PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Tenaka Takahashi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Randy Natural (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Takahashi comes to the cage accompanied by Get Down - Captain Tinrib. Natural comes into a darkened arena with his song building. back in black - ACDC kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Takahashi
vs
Natural

193 cm
27
220 lbs
10 - 6 - 0

185 cm
29
223 lbs
14 - 4 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Very quick

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

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 10 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Tenaka Takahashi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Randy Natural!
The judges for this bout are Tiny Johnson, Stewart Dunkirk and Daniel Franklin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Natural looks to score with a jab to the body but Takahashi is just out of range.
Takahashi works Natural's body with a nice hook.
Natural misses with a straight right.
Natural lands a body shot.
Natural throws an off balance right hand
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Natural fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Natural rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
enabling Takahashi to counter with a crisp jab.
Takahashi tries to bum rush Natural with a series of wild strikes but Natural uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Takahashi defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Natural.

Natural clinches up with Takahashi and pushes him back against the cage.
Natural has a couple of punches blocked by Takahashi.
Takahashi blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Takahashi misses with a body punch.
Natural lands with a short shot to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Natural lands a body punch.
A body shot lands from Natural.
Takahashi's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Natural tries to land a knee to the head but Takahashi blocks with his arms.
Takahashi blocks an elbow strike from Natural.
A bit of stalling here from Natural.

Natural escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Natural wants to clinch up but Takahashi keeps it at a distance.
Takahashi throws a half hearted mid kick.
Natural takes a swing at Takahashi's ribcage but misses.
Natural throws a lazy uppercut
and Takahashi connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Natural uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Natural throws a leg kick that is checked
and Takahashi counters with a nice body kick.
Takahashi looks to score with a jab to the body but Natural is just out of range.

Natural rushes Takahashi and presses him up against the cage.
Natural taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Natural tries to land a knee to the head but Takahashi blocks with his arms.
Natural prevents Takahashi from breaking the clinch.
Natural tries a body shot but Takahashi blocks it.
Takahashi can't break the clinch.
Natural tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Takahashi avoids it.
Takahashi avoiding damage as Natural throws knees to the body.
Natural scores with a nice hook to the head.
Natural tries a knee to the head but he's missed.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Natural breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Takahashi lands with a nice body punch.
Natural throws a body kick that misses.
Natural swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Takahashi thows a body shot but no joy.
Natural lands a jab to the nose.
Natural checks a leg kick.
Takahashi throws a lazy right hand but Natural sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Natural lands with an uppercut that bounces Takahashi off the cage and back into rage.
A left lands for Natural.
Natural sizes up Takahashi with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Takahashi tried to score with a low kick but Natural checks it.
Takahashi takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Natural throws a quick inside leg kick.
Takahashi blocks a low kick nicely.
Takahashi throws a right and a left that both miss.
Natural throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Takahashi counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Takahashi with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Takahashi uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Natural.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Takahashi misses with an uppercut
and Natural counters with a nice uppercut.
Takahashi throws a body punch but Natural moves out of range.
Takahashi throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Natural's head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Tenaka Takahashi will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Natural takes a swing at Takahashi's ribcage but misses.
Natural checks a leg kick.
Natural throws a poor cross that misses
and Takahashi counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Natural throws a poor cross that misses
and Takahashi counters with a body kick that stops Natural in his tracks momentarily.
Takahashi on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Natural misses with a hook
and Takahashi counters with a nice uppercut.
Natural throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Natural lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Tenaka Takahashi is winning the standup battle so far.

Natural clinches with his opponent.
Good body shot from Natural.
Natural using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Takahashi has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Takahashi looking to slow down the pace here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Natural is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Takahashi can't fight it off and eventually Natural manages to take the fight to the floor. Takahashi looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Takahashi trying to keep a closed guard but Natural is proving a slippery customer.
Natural trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Natural not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Natural trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Natural accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Takahashi wants to sweep here but Natural controlling him for the moment.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Takahashi is on top in guard.
Takahashi wants to get up but he can't break Natural's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

Natural throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Takahashi has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Natural is proving hard to escape from.
Natural wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Takahashi has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Natural is proving hard to escape from.
Takahashi looking to sit in guard and control but Natural gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Natural is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

That's four 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 pulling down on Natural's head. It's preventing any offense from Natural, at least for the moment.
Natural stays in close to Takahashi's body and controls the position.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Natural feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Takahashi's calf.
Takahashi is looking to wear down Natural with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Nice shot by Natural.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Randy Natural showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. This is the final round!

Takahashi takes a jab right on the kisser.
Takahashi keeps Natural at a distance using the push kick.
Natural thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on Takahashi if he has to take too many more of those.
Natural moves away from the strike by Takahashi.
Takahashi misses with the body kick
and Natural counters with a straight right hand.
Natural walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
A shot to the body from Natural misses
and Takahashi counters with a stiff right hand.
Natural misses with a body kick.
Natural ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Natural tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Takahashi manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Natural attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Natural misses with a shot to the body
and Takahashi counters with a slapping leg kick.
Takahashi is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Takahashi checks the leg kick nicely there.
Takahashi throws a hook but Natural blocks it.

Natural drives through and clinches with Takahashi against the cage.
Natural misses with the head strike.
Takahashi letting Natural take a breather here.

Takahashi pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Takahashi lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Natural backs up against the cage.
Takahashi throws a body kick that misses.
Natural fails in his attempt to clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Natural misses the shot to the body.
Natural misses with a lunging right hand
and Takahashi counters with a stiff right hand.
Takahashi throws a shot from downtown. Natural moves away and avoids it.
Takahashi misses with a low kick.
Natural throws a combination that misses
and Takahashi counters with a nice body shot.
Natural uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Takahashi.
Takahashi swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Natural stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Takahashi.
Natural throws a right hand that misses
and Takahashi counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Natural takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Natural lands a nice looking body shot.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Natural lands a leg kick that knocks Takahashi off balance momentarily.
Tenaka Takahashi is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Natural has taken the fight to the clinch.
Natural tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Natural misses with a short punch on the inside.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Natural.

Takahashi breaks the clinch.
Natural throws a sloppy body shot
and Takahashi counters with a straight right hand.
Natural takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Natural misses with a jab to the body
and Takahashi cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Natural throws a leg kick
and Takahashi counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Natural throws a lazy uppercut
and Takahashi counters with a thumping low kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Takahashi.
Takahashi keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Takahashi looks to land a combination but Natural avoids it well.
Takahashi dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Natural. That did some damage!
Natural rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Takahashi counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Takahashi throws a body punch but Natural moves out of range.
Natural misses with a right hand
and Takahashi counters with a slapping leg kick.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Takahashi feints and then cracks Natural's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Natural down.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Takahashi!
Good exchange - Takahashi coming out on top.

And that's the end of the fight!
Tenaka Takahashi showed his dominance in that final round.
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 Tiny Johnson scores the fight 29:29
Judge Stewart Dunkirk scores the fight 28:29
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 29:29

The fight is ruled a majority draw!