PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Neil Diaz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kenny Katsuragi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The key to victory for Neil Diaz has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Diaz
vs
Katsuragi

180 cm
23
156 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

177 cm
20
152 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Self confident

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Neil Diaz!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Kenny Katsuragi!
The judges for this bout are Ren Mimura, Yuuki Gou and Kenichi Hosakawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Katsuragi tries to close the distance and clinch up but Diaz swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Neil Diaz seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Diaz throws a series of strikes that have Katsuragi backpedaling.
Diaz throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Katsuragi.
Diaz missing with a left hand there. Katsuragi was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Katsuragi moves in looking to clinch but Diaz pushes him off.
Diaz takes a swing at Katsuragi's ribcage but misses.
Diaz throws the left hand but Katsuragi avoids the punch easily.
Katsuragi tries to clinch up.
Diaz throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Katsuragi tries to clinch but Diaz moves out of range.
Diaz lands with a straight right. Katsuragi didn't see that one coming.
Katsuragi tries to clinch up.
Diaz misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Katsuragi shoots in for a double leg but Diaz sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Diaz is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Katsuragi.
Diaz scores with a sloppy right hand. Katsuragi should have avoided that one.
Katsuragi is trying hard to land a takedown here. Diaz sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Diaz swats away the attempt to clinch by Katsuragi.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Diaz throws a series of punches but Katsuragi moves out of range.
Diaz lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Diaz misses with a looping right.
Katsuragi tries to close the distance and clinch up against the ropes but Diaz paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Diaz darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
Katsuragi pushes Diaz off but Diaz dives into side control.

Diaz working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Diaz is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Katsuragi's shoulder. That is not cool.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Katsuragi can do anything to dispel that myth.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Diaz prevents Katsuragi from escaping the position.

Diaz tries for a kimura but Katsuragi is defending well.
Katsuragi is trying to get back to his feet.
Diaz is looking to take a break and control but Katsuragi is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Katsuragi regains half guard, as Diaz was trying to land strikes.
Katsuragi is not content to let Diaz control the position.
Diaz wants to free his trapped foot but Katsuragi is holding on for dear life with his legs.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Katsuragi moves forwards but Diaz connects with a nice, crisp 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.
Katsuragi changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Diaz tries to avoid it but Katsuragi manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Diaz to the ground. Diaz escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Neil Diaz has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Kenny Katsuragi.
A nice combination there by Diaz.
Diaz connects with a crisp jab.
Diaz connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Diaz paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Diaz just misses with a punch to the body.

Diaz feints and as Katsuragi raises his hands in defense, Diaz changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Diaz passes Katsuragi's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Katsuragi is staying active underneath Diaz, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

Diaz is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Katsuragi is just riding it out for now. Diaz eventually gives up the hold.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Neil Diaz dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

A big right from Diaz misses.
Katsuragi moves in looking to clinch but Diaz pushes him off.
Katsuragi moves in looking to clinch but Diaz pushes him off.
Diaz keeps the fight on the outside.
Diaz just misses with a punch to the body.
Katsuragi shoots in and drives through. Diaz sprawls well.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Katsuragi takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Diaz connects with a jab.
Katsuragi fails in his attempt to clinch.
Diaz rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Katsuragi moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Diaz throws out a loose jab but Katsuragi uses good head movement to avoid it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Diaz scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Diaz scores with a one two! Katsuragi had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Diaz scores with a hook.
Diaz scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Jab from Diaz.
Diaz stuffs the takedown attempt from Katsuragi. Katsuragi gets slowly back to his feet.
Diaz connects with a right hand. Katsuragi shakes it off.
Diaz throws a series of strikes that have Katsuragi backpedaling.
Diaz rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Katsuragi moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Diaz throws a series of punches but Katsuragi moves out of range.
Diaz fails to land with a series of punches.
Diaz lands a nice hook to Katsuragi's body. Katsuragi takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Diaz jabs Katsuragi right on the nose. Katsuragi blinks but takes it well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Diaz moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Katsuragi tries to clinch there but Diaz circles away.
Diaz misses the shot to the body.
Diaz stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Katsuragi tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Diaz displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Katsuragi.
Neil Diaz has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Kenny Katsuragi.
Katsuragi is breathing heavily.
Katsuragi closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Diaz scores with a hook to the body. Katsuragi takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
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!
Left hook, right uppercut from Diaz.
Neil Diaz is winning the standup battle so far.
Diaz misses with a few strikes there.
Diaz works Katsuragi's body with a nice hook.

Katsuragi changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Diaz looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Katsuragi wants to stand but Diaz has his arm trapped.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Diaz can't do much from the bottom here.
Diaz tries to buck Katsuragi off but Katsuragi is having none of it.
Diaz manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.

Diaz is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Katsuragi pulls his head out easily.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Diaz scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Katsuragi shoots in but Diaz avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Diaz works over Katsuragi's head and body with a nice combination.
Diaz moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Diaz fails with a takedown attempt.

Katsuragi changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Diaz looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Diaz prevents Katsuragi from improving position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Neil Diaz dominated that second 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. And we move into the final round!

Katsuragi throws a right hand that Diaz ducks under and follows up with a left that Diaz also avoids with ease.
Katsuragi ducks under a wild hook from Diaz.
Katsuragi showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Diaz.
Diaz lands a body shot.
Katsuragi throws a series of punches but Diaz avoids them all with ease.
Diaz throws a combination. Katsuragi tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Neil Diaz is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Katsuragi tries to clinch there but Diaz circles away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Diaz scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Katsuragi doesn't seem bothered though.
Diaz jabs Katsuragi right on the nose. Katsuragi blinks but takes it well.
Diaz connects with a body shot.
Katsuragi takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Katsuragi is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Katsuragi slips a jab and a cross from Diaz.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Diaz lands with a cross.
Katsuragi takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
A punch lands to the side of Katsuragi 's head but he takes it in his stride.
A nice combination there by Diaz.
Katsuragi swinging wildly here.
Katsuragi misses with a straight left.
Diaz scores with a nice right hand.
Katsuragi gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Diaz.
Diaz thuds his right hand into Katsuragi's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Diaz fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Diaz stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Diaz tries to clinch there but Katsuragi circles away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Diaz smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Diaz scores with a sloppy right hand. Katsuragi should have avoided that one.
Diaz changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Katsuragi tries to avoid it but Diaz manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Katsuragi to the ground. Katsuragi escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Diaz swats away the attempt to clinch by Katsuragi.
Diaz looks for a takedown but Katsuragi sprawls well.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Neil Diaz. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Diaz shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Katsuragi but Katsuragi pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Katsuragi shoots in but Diaz avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Diaz fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Katsuragi manages to avoid it.
Katsuragi takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Katsuragi slips a jab and a cross from Diaz.
Diaz lands with a good body shot.
Katsuragi slips a jab from Diaz.

Katsuragi gets a takedown into half guard.
Diaz is looking for a sweep. Katsuragi is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Diaz is trying to maintain the position but Katsuragi is very close to passing his half guard.
Diaz tries to get to full guard but Katsuragi has control of the leg.
Diaz gets back to full guard.
Kenny Katsuragi has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Diaz has his foot on Katsuragi's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Katsuragi works his way back into a safe position though.
Katsuragi trying to control the position from guard on top but Diaz is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Diaz is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

Diaz looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Katsuragi has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Diaz is proving hard to escape from.

And that's the end of the fight!
Neil Diaz showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Diaz 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 Ren Mimura scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yuuki Gou scores the fight 30:27
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Neil Diaz!