PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Yujiro Takahashi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Caio Almeida (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Almeida has chosen Blink 182 - Dammit as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Takahashi
vs
Almeida

180 cm
23
185 lbs
9 - 7 - 0

182 cm
24
200 lbs
5 - 5 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent knees
Knockout power

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Yujiro Takahashi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Caio Almeida!
The judges for this bout are Paulo Santos, Felipe Paraventi and Mauricio Rocha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Almeida dodges the punch combination from Takahashi.
Almeida is looking to clinch but Takahashi is avoiding it.
Almeida tries to clinch up.
Almeida wants to clinch.

Almeida gets a clinch.
Almeida blocks an elbow strike from Takahashi.
Almeida with a knee to the head.
Knees in the clinch landing for Almeida.
Almeida gets underhooks to prevent Takahashi's takedown attempt.
Almeida tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Takahashi avoids it.
Takahashi controlling the action here for a moment.
Almeida lands a nice elbow.
Almeida comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.

It looks like Yujiro Takahashi has been cut.
Almeida with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Almeida lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Almeida tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Takahashi avoids it.
Takahashi is working for takedown but Almeida is calmly controlling the position for now.
Takahashi looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Almeida blocks the elbow strike.
Almeida misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Takahashi.
Takahashi has Almeida pushed against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Almeida trying to land knees to the body.
Almeida working Takahashi over with knees to the body.
Takahashi takes an elbow to the temple.
Almeida tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Takahashi avoids it.
Almeida lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Takahashi taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Takahashi takes an elbow to the forehead.
Almeida throws an elbow that misses.
Almeida looking to throw knees to the head but Takahashi is blocking nicely.
Knees to the body from Almeida.
Takahashi is breathing heavily.
Almeida tries to land knees in the clinch but Takahashi avoids the damage to the body.
Almeida misses with a knee to the head.
Almeida gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Takahashi pushes off an throws an elbow but Almeida leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Takahashi lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Takahashi lands with a light punch inside.
Almeida lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Takahashi taking a breather.
Takahashi wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Takahashi has Almeida pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Almeida manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Yujiro Takahashi. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Takahashi takes an elbow to the temple.
Almeida scores a nice knee to the body.
Almeida throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Takahashi blocks it with crossed arms.
Almeida putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Takahashi in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Almeida unloads a knee to the mid-section. Takahashi lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Takahashi managing to block the knees to the body from Almeida.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Almeida lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Almeida lands a knee to the body.
Takahashi avoiding damage as Almeida throws knees to the body.
Almeida landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Takahashi takes a knee to the side of the body.
Almeida throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Takahashi misses with an elbow over the top.
Takahashi takes a knee right on the jaw!
Almeida avoids a wild elbow strike from Takahashi.
Almeida lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Almeida trying to land knees to the body.
Takahashi stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Takahashi has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Almeida is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Almeida missing with knees to the body.
Almeida tries to land knees in the clinch but Takahashi avoids the damage to the body.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Takahashi.
Almeida with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Takahashi lands a nice elbow.
Almeida lands a damaging elbow.
Almeida lands an elbow inside that Takahashi shrugs off.
Takahashi working Almeida over with knees to the body.
Almeida landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Almeida lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Almeida takes an elbow to the temple.
Almeida trying to land knees to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Takahashi throws an elbow but it misses.
Almeida avoiding damage as Takahashi throws knees to the body.
Almeida working Takahashi over with knees to the body.
Takahashi lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Almeida is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Takahashi looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Knees in the clinch landing for Takahashi.
Almeida scores with a knee to the head.
Almeida landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Almeida missing with knees to the body.
Almeida with a knee to the head.
Almeida is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Takahashi is defending well for now.
Takahashi misses with an elbow strike.
Takahashi throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Almeida blocks it with crossed arms.
Takahashi misses with an elbow strike.
Almeida is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Takahashi is defending well for now.
Almeida gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Takahashi.
Almeida working Takahashi over with knees to the body.
Almeida lands a knee to the body.
Almeida landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Almeida tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Takahashi avoids it.
Takahashi throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Nice elbow from Takahashi.
Almeida looks to throw an elbow but misses.

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.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Takahashi just misses with a elbow thrown towards Almeida's brow.
Takahashi looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Almeida is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Takahashi is defending well for now.
Almeida with a knee to the head.
Takahashi is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Almeida is keeping busy.
A knee to the head by Almeida.
Takahashi pushes off an throws an elbow but Almeida leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Takahashi takes a knee right on the jaw!
Almeida creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Takahashi's defenses.
Knees in the clinch landing for Almeida.
Almeida comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Almeida throws a knee to the head but misses.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Almeida with a knee to the head.
Almeida misses with a knee to the head.
Almeida utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Takahashi blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Takahashi lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Almeida working Takahashi over with knees to the body.
Almeida connects with a knee to the head.
Almeida lands an elbow inside that Takahashi shrugs off.
With the fighters up against the cage, Almeida throws an elbow but misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Caio Almeida dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Yujiro Takahashi's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Takahashi swats away the attempt to clinch by Almeida.
Almeida tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Takahashi paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Takahashi gets a clinch.
Almeida tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Takahashi trying to land knees to the body.
Takahashi blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Almeida throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Takahashi blocks it with crossed arms.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Almeida as Takahashi tries to tie him up.
Almeida avoids the elbow strike from Takahashi, against the cage.

