PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Shinya Aoki (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Junior dos Santos Alves (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Buckle up people - heeeeeeeeeere we go!

Aoki
vs
dos Santos Alves

180 cm
23
156 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

180 cm
22
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Enjoys gardening

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Shinya Aoki!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Junior dos Santos Alves!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Yamamoto, Ren Mimura and Sosuke Kotani.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
dos Santos Alves fails in his attempt to clinch.
dos Santos Alves lands with a cross.
Aoki drops his hands momentarily and dos Santos Alves takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Aoki shoots for a takedown but dos Santos Alves saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
dos Santos Alves wants to clinch up but Aoki keeps it at a distance.
dos Santos Alves tries to close the distance and clinch but Aoki swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Aoki throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. dos Santos Alves tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Aoki is in dos Santos Alves's guard.

Aoki drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Aoki jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Aoki controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
dos Santos Alves looking to hit a scissor sweep but Aoki is one step ahead there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Aoki is stalling in the full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

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.

Aoki drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Aoki jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Aoki throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
dos Santos Alves being controlled here, momentarily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Shinya Aoki just wasn't active enough.
dos Santos Alves doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Aoki counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in dos Santos Alves's guard now.
Aoki sitting in guard, not really doing much.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
dos Santos Alves wants to stand and escape but Aoki is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Aoki sitting in guard, not really doing much.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shinya Aoki dominated that round.
That's time! Aoki's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

dos Santos Alves connects with a body shot.

Aoki shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Aoki showed some decent athleticism there.
dos Santos Alves wants to control but Aoki is keeping busy.
Aoki is working hard to pass the guard. He's done it - he's now in full mount! Trouble for dos Santos Alves!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Aoki tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Aoki prevents dos Santos Alves from getting the reversal.
Aoki takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Aoki breaks from dos Santos Alves's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Aoki sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Aoki's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

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.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

We're going to have a standup here because Shinya Aoki wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Aoki shoots in for a takedown but dos Santos Alves shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shinya Aoki dominated that second 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. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

dos Santos Alves looks to land a combination but Aoki avoids it well.
Aoki fails with the takedown
and dos Santos Alves counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
dos Santos Alves scores with a jab to the body.
dos Santos Alves connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
dos Santos Alves misses the shot to the body.
Aoki displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as dos Santos Alves throws out the jab.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Aoki blocks a leg kick.
dos Santos Alves paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Shinya Aoki is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Aoki throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. dos Santos Alves was covering up waiting for the punch and Aoki finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Aoki sitting in guard, not really doing much.

That's one minute gone in the round.

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.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Shinya Aoki just wasn't active enough.
Aoki bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Aoki throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around dos Santos Alves's waist but dos Santos Alves gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Aoki off to one side.

Aoki shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. dos Santos Alves manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Junior dos Santos Alves has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's three minutes gone in the round.

dos Santos Alves escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Aoki gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Aoki content to stall in guard here.
Shinya Aoki is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
dos Santos Alves is trying to keep Aoki in close.

Aoki stands up from guard. Let's bang!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
dos Santos Alves digs a good body shot into Aoki's ribs.

And that's the end of the fight!
Shinya Aoki showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Aoki, 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 Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 30:27
Judge Ren Mimura scores the fight 30:27
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Shinya Aoki!