PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Patrick Willis (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hidehiko Yamamoto (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Yamamoto has chosen Wage Slaves - All Shall Perish 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.

Willis
vs
Yamamoto

188 cm
23
240 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

191 cm
23
260 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Very strong

BJJ White Belt
Good kicks
Knockout power

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Patrick Willis!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Hidehiko Yamamoto!
The judges for this bout are Hirohito Nitta, Yukihiro Yamamoto and Shigeki Fujiwara.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Willis misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Yamamoto.
Yamamoto throws a head kick that misses.
Yamamoto should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Yamamoto drops his hands momentarily and Willis takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Willis takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Willis throws a jab when Yamamoto was well out of range.

Willis looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Willis missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Willis is trying to control. Yamamoto wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

Willis is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Yamamoto is just riding it out for now. Willis eventually gives up the hold.
Willis looks to land a strike but Yamamoto avoids it nicely and regains full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Yamamoto utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Yamamoto keeping moving, preventing Willis from controlling successfully.

Willis stands up and waves to Yamamoto to follow him.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Willis scores with a leg kick.
Willis throws a low kick, looking for Yamamoto's leg but Yamamoto calmly moves out of range.
Willis dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Willis shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Yamamoto as he jumps to the side.
Hidehiko Yamamoto is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Willis lands with a kick to the temple. Yamamoto shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
Willis looks for a takedown but Yamamoto sprawls well.
Willis shoots in for a takedown but Yamamoto shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Patrick Willis. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Yamamoto pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Willis tries to score a power double leg takedown but Yamamoto sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Willis somewhat.

Willis closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Willis lands in his opponent's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Willis throwing strikes but missing.
Willis working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Willis missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Willis trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

Yamamoto pushes Willis off and scrambles back to his feet.
Yamamoto lands with a kick to the temple. Willis shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Willis clinches.
Willis wants to break free but Yamamoto has control.
Willis tries to break free but Yamamoto pushes him back against the cage.
Willis looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.

Willis breaks from the clinch.
Nice uppercut lands for Yamamoto. That snapped Willis's head back.
Willis dives in and grabs Yamamoto's left leg, looking for a takedown. Yamamoto pushes down on Willis's head and hops out.
Yamamoto takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Yamamoto misses with a head kick.

Willis shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Poor strikes thrown by Willis there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Willis landing strikes from the mount.

Willis goes for an armbar but he's not got it… Yamamoto turns into him and now he's in Willis's guard.
Yamamoto wants to stand but Willis is controlling his posture from full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Willis trying to control the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Willis has a nice red mark on his side after a thudding body kick by Yamamoto.
Nice shot by Willis.

Willis shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Yamamoto napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Yamamoto is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Willis is controlling him well.

Willis tries for a kimura but Yamamoto is defending well.

Willis thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Willis working the ground and pound from side control.
Willis landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Willis creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Yamamoto sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
The strikes coming from Willis are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Yamamoto managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Willis.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Yamamoto can do anything to dispel that myth.
Yamamoto defending against the ground and pound.
The ground and pound from Willis seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Willis working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Willis in side control, throwing shots but Yamamoto defends.
Yamamoto defending against the ground and pound.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.

Willis shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Willis unloads with some shots from mount but Yamamoto bucks and avoids them well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Yamamoto holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Willis tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Willis working Yamamoto over with strikes here.
Willis is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Yamamoto is breathing heavily.
Willis has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Yamamoto's face.
Yamamoto is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Willis looking to ground and pound but Yamamoto is blocking nicely.
Willis looking to finish with strikes here!
Willis in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Willis thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Willis thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Willis lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.

Willis looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Willis throwing strikes here but Yamamoto is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Willis misses with a head shot.
Willis thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Willis is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Yamamoto can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Willis throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Yamamoto because Willis loaded up on that one.

Willis is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Yamamoto has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Willis lands a big shot there that rocks Yamamoto but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Patrick Willis dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Willis shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Willis throwing strikes but missing.
Willis trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Willis throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Yamamoto works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Willis throws and elbow that misses. Yamamoto uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Willis's guard. Nice move by Yamamoto!
Willis looking for a sweep. Not yet Willis, not yet.

Willis pushes Yamamoto off and gets back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Yamamoto misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Willis blocks a head kick by Yamamoto.
Yamamoto throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Yamamoto checks a low kick from Willis.
Hidehiko Yamamoto is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A head kick from Yamamoto lands but Willis takes it in his stride.
Yamamoto slaps away a takedown attempt from Willis, before circling back to the center of the mat.
No luck for Willis with that takedown attempt.

Willis shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Willis showed some decent athleticism there.
Willis prevents Yamamoto from standing back up.
Yamamoto takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Yamamoto avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Willis.

Willis is working for a kimura but Yamamoto is defending it quite comfortably.
Willis lands with a punch from half guard.
Willis is just content to waste time from the top position. Yamamoto takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Willis works a leg free and moves into half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Willis is trying to advance to mount but he's lost his balance and Yamamoto reverses the position - he's now on top in Willis's guard.
Willis bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Yamamoto's guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Willis accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Yamamoto avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Willis postures up in Yamamoto's guard and throws a big left but Yamamoto blocks it.
Patrick Willis is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Yamamoto really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Willis. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Willis wants to control from the top but Yamamoto keeps moving.
Willis looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Willis postures up in Yamamoto's guard and throws a big left but Yamamoto blocks it.

And that's the end of the fight!
Patrick Willis showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Willis, 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 Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 30:26
Judge Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 30:26
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Patrick Willis!