PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Frankie Russo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Andrew Kishigawa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters will be looking to make this an exciting fight for the fans, I'm sure!

Russo
vs
Kishigawa

169 cm
27
165 lbs
6 - 1 - 0

178 cm
21
160 lbs
6 - 4 - 0

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Experienced

BJJ Purple Belt
Good kicks
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 2 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Frankie Russo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Andrew Kishigawa!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Yamamoto, Sosuke Kotani and Hirohito Nitta.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kishigawa fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Russo.
Kishigawa pivots, looking for a leg kick but Russo is out of range and Kishigawa settles back down.
Kishigawa misses with a body kick.
Russo's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Russo duly obliges.
Kishigawa is looking to clinch but Russo is avoiding it.
Kishigawa throws a leg kick but Russo sees it coming and moves out of range.
Russo throws out a powerful jab.

Russo shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Russo trying to move into half guard but instead Kishigawa has managed to sweep!
Kishigawa wants to pass the guard but Russo is keeping the position.
Kishigawa passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Kishigawa postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Kishigawa trying to control the position but Russo is working away.

Kishigawa tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Kishigawa has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

That's one minute gone in the round.

Kishigawa goes for an armbar! This could be all over! Wait, no, Russo rolls with the submission and now he's on top in Kishigawa's guard! Nice work there by Russo!
Russo in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Kishigawa keeping moving, preventing Russo from controlling successfully.
Kishigawa trying to keep a closed guard but Russo is proving a slippery customer.
Russo content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Russo won't allow Kishigawa to sweep him here.
Russo makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Russo controlling from the top position.
Russo postures up.

Kishigawa has his foot on Russo's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Russo works his way back into a safe position though.

Kishigawa has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Russo can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Kishigawa tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Russo in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Russo throws a strike but Kishigawa rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Russo wants to sweep but no luck.
Russo on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Russo tries to get out of the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Kishigawa is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! Russo is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! Russo has escaped and now he's on top!
Russo throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Russo won't allow Kishigawa to sweep him here.
Russo trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Kishigawa not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Russo lands a couple of elbows.
Russo has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Kishigawa bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Russo's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Russo wants to sweep here but Kishigawa controlling him for the moment.
Kishigawa tries to free his leg and advance position but Russo is retaining full guard.
Russo keeping moving, preventing Kishigawa from controlling successfully.
Kishigawa advances to half guard.
Kishigawa tries to pass to full mount but Russo defends it.
Kishigawa trying to control from half guard but Russo is working away.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Kishigawa stalling away here and it's allowed Russo to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
Kishigawa tries to stand but Russo is controlling from the bottom.
Russo keeping moving, preventing Kishigawa from controlling successfully.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Andrew Kishigawa was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Kishigawa motions for Russo to come forward. Kishigawa throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Russo fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Russo shoots in but Kishigawa avoids the takedown attempt easily.

That's six 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.
Russo fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Frankie Russo. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Russo throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Kishigawa was covering up waiting for the punch and Russo finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Kishigawa trying to keep a closed guard but Russo is proving a slippery customer.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Kishigawa is on top in guard.

Kishigawa decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Russo checks a leg kick.
Kishigawa misses with a kick to the body.

That's seven minutes gone in the round.
Russo fails with the takedown.
Kishigawa throws a chopping leg kick but Russo manages to avoid taking any serious damage.

Russo drives through with a takedown into guard.
Kishigawa 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.
Russo working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Russo thows a big elbow that misses.
Russo with a flurry of punches that miss.
Kishigawa trying to control the position.
Russo postures up in Kishigawa's guard and throws a big left but Kishigawa blocks it.
Russo preventing the sweep.

That's eight minutes gone in the round.
Russois looking to pass into half guard but Kishigawa pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Kishigawa is in guard.
Russo working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Kishigawa.
Kishigawa tries to free his leg and advance position but Russo is retaining full guard.
Kishigawa trying to control but Russo is working from the bottom.
Kishigawa tries to free his leg and advance position but Russo is retaining full guard.
Kishigawa is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Kishigawa passes Russo's left leg - he's now in half guard.

That's nine minutes gone in the round.
Kishigawa is looking to take a break and control but Russo is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Russo keeping control of the position.
Kishigawa is working hard to pass the guard. He's done it - he's now in full mount! Trouble for Russo!

Kishigawa moves into side control, trying to work for a kimura. That looks painful! Will he finish!!?? No, Russo has worked his arm free - good work by Russo!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Frankie Russo dominated that round.
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.

Russo scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Kishigawa is looking for a sweep.
Kishigawa can't do much from the bottom here.
Kishigawa might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Russo kaven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
Russo in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Russo working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
You can see the frustration on Kishigawa's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Russo working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Kishigawa is trying to get back to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The ground and pound from Russo seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Russo works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Kishigawa gets back to half guard.
Kishigawa wants to get back to full guard.
Kishigawa avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Russo.
Russo thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Kishigawa's head.
Kishigawa gets full guard.
Frankie Russo overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Russo accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Kishigawa wants to stand up but Russo is controlling him.
Kishigawa is breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Russo preventing the sweep.
Russo with a flurry of punches that miss.
Russo is working Kishigawa over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Russo looking to pass the guard.
Russo thows a big elbow that misses.
Russo lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Russo trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Kishigawa bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Russo's guard.
Kishigawa trying to control but Russo is working from the bottom.
Kishigawa wants to stand but Russo is controlling his posture from full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Russo tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Russo keeping moving, preventing Kishigawa from controlling successfully.
Kishigawa pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Russo is keeping the position for now.
Russo controlling the position.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Andrew Kishigawa wasn't active enough on the ground.
Russo throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.

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.
Kishigawa throws a low kick but it's checked well by Russo.

Russo feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.

Russo avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Kishigawa looking to hit a scissor sweep but Russo is one step ahead there.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Kishigawa is on top in guard.
Kishigawa wanted to stand there but Russo had control of the position.
Kishigawa passes Russo's left leg - he's now in half guard.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Russo is doing well to control the position and prevent Kishigawa from advancing to side control.
Russo is trying to get back to full guard.
Kishigawa tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Russo.
Russo is looking to improve his position.

That's six 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.

Kishigawa is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Russo is not content to let Kishigawa control the position.
Kishigawa tries to pass to full mount but Russo defends it.

Kishigawa is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Russo doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Kishigawa.
Kishigawa is looking to pass Russo's guard but actually Russo recovers to full guard.

That's seven minutes gone in the round.
Kishigawa stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Russo swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Kishigawa trying to control the position from guard on top but Russo is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's eight minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Kishigawa stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Russo swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Russo has his hands on Kishigawa's head, controlling the position.
Kishigawa trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Russo can't keep his opponent in guard - Kishigawa advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Russo keeping control of the position.

That's nine minutes gone in the round.
Kishigawa trying to control from half guard but Russo is working away.
Kishigawa wants to stand but Russo has hold of a leg and an arm, so he's trapped for now.
Russo trying to hold on to Kishigawa's head to control him but Kishigawa postures up.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Russo tries for a takedown but Kishigawa sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Russo fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

And that's the end of the fight!
Frankie Russo showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Russo 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 2 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight for Frankie Russo!
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight for Frankie Russo!
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight for Frankie Russo!

Frankie Russo wins by unanimous decision!