PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Ikuto Takeda (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Is Ku Kone (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?

Takeda
vs
Ku Kone

177 cm
24
175 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

173 cm
22
167 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Good takedowns
Excellent boxer
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Counter striker
Solid chin

Empire Threads - Featuring Deadly Clothing

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Ikuto Takeda !
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Is Ku Kone!
The judges for this bout are David Schapiro, Lou da Vinci and John Roberts.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nice sprawl there from Kone as Takeda shoots in.
Takeda looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Kone is fending him off so far but Takeda persists. Nope, Kone circles away and we're back to standing.

Takeda clinches.

Kone jumps guard and drags Takeda to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Kone is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Takeda is controlling him.
Takeda looking to sit in guard and control but Kone gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Kone in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Takeda wants to stand but Kone is controlling the position.
Kone looking to sit in guard and control but Takeda gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Kone has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Takeda can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Takeda throwing strikes from guard but Kone blocks nicely.
Takeda postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Takeda accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Takeda throws a big right hand that misses.
Kone working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Takeda .
Kone bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Takeda 's guard.
Kone wanted to stand there but Takeda had control of the position.
Takeda wants to stand up but Kone is controlling him.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Kone looking to pass the guard.

That's two 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.
Kone throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Kone throws a big right hand that misses.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Kone accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Kone sitting in guard here, content to control.

Kone gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Takeda .
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ikuto Takeda . That's going to take a lot out of him.
Kone is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Kone connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
Takeda is breathing heavily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kone looks to land a left hand but Takeda moved out of range nicely.
Kone stuffs the takedown.
Kone missing with a left hand there. Takeda was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.

Takeda shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Kone manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Kone wants to stand but Takeda is controlling the position.
Takeda throws a big right hand that misses.
Kone lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Takeda !
Takeda taking shots to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Takeda is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
BOOM! Kone connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Takeda stops Kone from taking his back. Still, being mounted isn't any better.

Kone looking for a guillotine from mount but Takeda is having none of it.
Kone takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

Kone working for a submission but Takeda is keeping him at bay.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Kone looks to land a combination but Takeda avoids it well.
Kone misses with a straight left.
Takeda shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Kone pinned against the cage. Kone gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Takeda closes the distance but Kone moves to the side

and Kone counters with a head kick that drops Takeda - he's looking to finish, following his stunned foe to the ground!
Kone tries to pass to full mount but Takeda defends it.

Kone wants to work for an arm triangle but Takeda is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Takeda wants to get back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Takeda is not content to let Kone control the position.

Kone is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Kone working the head and body with strikes.
Kone wants to stand up but Takeda is controlling the position.
Takeda is looking to escape.
Kone is looking to take a break and control but Takeda is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

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.
Takeda is trying to stand up here but Kone is controlling him well.
Takeda is trying to escape back to his feet but Kone uses the scramble to pass into side control.

Kone swings around for an armbar but Takeda sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Kone's guard.
Kone is looking to stand up but Takeda isn't so interested in that idea.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Takeda accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Kone bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Takeda 's guard.
Kone pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Takeda is keeping the position for now.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Kone cracks Takeda with a solid left hand.
Takeda is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Kone is controlling him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Kone stands up and waves to Takeda to follow him.
Kone tries to clinch up

and Takeda counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Takeda lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Takeda throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Kone works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Kone has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Kone controls Takeda momentarily but Takeda frees himself.
Is Ku Kone has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Takeda scoring with punches to the head and body.
Takeda stopping the sweep attempt from Kone.
Kone is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Takeda postures up in Kone's guard and throws a big left but Kone blocks it.
Takeda looking to sit in guard and control but Kone gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Kone looking to pass the guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Is Ku Kone showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

A combination from Kone does no damage.
Takeda fails with the takedown
and Kone counters with a two punch combo.
Takeda wants to clinch but Kone slips to the side
and Kone connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Takeda doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Kone counters with a nice kick to the body.
Kone throws a right hand that Takeda ducks under and follows up with a left that Takeda also avoids with ease.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Kone!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
A right-left combo lands from Kone.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kone lands a slapping body shot.
Takeda shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Kone decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Takeda 's guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ikuto Takeda . That's going to take a lot out of him.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Kone accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Takeda has a closed guard, preventing Kone from standing up.
Takeda is looking to stand up but Kone isn't so interested in that idea.
Kone trying to control the position from guard on top but Takeda is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Is Ku Kone hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.

Kone gets the takedown into side control.
Kone is looking to take a break and control but Takeda is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Kone lands a few punches from side control.
Kone throwing strikes but Takeda manages to buck up and roll into a nice reversal - now he's on top in side control!
The ground and pound from Takeda seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Takeda fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Takeda throwing strikes but Kone manages to buck up and roll into a nice reversal - now he's on top in side control!

Kone tries for a kimura but Takeda is defending well.
Kone wants to lay and pray for a moment but Takeda keeps working.
Is Ku Kone is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Takeda is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Kone is controlling him well.

Kone is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Takeda knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Takeda is being controlled here.

That's four 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.
Takeda wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!

Kone thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Takeda is trying to get back to his feet.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Kone happy to just control the position for now.
Kone wants to lay and pray for a moment but Takeda keeps working.

And that's the end of the fight!
Is Ku Kone comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Kone winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 David Schapiro scores the fight 26:30
Judge Lou da Vinci scores the fight 26:30
Judge John Roberts scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Is Ku Kone!