PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Keiji Hashimoto (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Cj Riley (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Hashimoto kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is Chopin's Funeral March in B flat minor. 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.

Hashimoto
vs
Riley

172 cm
27
151 lbs
16 - 7 - 2

176 cm
29
153 lbs
17 - 7 - 0

Good wrestling
Lethal high kicks
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Good low kicks
Powerful

Crippler's Corner

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 16 - 7 - 2, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Keiji Hashimoto!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 17 - 7 - 0, fighting out of New York, Cj Riley!
The judges for this bout are Paulo Santos, Edson Gomes and Mauricio Rocha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hashimoto throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Hashimoto staying out of range there.
Hashimoto buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.

Hashimoto has taken the fight to the clinch.
Hashimoto prevents a body shot from Riley.
Riley working aggressively here.

Riley's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Riley lands a jab to the nose.
Riley pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Hashimoto throws a leg kick
and Riley counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Riley lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Hashimoto circles away quickly and effectively.
A looping hook to the body misses from Riley. Hashimoto does a little dance to reset his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Riley, as that shot connected.
Riley avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Hashimoto fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Riley avoids it really well and circles away.
Hashimoto misses with a looping right.
Hashimoto throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Riley counters with a low kick, right behind Hashimoto 's knee.
Hashimoto throws a leg kick that is checked
and Riley counters with an outside leg kick.
Hashimoto ducks under a wild hook from Riley.

That's two 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.
Hashimoto throws a poor cross that misses
and Riley counters with a nice low kick that buckles Hashimoto's knee momentarily.
Hashimoto on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Riley checks a leg kick.
A head kick by Hashimoto misses
and Riley counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Hashimoto is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Riley finds nothing but air with that leg kick attempt.
A telegraphed right hand from Hashimoto misses the target.
Hashimoto swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Hashimoto throws a quick inside leg kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hashimoto tries to close the distance and clinch but Riley swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Cj Riley seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Hashimoto moves in looking to clinch but Riley pushes him off.
Hashimoto moves out of range of the leg kick from Riley.
Riley misses with a telegraphed body shot
and Hashimoto counters with a thumping low kick.

Hashimoto has managed to clinch.
Nice body punch from Hashimoto.
Hashimoto stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Riley tries a body shot but Hashimoto blocks it.
Hashimoto misses with a body punch.
A head punch on the inside from Hashimoto fails to land.
Riley is looking to break free of the clinch but Hashimoto has double underhooks.
Riley working aggressively here.
Riley has Hashimoto pushed against the cage.
Riley doesn't land with the attempted body shot.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hashimoto digs a right hand underneath Riley's ribcage. Riley let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Hashimoto goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Riley scores with an uppercut up the middle.

Riley breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Riley swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Riley moves out of range as Hashimoto throws a body kick.
Hashimoto takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Riley thows a body shot but no joy.
Hashimoto takes one to the side of the head.
Riley swinging wildly here.
Hashimoto takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
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 Keiji Hashimoto will probably get the nod.
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.

Hashimoto wants to clinch up but Riley keeps it at a distance.
Riley has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Hashimoto.
Riley cracks Hashimoto with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Hashimoto misses with a leg kick
and Riley counters with an outside leg kick.
Riley throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Hashimoto counters with a stiff right hand.
Riley throws a sloppy head kick
and Hashimoto counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Riley misses with a body shot
and Hashimoto connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Riley moves away from the strike by Hashimoto.
Hashimoto fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Riley checks it well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hashimoto misses with a left hand
and Riley counters with a slapping leg kick.
Hashimoto avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
A nice inside leg kick there by Hashimoto. That's going to slow Riley down.
Hashimoto lands a nice leg kick that just misses Riley's sensitive parts.
Riley checks a leg kick nicely.
Hashimoto scores with a spinning back kick!
Hashimoto swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Riley counters with a slapping leg kick.
Hashimoto tries to clinch up but Riley circles away and keeps his distance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Riley chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Riley avoids the body shot from Hashimoto.
Riley throws a jab but it's blocked by Hashimoto.
Riley misses with a wild body shot.
Hashimoto tries to close the distance and clinch up but Riley swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Hashimoto tries to land a leg kick but Riley saw it coming and moves away.
Hashimoto checks the leg kick nicely there.
Hashimoto looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hashimoto displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Riley throws out the jab.
Hashimoto looks for a takedown but Riley sprawls well.
Hashimoto misses with a hook
and Riley counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
A low kick from Riley is predictable there
and Hashimoto makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Hashimoto moves away from the strike by Riley.
Hashimoto is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Riley throws a hook but Hashimoto blocks it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A big right from Riley misses.
A big right from Riley misses.
Hashimoto feints and then cracks Riley's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Riley down.
Riley lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Hashimoto on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Riley lands a nice leg kick that just misses Hashimoto's sensitive parts.
Riley scoring well with a low kick there.
Riley looks to throw the jab but Hashimoto is out of range.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Keiji Hashimoto dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Hashimoto keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Riley blocks a jab.
Riley lands a body shot.
Hashimoto lands with a straight right. Riley didn't see that one coming.
Riley is looking to chop away at Hashimoto's legs.
Hashimoto pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hashimoto blocks a head kick by Riley.
Riley avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Riley takes a swing at Hashimoto's ribcage but misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hashimoto takes a swing at Riley's ribcage but misses.
Hashimoto tries to land a leg kick but Riley saw it coming and moves away.
Riley throws a head kick but Hashimoto moves out of range.
A nice leg kick lands there from Riley.
Hashimoto walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Riley checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
Hashimoto moves out of range as Riley strikes.
Riley misses with a hook. Hashimoto ducked under it nicely.
Hashimoto lands with a thumping leg kick.

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.
Riley scores with a head kick. Hashimoto tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.
Riley misses with a left hand
enabling Hashimoto to counter with a crisp jab.
Riley fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Hashimoto manages to avoid it.
Keiji Hashimoto is winning the standup battle so far.
Riley lands a lovely overhand right.
Riley throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Hashimoto counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Riley looks to land a right hand but Hashimoto moved out of range.
Hashimoto tries a low kick but Riley avoids it.
Riley misses with a lunging right hand
and Hashimoto counters with a nice uppercut.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hashimoto lands a head shot.
Riley misses with a hook
and Hashimoto counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Riley misses with a head kick.
Riley looks to land a combination but Hashimoto avoids it well.
Keiji Hashimoto is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Nice defenses there by Hashimoto.
Riley throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Hashimoto throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Riley throws a predictable looking body shot
and Hashimoto counters with a lovely shot to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Riley drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Riley throws a low kick but Hashimoto avoids it.
Riley lands with a good body shot.
Hashimoto is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Riley.
Hashimoto shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Cj Riley has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Riley misses with a right hand
and Hashimoto counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Hashimoto keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Hashimoto chopping away at his opponent's legs.

And that's the end of the fight!
Keiji Hashimoto showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Hashimoto has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Paulo Santos scores the fight 30:27
Judge Edson Gomes scores the fight 30:27
Judge Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Keiji Hashimoto!