PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Cyrus Plague (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Shinichi Yanagida (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Plague kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is Kanye West-Runaway. 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.

Plague
vs
Yanagida

173 cm
25
154 lbs
10 - 5 - 0

175 cm
22
153 lbs
6 - 3 - 0

Dangerous GnP
Excellent boxer
Very strong

BJJ Brown Belt
Excellent boxer
Powerful

>>>Blitzkrieg Formula 5000

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 10 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Cyrus Plague!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Shinichi Yanagida!
The judges for this bout are Sosuke Kotani, Shigeki Sano and Yukihiro Shimada.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Yanagida fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
A punch combination from Yanagida misses.
Yanagida throws a series of punches but Plague avoids them all with ease.
Yanagida throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Plague.
Plague throws the left hand but Yanagida avoids the punch easily.
Plague shoots in for a double leg but Yanagida sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Yanagida throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Plague sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Some wild striking there from Yanagida.
Yanagida fails to land with a series of punches.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Yanagida is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Plague.
Plague slips a straight right by Yanagida.
Yanagida throws a jab but it's blocked by Plague.
Yanagida throws a right hand that Plague ducks under and follows up with a left that Plague also avoids with ease.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Plague closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Yanagida to the mat! Yanagida manages to get full guard.
Plague with a flurry of punches that miss.
Plague won't allow Yanagida to get back to his feet.
Plague advances to half guard.
Plague thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Yanagida's head.
Plague working to pass to mount. He's got his hand pressing down on Yanagida's thigh. Yanagida counters though and makes it back to full guard.
Plague throwing strikes from guard but Yanagida blocks nicely.
Plague throws a strike but Yanagida rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Yanagida wants to pass the guard but Plague is keeping the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Yanagida is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Plague throws out a token jab with nothing on it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Plague closes this distance looking for a takedown but Yanagida circles away.
Yanagida works the jab nicely.
Horrible takedown by Plague or perhaps it was just good defense by Yanagida which made him look bad.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Cyrus Plague. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Yanagida will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

Yanagida gets caught flat footed, as Plague shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Plague won't allow Yanagida to get back to his feet.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Plague accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Plague throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Plague is looking to work some ground and pound but Yanagida has wrist control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Plague trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Plague works over Yanagida with some ground and pound from guard.
Plague throwing strikes from guard but Yanagida blocks nicely.
Plague trying to control but Yanagida is working from the bottom.
Plague working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Plague 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.
Plague prevents Yanagida from getting back to his feet.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Plague is pushing down on Yanagida's leg trying to pass to half guard. Yanagida is fighting to maintain full guard but Plague has managed to sneak the leg through.
Plague thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Yanagida's head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Cyrus Plague dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Plague scores with a nice head shot.
Shinichi Yanagida is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Plague shoots in and drives through. Yanagida sprawls well.
Plague changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Yanagida tries to avoid it but Plague manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Yanagida to the ground. Yanagida escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Yanagida throws a shot from downtown. Plague moves away and avoids it.
Yanagida misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Plague.
Yanagida fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Yanagida throws a right hand that Plague ducks under and follows up with a left that Plague also avoids with ease.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Plague.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Cyrus Plague. That's going to take a lot out of him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Yanagida looks to land a combination but Plague avoids it well.
Yanagida misses with a double jab.
Yanagida displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Plague.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Yanagida throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Plague sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Plague shoots in for a takedown but Yanagida shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.

Plague gets a takedown into half guard.
Plague throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Plague thows a big elbow that misses, also allowing Yanagida to regain full guard.
Yanagida wants to stand and escape but Plague is having none of it.
Yanagida preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Plague throwing strikes but missing.
Plague prevents Yanagida from getting back to his feet.
Plague throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Yanagida works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Yanagida is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Plague is controlling him.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Yanagida throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Plague.
Shinichi Yanagida seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Plague slips a jab and a cross from Yanagida.
Yanagida jabbing away but nothing is landing.

Plague changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Yanagida looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Plague looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Yanagida is avoiding damage well.
Yanagida avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Plague.
Yanagida on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Sloppy strikes there by Plague.
Yanagida managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Plague.
Plague in side control, throwing shots but Yanagida defends.
The strikes coming from Plague are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Yanagida tries to escape but Plague is in control.

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.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Yanagida throws a series of punches but Plague moves out of range.
Yanagida is breathing heavily.
Yanagida misses the jab.
Yanagida scores with a nice head shot.
Yanagida throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Plague sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Yanagida throws a nice looking combination but Plague bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Plague shoots in looking for a takedown. Yanagida tries to sprawl out of it but Plague keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Yanagida manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Yanagida tries to bum rush Plague with a series of wild strikes but Plague uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Shinichi Yanagida is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Plague ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Yanagida leaves Plague with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Cyrus Plague dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

A punch combination from Yanagida misses.
Yanagida misses with a body shot.
Horrible takedown by Plague or perhaps it was just good defense by Yanagida which made him look bad.
Yanagida misses with a two punch combination.
Yanagida stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Yanagida wants it to stay on the feet.
Yanagida misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Plague.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Cyrus Plague. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Yanagida throws a right hand that Plague ducks under and follows up with a left that Plague also avoids with ease.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Plague slips a jab from Yanagida.

Plague looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Yanagida!
Plague working some short elbows here. He postures up to throw some more ground and pound but Yanagida slips a leg through to get back to half guard. Nice work.
Plague takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Plague lands with a punch from half guard.
Plague trying to control from half guard but Yanagida is working away.
Plague with the ground and pound but Yanagida uses the opportunity to regain guard.
Shinichi Yanagida has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Plague throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Plague loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Plague loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Yanagida avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Yanagida wants to stand up but Plague is controlling him.
Plague chips away with some ground and pound.

Yanagida has his feet on Plague's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.
Yanagida takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Yanagida thows a body shot but no joy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A swing and a miss from Yanagida.

Plague closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Yanagida to the mat! Yanagida manages to get full guard.
Yanagida keeping full guard, as Plague tries to pass.

Yanagida is edging up against the cage. He's using the cage to get back to his feet. Nice work there - the fighters are clinched.
Yanagida is looking to break free of the clinch but Plague has double underhooks.
Yanagida wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Plague breaks the clinch.
Yanagida fails to land with a series of punches.
Cyrus Plague is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Yanagida will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Yanagida misses with a wild combination.
Yanagida throws a series of punches but Plague moves out of range.
Yanagida waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Plague.
Yanagida throws a jab when Plague was well out of range.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Plague throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Yanagida's waist but Yanagida gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Plague off to one side.
Plague fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Plague keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

And that's the end of the fight!
Cyrus Plague showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Plague, 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 Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 30:27
Judge Shigeki Sano scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Cyrus Plague!