Takahashi escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Almeida wants to clinch but Takahashi slips to the side

so Takahashi counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Takahashi looking to sit in guard and control but Almeida gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Takahashi throws his legs up looking to secure a triangle. Oh, that looks pretty tight, I gotta say! Almeida escapes and throws Takahashi's legs to the side, diving into side control!
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Takahashi is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Almeida looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Almeida tries to stand but Takahashi is controlling his head.
Almeida working the ground and pound but Takahashi is defending the strikes.
Almeida wants to lay and pray for a moment but Takahashi keeps working.

Almeida is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Takahashi is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Takahashi regains half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Takahashi wants to control but Almeida is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Almeida tries to stand but his arm is trapped.
The fighters are battling for position here. Takahashi manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Almeida must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Almeida tries to free his leg and advance position but Takahashi is retaining full guard.

Takahashi is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Almeida defends well.

Almeida is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Almeida missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Takahashi manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Almeida tries to reverse the position but Takahashi maintains control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Almeida swinging wildly from the bottom but he's not landing.
Almeida wants to get back to his feet.
Takahashi dominating with strikes here.
Takahashi punishing his opponent with strikes.
Almeida is in all sorts of trouble here.
Almeida is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
Almeida really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Almeida throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.

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.
Takahashi dominating with strikes here.
Takahashi thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Takahashi is in the full mount, landing strikes.
You get the feeling that Almeida really doesn't like being in this position too much.
Almeida gets back to half guard.
Takahashi not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Takahashi 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.
Almeida trying to control from the bottom.
Takahashi passes the guard and advances to mount!
Almeida wants to get back to his feet.
Almeida tries to hold on but Takahashi pushes him away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Yujiro Takahashi dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Yujiro Takahashi's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Takahashi goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Caio Almeida seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Almeida wants to clinch but Takahashi slips to the side
and Takahashi counters with a stiff right hand.
Takahashi circles away from the clinch attempt
and Takahashi connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Takahashi pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Almeida tries to clinch but Takahashi moves away
and Takahashi counters with a one-two to the body.
Almeida circles away from the clinch attempt.
Almeida tries to clinch

and Takahashi counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Takahashi.
With the fighters up against the cage, Almeida throws an elbow but misses.
Almeida lands a damaging elbow.
Takahashi takes a knee right on the jaw!
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Almeida scores a nice knee to the body.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Takahashi seems a little flustered. He's come in with the intention of controlling the clinch but Almeida is preventing him from doing so, at least for the moment.
Almeida unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Almeida is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Takahashi is trying to stall.
Almeida lands a nice elbow.
Takahashi manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Almeida lands an elbow that stopped Takahashi in his tracks for a moment.
Almeida working Takahashi over with knees to the body.
Takahashi takes a knee to the side of the body.
Takahashi pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Almeida lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Almeida throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Takahashi blocks it with crossed arms.
Takahashi wants a takedown.
Almeida unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Takahashi goes for a takedown in the clinch but Almeida prevents it.
Almeida tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Takahashi throws an elbow but it misses.
Almeida tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Takahashi creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Takahashi avoids the elbow strike from Almeida, against the cage.
Almeida throws a knee to the head but misses.
Almeida landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Takahashi stalling.
Takahashi is trying to break free.
Almeida tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Takahashi avoids it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Takahashi is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Takahashi blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Takahashi takes an elbow to the forehead.
Almeida stops a takedown attempt from Takahashi.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Yujiro Takahashi. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Takahashi takes an elbow to the forehead.
Takahashi creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Almeida gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Almeida lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Takahashi blocks an elbow strike.
Takahashi trying to control the position but instead, Almeida has worked for underhooks and has pushed Takahashi into the cage.
Takahashi on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Takahashi is looking to control Almeida's arms but Almeida gets an underhook and turns him. Now Takahashi has his back to the cage.
Almeida tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Takahashi pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.

Takahashi manages to break the clinch.
Almeida fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Almeida tries for a takedown but Takahashi circles away easily
and Takahashi counters with a head kick.
Almeida clinches but Takahashi breaks the clinch
and Takahashi counters with a two punch combo.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Almeida clinches but Takahashi breaks the clinch
and Takahashi counters with a lovely shot to the body.

Almeida forces Takahashi back against the cage and clinches.
Almeida lands an elbow inside.
Takahashi comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Takahashi lands a nice elbow.
Caio Almeida seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Almeida misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Takahashi.
Almeida is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Takahashi is defending well for now.
Takahashi is trying to drag Almeida to the mat but Almeida just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Takahashi throws an elbow but it misses.
Almeida is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Takahashi is defending well for now.
Almeida trying to land knees to the body.
Almeida missing with knees to the body.
Nice elbow from Takahashi.
Takahashi on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Takahashi looking to throw knees to the head but Almeida is blocking nicely.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Almeida as Takahashi tries to tie him up.
Almeida lands an elbow that stopped Takahashi in his tracks for a moment.

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.
Almeida tries a knee to the head but Takahashi blocks it.
Takahashi blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Almeida lands a nice elbow.
Almeida pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Almeida throws an elbow but it misses.
A bit of stalling here from Takahashi.

Takahashi breaks the clinch.
Almeida tries to clinch
and Takahashi counters with a straight right hand.
Almeida tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Takahashi counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Almeida looks to clinch

and Takahashi moves into the clinch.
Almeida lands a damaging elbow.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Almeida as Takahashi tries to tie him up.
Takahashi on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Almeida landing knees to the head.
Almeida misses with an elbow over the top.
Takahashi taking a breather.
Takahashi blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Yujiro Takahashi.
I think Takahashi 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 Paulo Santos scores the fight 29:28
Judge Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 29:29
Judge Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Yujiro Takahashi!