PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Naoki Tanaka (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jun Kawasaki (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). I'm sure you'll be fascinated to know that I was talking to some pointless Z list celebrity before the fight and he thought that Jun Kawasaki was going to win. Let's see if he was right.

Tanaka
vs
Kawasaki

181 cm
24
183 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

177 cm
22
170 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Dangerous knees
Determined

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 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Naoki Tanaka!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Jun Kawasaki!
The judges for this bout are Yasuomi Hirokawa, Kenichi Hosakawa and Taro Takaoka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kawasaki tries to clinch up
and Tanaka counters with a nice leg kick.
Tanaka is looking to slow Kawasaki down with leg kicks.
Kawasaki rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Tanaka counters with a left to the body.
Kawasaki tries to clinch up
and Tanaka makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Kawasaki wants to clinch
and Tanaka counters with a thumping low kick.
Kawasaki throws a left and a right that both miss
and Tanaka counters with a right hand to the body.
Kawasaki darts in trying to clinch

and Tanaka counters by clinching up.
Kawasaki throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Tanaka blocks it with crossed arms.
Kawasaki with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Kawasaki throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Tanaka blocks it with crossed arms.
Tanaka with a knee to the head.

It looks like Jun Kawasaki has been cut.
Kawasaki misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Tanaka.
Tanaka lands an elbow that stopped Kawasaki in his tracks for a moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tanaka scores with a hook to the body.
Kawasaki looks gassed!
Tanaka connects with a knee to the head.
Tanaka presses Kawasaki against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
A nice right hand lands inside from Tanaka.
Kawasaki trying to land knees to the body.
Tanaka blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Tanaka blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Kawasaki takes an elbow to the temple.
Kawasaki misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Tanaka.

Tanaka's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Kawasaki takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Tanaka dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Kawasaki. That did some damage!
Tanaka turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Tanaka connects with a solid leg kick.
Kawasaki takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
A nice leg kick lands there from Tanaka.
Tanaka chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Tanaka connects with a high kick.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Tanaka throws a nice head kick!
Tanaka throws a leg kick which misses Kawasaki's front leg but catches the back leg as Kawasaki tries to avoid it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tanaka connects with a high kick.
Kawasaki closes the distance but Tanaka moves to the side
and Tanaka counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Kawasaki is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Tanaka cracks the inside of Kawasaki's front leg.
Tanaka cracks the inside of Kawasaki's front leg.
Kawasaki on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Kawasaki tries to clinch
and Tanaka counters with an inside leg kick.
Tanaka thumps Kawasaki with a low kick.
Tanaka fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Kawasaki has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Tanaka buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Tanaka throws a nice inside leg kick.
Tanaka fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Kawasaki.
A nice leg kick lands there from Tanaka.
Tanaka connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Tanaka lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tanaka works Kawasaki's body with a nice hook.
Kawasaki darts in trying to clinch
and Tanaka counters with a thumping low kick.
Tanaka feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Kawasaki's calf.
Kawasaki takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
A slapping leg kick lands for Tanaka.
Kawasaki takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Tanaka lands with a good body shot.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Tanaka.
Tanaka lands a nice looking body shot.
Tanaka digs a good hook to Kawasaki's body.
Tanaka chopping away at his opponent's legs.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Kawasaki throws a combination that misses
and Tanaka counters with an inside leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kawasaki stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Tanaka.
A good leg kick by Tanaka.
Tanaka connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Tanaka lands with a slapping head kick.
Tanaka lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Kawasaki wants to clinch but Tanaka slips to the side
and Tanaka counters with a low kick, right behind Kawasaki 's knee.
Kawasaki wants to clinch but Tanaka slips to the side
and Tanaka counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Kawasaki is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Kawasaki takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
An inside leg kick lands from Tanaka.
A good leg kick by Tanaka.
Tanaka throws a quick inside leg kick.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Tanaka lands a nice shot to the body.
Tanaka dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Tanaka scores with a head kick. Kawasaki tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Naoki Tanaka dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Jun Kawasaki's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Kawasaki tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Tanaka counters with an inside leg kick.
An inside leg kick lands from Tanaka.
Kawasaki looks to clinch
and Tanaka counters with a low kick, right behind Kawasaki 's knee.
Tanaka throws a nice head kick!
Kawasaki closes the distance but Tanaka moves to the side
and Tanaka counters with a good low kick that Kawasaki was not able to check.
Nice body punch from Tanaka.
Tanaka circles away from the clinch attempt
and Tanaka counters with a head kick. That will keep Kawasaki thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!
Kawasaki wants to clinch but Tanaka slips to the side
and Tanaka counters with a slapping leg kick.
Kawasaki takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Tanaka connects with a high kick.
Kawasaki closes the distance but Tanaka moves to the side
and Tanaka counters with a good low kick that Kawasaki was not able to check.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A nice leg kick lands there from Tanaka.
Jun Kawasaki seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Kawasaki is breathing heavily.
Tanaka throws a nice outside leg kick.
Tanaka dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Tanaka is looking to wear down Kawasaki with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Tanaka scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
A shot to the liver by Tanaka. Beautiful body shot.
Kawasaki chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Tanaka can pounce on him.
Kawasaki's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Tanaka dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Tanaka lands with a thumping leg kick.
Kawasaki moves to clinch but Tanaka breaks away
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Tanaka cracks the inside of Kawasaki's front leg.
Kawasaki closes the distance looking to clinch
and Tanaka counters with a lovely shot to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tanaka lands a nice leg kick that just misses Kawasaki's sensitive parts.
A nice inside leg kick there by Tanaka. That's going to slow Kawasaki down.
Tanaka lands a jab to Kawasaki's midsection.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Tanaka cracks the inside of Kawasaki's front leg.
Tanaka stuns Kawasaki with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Tanaka moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Tanaka dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Kawasaki. That did some damage!
Tanaka cracks the inside of Kawasaki's front leg.
Tanaka lands a body shot.
Tanaka lands a leg kick that knocks Kawasaki off balance momentarily.
Tanaka lands a leg kick that knocks Kawasaki off balance momentarily.
Tanaka throws a head kick that looked like it stung.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Tanaka.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tanaka fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Kawasaki.
Jun Kawasaki is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A chopping leg kick lands by Tanaka.
Tanaka thuds a left hand into Kawasaki's body.
A head kick from Tanaka lands but Kawasaki takes it in his stride.
Kawasaki 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.
Tanaka throws a nice outside leg kick.
Tanaka turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Tanaka looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Kawasaki closes the distance but Tanaka moves to the side
and Tanaka counters with a nice low kick that buckles Kawasaki's knee momentarily.
Tanaka lands a leg kick that knocks Kawasaki off balance momentarily.
Tanaka throws a nice outside leg kick.
A solid leg kick lands there for Tanaka.
Tanaka punishes Kawasaki's body with a nice straight punch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tanaka fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Kawasaki.
Tanaka thumps Kawasaki with a low kick.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Tanaka.
A head kick from Tanaka lands but Kawasaki takes it in his stride.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
A nice leg kick lands there from Tanaka.
Kawasaki looks to clinch
and Tanaka counters with a good low kick that Kawasaki was not able to check.
Tanaka circles away from the clinch attempt
and Tanaka counters with a low kick, right behind Kawasaki 's knee.
Tanaka lands with a kick to the temple. Kawasaki shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Tanaka is looking to slow Kawasaki down with leg kicks.
Kawasaki closes the distance looking to clinch
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
and Tanaka counters with a nice low kick that buckles Kawasaki's knee momentarily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Naoki Tanaka dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Jun Kawasaki's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. And we move into the final round!

