PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Kaito Takamine (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and San Cou (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Takamine
vs
Cou

180 cm
18
205 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

181 cm
21
200 lbs
6 - 8 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Solid 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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Kaito Takamine!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, San Cou!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Fujiwara, Yukihiro Yamamoto and Hirohito Nitta.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cou keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.

Cou clinches up with Takamine and pushes him back against the cage.
Cou fails to pull guard.

Cou's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Cou is looking to clinch.
Takamine on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Cou will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Cou lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
A punch combination from Cou misses.
Takamine could do with loosing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Jab, jab by Cou - just one landing.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Cou instigates a clinch.
Cou is trying to break free.

Cou pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Takamine tries to close the distance and clinch up but Cou swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Cou closes the distance looking to clinch

so Takamine counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Cou wants to get back to his feet but Takamine is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Takamine pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Cou is keeping the position for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Takamine stands and throws Cou's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Takamine throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Takamine takes a little break here. Cou wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.
Cou tries to escape but Takamine is in control.
Takamine in side control, just content to control the action for now.

That's two 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.
Takamine trying to control the action but Cou is working from the bottom.
Takamine wants to control for a moment but Cou uses the opportunity to move back to half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Cou wants to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Takamine throws a strike but Cou avoids it easily and moves to full guard.
Cou really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Takamine. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Takamine gets to his feet - Cou follows without any prompting.
Cou loads up on a big right hand but Takamine slips the punch.
Cou tries to bum rush Takamine with a series of wild strikes but Takamine uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
San Cou is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Cou tries to close the distance and clinch up but Takamine swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Takamine uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Cou.
Cou defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Takamine.

Takamine clinches.
Cou has had enough of the clinch but Takamine keeps him there for the moment.
Takamine drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Takamine changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Cou fights it off and pushes away nicely.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Kaito Takamine. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A jab from Cou does it's job there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Takamine takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Cou throws a shot from downtown. Takamine moves away and avoids it.
A big right from Cou misses.

Takamine rushes Cou and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Takamine taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Cou can't break the clinch.
Takamine prevents Cou from breaking the clinch.
Cou has had enough of the clinch but Takamine keeps him there for the moment.
Cou looks gassed!
Takamine tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Cou smiles and moves away.
Cou scores with a nice strike.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Takamine will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Takamine fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Cou lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.

Cou instigates a clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

San Cou dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Cou looks to land a combination but Takamine avoids it well.
Cou paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Takamine takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
Cou misses with a series of wild punches.
Cou misses with a wild combination.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Takamine.
Cou scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Cou throws a series of strikes that have Takamine backpedaling.
Cou misses with a few strikes there.
Takamine uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Cou.

Cou fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Takamine, pushing him back against the cage.
Takamine has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Cou is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Cou is trying to break free.
Takamine tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Cou just stands there and leans against the cage.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Kaito Takamine. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Takamine breaks from the clinch.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A combination from Cou does no damage.
Cou scores with a nice head shot.
Cou might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.

Takamine rushes Cou and presses him up against the cage.

Takamine escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Cou misses with a series of wild punches.
Cou loads up on a big right hand but Takamine slips the punch.
Cou tests Takamine's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Kaito Takamine is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Cou fails to land with a series of punches.
Cou throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Takamine dodges the punch combination from Cou.
Cou scores with the left hand. Takamine knows he should have avoided that one.

Takamine shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Takamine showed some decent athleticism there.
Cou pushes Takamine off looking to stand but Takamine dives back in and keeps control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Takamine tries to pass the half guard into mount. Cou knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Takamine thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Takamine trying to control the action but Cou is working from the bottom.
Takamine is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Takamine's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Takamine wants to control but Cou is keeping him busy.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Takamine misses with a wild combination.
Takamine needs to keep his hands up - Cou had a free shot at his head there.

Takamine clinches.
Takamine looking to throw knees to the head but Cou is blocking nicely.
Cou blocks an uppercut.

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.
Cou tries to break the clinch but Takamine is controlling the position.
Takamine tries for a takedown but Cou manages to get underhooks.
Good body shot from Takamine.
Takamine jumps guard but Cou stands there with Takamine around his waist. Takamine gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Cou is looking to break free of the clinch but Takamine has double underhooks.
Cou prevents a takedown attempt there.
Cou is trying to force a seperation but Takamine has the dominant position.

Takamine breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
San Cou seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Nice takedown defense from Cou. No joy for Takamine on that attempt.
Cou is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Cou looks to clinch

and Takamine counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Cou pushes Takamine off but Takamine dives into side control.

Takamine decides to stand back up. Takamine steps back and let's Cou get back to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kaito Takamine dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Cou lands a jab to the head.

Takamine looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Cou!
Takamine controlling his opponent.
Cou is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Cou tries to buck Takamine off but he can't manage it.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Cou is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Takamine stands up from the dominant position. He obviously fancies his chances standing.
Takamine scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.

Takamine closes the distance and clinches.
Takamine tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.

Takamine decides to pull guard.

Takamine manages to escape and get back to his feet.
Takamine plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Takamine throws a series of punches but Cou avoids them all with ease.

Cou closes the distance and clinches.

Takamine has clasped his hands together around Cou's back... aaand, he's got a takedown into side control. Nicely done.
Cou pushes Takamine away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Takamine gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Takamine remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
Takamine wants to control but Cou is keeping him busy.
Takamine works to advance to full mount. Cou defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cou is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.

Takamine has control of Cou's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Cou regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Takamine throwing strikes here but Cou is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.

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.
Takamine with good strikes from the mount here!
Takamine content just to control the position here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Kaito Takamine showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Takamine has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Fujiwara scores the fight 29:28
Judge Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 29:28
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kaito Takamine!