PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Toshiya Sato (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rusty Becker (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Sato might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Me Against The World. Toshiya Sato looks tired to me. Hopefully he has got enough gas left in the tank to put in a good performance.

Sato
vs
Becker

185 cm
20
198 lbs
0 - 3 - 0

190 cm
19
210 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Very confident

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 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Toshiya Sato!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Rusty Becker!
The judges for this bout are Tatsuya Matsuyama, Yasuomi Hirokawa and Taro Takaoka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sato fails with the takedown.
Sato looks exhausted already! Oh dear, he should have come in in better shape than this!
Becker lands with a kick to the temple. Sato shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"

It looks like Toshiya Sato has been cut.

Sato gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.

Becker thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Sato throwing strikes off his back to little effect.
Becker passes easily into side control. Nice work.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sato is being controlled here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Becker landing strikes.
Becker happy to just control the position for now.
Becker trying to control the action but Sato is working from the bottom.
Sato throws an elbow to the body but it doesn't land.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sato is looking to reverse the position.
Sato is not content to let Becker control the position.
Becker is chipping away with strikes.
Sato 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.
Sato striking from the bottom but nothing landed.
Becker trying to control the action but Sato is working from the bottom.

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

Sato gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Becker to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Becker landing with the ground and pound.
Becker landing some decent shots from guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sato throws some sloppy strikes off his back.

Becker 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.
Sato keeping moving, preventing Becker from controlling successfully.
Becker stays in close to Sato's body and controls the position.
Becker tries to free his leg and advance position but Sato is retaining full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sato looking to hit a scissor sweep but Becker is one step ahead there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Sato gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Becker counters with a single leg into guard. Sato didn't expect that.
Becker must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Becker passes into half guard.
Becker wants to take a breather but Sato is having none of it.
Sato punching from the bottom.
Becker lands with a punch from half guard.
Sato wants to get back to full guard but Becker has passed into side control.
Becker manages to capitalize on a mistake by Sato to take his back!
Sato tries to escape the position.
You know, I was talking to some of our celebrities at ringside tonight and they were split right down the middle on who was going to win this fight.
Sato is really stuck here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sato is working hard here to advance position.
Becker is riding his opponent, not letting Sato buck him off.

Becker is looking for the choke from the back position but Sato is controlling his hands well.
Sato manages to reverse the position and now he's in Becker's guard. Nice work there by Sato.
Becker not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Sato landing some decent shots from guard.

Sato stands up from guard. Let's bang!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rusty Becker dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Toshiya Sato's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Becker.

Becker is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Sato knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Sato is looking for a sweep.
Sato is not content to let Becker control the position.
Sato tries to slip a leg under to move to half guard but Becker presses down on the leg and jumps into full mount!
Becker controlling from the full mount.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Becker working the ground and pound effectively.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Becker takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Sato is squirming around, avoiding Becker's attempts to control the action.
Becker is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Sato is working to get back to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Becker controlling from mount.
Sato tries to reverse the position but Becker maintains control.
Sato throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.
Becker looking to finish Sato with some ground and pound. This is bad for Sato!
Sato is wriggling around trying to escape.
Becker with good strikes from the mount here!
Sato throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.
Sato throwing hammer fists to the chest of Becker. What's that going to do exactly?
Becker trying to control but Sato is having none of it.

Becker looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Becker prevents Sato from getting the reversal.
Sato swinging wildly from the bottom but he's not landing.
Sato tries to reverse the position but Becker maintains control.
Becker takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

Becker stands up from mount. Strange move.
Becker closes this distance looking for a takedown but Sato circles away.

Sato scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Sato working the body and head with strikes.
The strikes coming from Sato are missing the target in this wave of attacks.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sato in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Sato working the body and head with strikes.
Becker manages to work his way to half guard, despite Sato's best efforts.
Sato not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Sato thows a big elbow that misses, also allowing Becker to regain full guard.

Sato gets to his feet - Becker follows without any prompting.

Sato scores with a takedown into Becker's guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Becker wants to stand up but Sato is controlling him.
Sato won't allow Becker to sweep him here.
Sato postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Rusty Becker has got the better of the ground game so far.
Becker is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Sato landing some decent shots from guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Toshiya Sato will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Toshiya Sato's cut.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Sato with a poor takedown

and Becker counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Sato throws a couple of shots from the bottom but they don't land.
Sato striking off his back but it's not causing Becker any problems.
Sato is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Becker trying to control but Sato is working from the bottom.
Sato tries to strike from the bottom.
Sato bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Becker's guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Becker working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Sato doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Sato manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Sato missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Becker working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Sato.

Becker working for a triangle but Sato defends it easily.
Sato missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

Becker has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Sato can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Sato cracks Becker with a solid left hand.
Sato throwing strikes but missing.
Sato is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Becker is trying to keep Sato in close.
Becker wants to stand and escape but Sato is having none of it.

Becker pushes Sato off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
Sato tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Becker counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Becker.

Sato has hold of one of Becker's legs. Becker is fighting the takedown attempt but Sato gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
Becker has momentary wrist control but Sato slips an elbow through the middle.
Sato is working Becker over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Sato throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Becker works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Sato accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Sato with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Becker is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Sato connecting with a few gentle strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sato throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Becker moves into full mount! Sato won't be happy about that!
Sato tries to reverse the position but Becker maintains control.
Becker wants to control the pace but Sato is squirming around nicely.
Becker tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Sato swinging wildly from the bottom but he's not landing.
Becker with a couple of short strikes.
Sato really trying hard to get back to half guard here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Becker blocks Sato's feeble attempts to strike from the bottom.
Becker controlling from mount.
Becker blocks Sato's feeble attempts to strike from the bottom.

Becker looking for a guillotine from mount but Sato is having none of it.
Sato is squirming around, avoiding Becker's attempts to control the action.

And that's the end of the fight!
Rusty Becker comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Becker has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 28:29
Judge Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 28:29
Judge Taro Takaoka scores the fight 28:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Rusty Becker!