Tanaka goes for a high kick. It partially lands.
Kawasaki tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Tanaka counters with a right hand to the body.
Kawasaki tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Tanaka counters with a left to the body.
Kawasaki tries to clinch
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Kawasaki tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Tanaka counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Kawasaki looks to clinch
and Tanaka counters with an inside leg kick.
Tanaka scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Kawasaki closes the distance looking to clinch
and Tanaka counters with an inside leg kick.
Kawasaki takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Tanaka scores with a jab to the body.
Tanaka scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Kawasaki takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Tanaka thuds a left hand into Kawasaki's body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kawasaki chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Tanaka can pounce on him.
Tanaka throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Kawasaki stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Kawasaki takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Tanaka scores with a body shot.
Kawasaki takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Tanaka scores with a body shot.
Tanaka connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Tanaka chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Kawasaki closes the distance but Tanaka moves to the side
and Tanaka counters with a nice low kick that buckles Kawasaki's knee momentarily.
Kawasaki tries to clinch up
and Tanaka counters with a body kick that brings a smile to the face of both fighters.
Tanaka fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Kawasaki.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tanaka lands a slapping body shot.
Tanaka throws a nice outside leg kick.
Tanaka scores with a slapping inside leg kick.

Tanaka instigates a clinch.
Tanaka creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Kawasaki's defenses.
Tanaka connects with a nasty looking knee right to Kawasaki's face.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Tanaka putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Kawasaki in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Tanaka lands an elbow inside that Kawasaki shrugs off.

Tanaka breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Kawasaki takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Tanaka works Kawasaki's body with a nice hook.
Tanaka works Kawasaki's body with a nice hook.
Tanaka dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Kawasaki. That did some damage!
Kawasaki closes the distance but Tanaka moves to the side
and Tanaka counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Tanaka chopping away at his opponent's legs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tanaka lands with a slapping head kick.
Kawasaki moves to clinch but Tanaka breaks away
and Tanaka counters with a big head kick but Kawasaki shrugs it off.
Tanaka connects with a solid leg kick.
Tanaka lands a nice leg kick that just misses Kawasaki's sensitive parts.
Tanaka feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Kawasaki's calf.
Tanaka throws a quick inside leg kick.
Nice body punch from Tanaka.
A slapping leg kick lands for Tanaka.
An inside leg kick lands from Tanaka.
Kawasaki takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Tanaka buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Tanaka connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tanaka throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Kawasaki.
Tanaka connects with a leg kick. Kawasaki looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Kawasaki tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Tanaka fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Kawasaki takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Kawasaki closes the distance but Tanaka moves to the side
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Tanaka throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
An inside leg kick lands from Tanaka.
Tanaka plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Kawasaki moves to clinch but Tanaka breaks away
and Tanaka counters with a big head kick but Kawasaki shrugs it off.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
A solid leg kick lands there for Tanaka.
Jun Kawasaki has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Kawasaki throws a lazy uppercut
and Tanaka makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.

And that's the end of the fight!
Naoki Tanaka showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Tanaka 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 Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 30:24
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 30:24
Judge Taro Takaoka scores the fight 30:24

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Naoki Tanaka!