PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Antonio Inoki (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Joe Henning (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Henning is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: In For the Count ( Perfect Twist). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Inoki
vs
Henning

209 cm
27
272 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

191 cm
26
224 lbs
6 - 7 - 0

Decent wrestler
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Antonio Inoki!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Joe Henning!
The judges for this bout are Bruno Hogan, Donatello Bradman and Eliza Hachem.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Inoki has a takedown stuffed.

Inoki closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Inoki will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Inoki working away.
Inoki throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.

Inoki tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Inoki has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Henning is looking for a sweep.
Inoki connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Henning some visible discomfort.
Henning sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Inoki wants to stand up but Henning is controlling the position.
Inoki not landing any meaningful shots this time.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Henning can do anything to dispel that myth.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Inoki is trying to control the action in half guard but Henning is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Henning tries to roll over but Inoki keeps him under control.
Henning has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Inoki is working away from the top position though.

Inoki wants to work for an arm triangle but Henning is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Inoki throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Inoki performing his best blanket impression for a moment.

Inoki seems to be looking for submissions.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Henning is trying to maintain the position but Inoki is very close to passing his half guard.
Inoki is controlling the pace.
Inoki has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Henning is looking to escape.
Inoki wants to free his trapped foot but Henning is holding on for dear life with his legs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Inoki is looking for a kimura but Henning is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Inoki to get the leverage.
Henning trying to keep hold of his opponent's head but Inoki manages to pass to mount!
Henning is in all sorts of trouble here.
Inoki lands a heavy elbow.
Henning is looking to improve his position but Inoki isn't that keen on the idea.
Inoki controlling his opponent.
Inoki'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.
Henning keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Inoki scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Inoki lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Henning keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.

Inoki is standing up out of mount! Strange tactic there - he must really want this one on the feet!
Henning looks gassed!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Nice sprawl there from Inoki as Henning shoots in.

Inoki gets a clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Henning tries to clinch up but Inoki circles away and keeps his distance.
Henning throws a lazy right hand but Inoki sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Inoki shoots in for a takedown but Henning shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Inoki cracks a nice hook into Henning's ribs.
Inoki is trying hard to land a takedown here. Henning sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Inoki avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Inoki is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Henning closes this distance looking for a takedown but Inoki circles away.
Henning throws a left and a right that both miss

and Inoki counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Henning is breathing heavily.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Inoki chips away with some ground and pound.
Inoki landing some decent shots from guard.

Inoki drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Inoki jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Inoki stands up over Henning, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Inoki trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Inoki forces his way into half guard.
Inoki works his way into side control.
Inoki taking a breather here.
Henning gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Henning trying to control but Inoki postures up.

Inoki stands up out of the half guard.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Henning lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Inoki has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Inoki and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Inoki shoots in looking for a takedown but Henning manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Inoki's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Antonio Inoki. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Henning tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Inoki shoots in for a takedown but Henning shows good takedown defense.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Inoki works over Henning's head and body with a nice combination.
Henning tries to score a power double leg takedown but Inoki sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Henning somewhat.
Inoki closes the distance and clinches up with Henning, looking for a takedown. Inoki pushes Henning against the cage but Henning circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Henning displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Inoki.
Henning tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Inoki manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Antonio Inoki is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Henning throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Inoki's waist but Inoki gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Henning off to one side.

Inoki closes the distance and clinches.
Henning tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Inoki smiles and moves away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Inoki will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Henning looks for a takedown but Inoki sprawls well.
Inoki misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Inoki tries to score a power double leg takedown but Henning sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Inoki somewhat.
Henning throws a nice looking combination but Inoki bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Henning misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Antonio Inoki dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Inoki fails with the takedown.
Inoki tries a low kick but Henning avoids it.
Inoki throws a nice looking combination but Henning bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Inoki is trying hard to land a takedown here. Henning sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.

Henning gets a clinch.

Henning pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Henning misses with a head kick.
Inoki shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Henning sprawls well. Henning wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Inoki gets slowly back to his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Antonio Inoki. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Henning closes this distance looking for a takedown but Inoki circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Henning shoots in for a takedown but Inoki shows good takedown defense.
Inoki will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Inoki tries for a takedown but Henning sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.

Henning bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Inoki is looking to reverse the position.

Henning looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Henning tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Inoki sneaks back into half guard.
Henning throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Inoki wants to control but Henning is keeping busy.
Henning wants to lay and pray for a moment but Inoki keeps working.
Henning trying to control from Inoki's half guard. Inoki has other ideas though and has regained full guard.
Henning in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Inoki scores with a nice shot.
Inoki manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Henning manages to get himself to full guard.
Inoki throwing strikes but missing.

Inoki decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Henning, up you get!
Inoki throws the kick towards the body but Henning avoids it.
Inoki swinging wildly here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Inoki keeps the fight on the outside.
Henning moves in looking to clinch but Inoki pushes him off.

Henning 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.
Henning pushes down on Inoki's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Inoki wants to control but Henning is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Inoki looks like he's trying to stand up.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Henning prevents Inoki from improving his position.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Joe Henning.
Well Inoki 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 Bruno Hogan scores the fight 29:28
Judge Donatello Bradman scores the fight 29:28
Judge Eliza Hachem scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Antonio Inoki!