least for the moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ito looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

Balboa gets to his feet - Ito follows without any prompting.
Ito looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Balboa is fending him off so far but Ito persists. Nope, Balboa circles away and we're back to standing.
Ito on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Balboa shoots and misses

and Ito counters by moving into the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Baki Balboa. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Balboa is breathing heavily.
Ito goes for a takedown attempt but Balboa pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Balboa throws out a loose jab but Ito uses good head movement to avoid it.
Ito throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Ito moves into the clinch.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Knees in the clinch landing for Ito.
Ito taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Balboa wants to break the clinch but can't.
Ito is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Balboa gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Ito lands an elbow inside.
Ito trying to land knees to the body.
Ito lands an elbow that stopped Balboa in his tracks for a moment.
Ito lands with a short shot to the head.
Balboa is looking to break free of the clinch but Ito has double underhooks.
Ito is trying to drag Balboa to the mat but Balboa just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Ito slowing the pace effectively.
Nice elbow from Ito.
Ito tries for a takedown but Balboa manages to get underhooks.

Ito breaks the clinch.
Ito throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Balboa takes one on the chin but seems OK.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Ito moves into range and clinches up with Balboa.
Ito lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Balboa looking for a takedown.
Ito lands an elbow inside.
Ito lands an elbow just above Balboa 's eye.
Balboa tries to break the clinch but Ito is controlling the position.
Ito is stalling here.
Ito connects with a knee to the head.
Ito gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Ito keeps control of Balboa as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Ito with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.

Ito's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Ito ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.

Ito moves into range and clinches up with Balboa.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Ito manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Balboa wants to stand but Ito is controlling his posture from full guard.
Ito throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jun Ito dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Ito misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Balboa.
Ito tries to clinch but Balboa is having none of it.
Balboa waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Ito.
Balboa shoots in but no luck this time.
Jun Ito is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Balboa lands a really nice looking cross but Ito seems unphased.
Balboa with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Ito to score with a decent uppercut.

Ito instigates a clinch.
Balboa can't break the clinch.

Ito escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Ito fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Balboa manages to avoid it.
Ito thuds a left hand into Balboa's body.
Balboa defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Ito.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Balboa circles away from the clinch attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balboa misses with a straight right.
Ito rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Balboa moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Ito works over Balboa's head and body with a nice combination.

It looks like Baki Balboa has been cut.
Balboa misses the shot to the body.
Ito tries to clinch up.
Balboa misses with a hook.
Balboa steps to his left, right into the path of a big body kick from Ito. That one must have hurt.
Ito lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Balboa at a distance.

Ito fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Balboa, pushing him back against the cage.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Ito.
Balboa can't break the clinch.

Ito escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Ito moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Ito shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Balboa is trying to defend but Ito finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
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!
Ito tries to pass the half guard into mount. Balboa knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Ito working over Balboa with some ground and pound. Balboa looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Ito is nestled in close to Balboa, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Balboa trying to control here.
Balboa is looking to escape.
Ito drops an elbow to the side of Balboa's head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ito throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Ito looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Balboa with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Ito not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Balboa tries to kick Ito off but Ito keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

Ito decides to return to a standing position.
Ito tries to close the distance and clinch but Balboa swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Ito shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Balboa but Balboa pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Ito tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Balboa paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Ito tries to clinch up but Balboa circles away and keeps his distance.
Balboa swats away the attempt to clinch by Ito.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Ito takes a jab right on the kisser.
Balboa looks for a takedown but Ito sprawls well.
Ito pushes Balboa away with a front kick.
Nice takedown defense from Balboa. No joy for Ito on that attempt.
Baki Balboa has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jun Ito.
A cross from Ito lands.
Ito goes for a high kick. It partially lands.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Ito falls off balance throwing a combination
enabling Balboa to counter with a crisp jab.
Balboa circles away from the clinch attempt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jun Ito showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Baki Balboa's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Ito throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Ito misses with a series of wild punches.
Ito lands with a cross.

Ito has taken the fight to the clinch.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Ito.
Balboa on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Ito misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Balboa.
Balboa tries to break free but Ito pushes him back against the cage.
Balboa is trying to break free.
Ito tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Balboa just stands there and leans against the cage.

Ito manages to break the clinch.
Ito motions for Balboa to come forward. Ito throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Ito looks to score with a jab to the body but Balboa is just out of range.
Ito throws a combination that misses
and Balboa counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Jun Ito seems to be getting the better of the standup.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ito lands a lovely overhand right.
Balboa fails in his attempt to clinch.
Balboa misses with a takedown attempt
and Ito counters with a stiff right hand.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Ito throws an overhand right that lands on Balboa's shoulder, as Balboa tries to avoid the shot.
A big left from Balboa misses.
Balboa tries to clinch up but Ito circles away and keeps his distance.
Ito tries to clinch up.
Ito tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Balboa has his takedown stuffed
and Ito counters with a nice uppercut.
Ito uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Balboa.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A slow jab from Balboa misses its intended target.
Ito looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Ito throws a nice looking combination but Balboa bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Ito tries to clinch up.
A jab from Balboa misses.
Ito thows a body kick. Balboa tries to catch it but that hurt him.
Balboa swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Nice shot lands for Ito.
Ito looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

Ito drives through and clinches with Balboa against the cage.

Ito escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Balboa takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
This is turning into a torrid day at the office for Balboa. He's trying desperately to land a takedown but he's failing miserably and getting slapped silly on the feet to compound his misery.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Ito closes the distance and clinches.
Balboa has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
A nice left hand lands by Ito.
Jun Ito is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Ito's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Ito lands with a shot to the body.
Ito thuds a left hand into Balboa's body.
Ito dives in and grabs Balboa's left leg, looking for a takedown. Balboa pushes down on Ito's head and hops out.
Ito lands with a thumping leg kick.

Ito moves into the clinch.
Ito goes for a takedown in the clinch but Balboa prevents it.
Baki Balboa has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jun Ito.

Ito breaks from the clinch.
Ito is looking to clinch but Balboa is avoiding it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Ito moves into the clinch successfully.
Ito using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.

Ito's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Balboa throws a hook but Ito blocks it.

Ito rushes Balboa and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Balboa is trying to break free.
Ito stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Ito goes for a takedown in the clinch but Balboa prevents it.
Balboa wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Ito has him pressed against the cage.
Baki Balboa has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Ito breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Ito has a takedown stuffed.

Ito gets in close and instigates a clinch.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jun Ito comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Ito has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 27:30
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 27:30
Judge Yuuki Gou scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jun Ito!