PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Masahiko Kimura (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kazushi Rakusaba (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rakusaba has chosen David Bowie - Suffragette City as his entrance music. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the ring.

Kimura
vs
Rakusaba

170 cm
24
187 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

183 cm
31
181 lbs
14 - 10 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Granite chin

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 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Masahiko Kimura!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Kazushi Rakusaba!
The judges for this bout are Yuuki Gou, Shigeki Fujiwara and Yasuomi Hirokawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The fight stays on the outside here - Rakusaba looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Rakusaba tries to clinch
and Kimura counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.

Kimura drives through and clinches with Rakusaba against the ropes.

Rakusaba has double underhooks and is working for a body lock takedown. He's got it. The fighters land in half guard but Kimura regains guard immediately.
Rakusaba stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Kimura swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Rakusaba is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Rakusaba wants to control from the top but Kimura keeps moving.
Rakusaba is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rakusaba trying to control the position from guard on top but Kimura is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Kimura might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Kazushi Rakusaba hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Kimura misses with the combination.
A swing and a miss from Kimura.

Rakusaba looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Kimura!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kimura is desperately trying to improve his position but Rakusaba has a good base and remains in mount.
Rakusaba looking to control but Kimura is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Rakusaba in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Rakusaba trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Rakusaba looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Rakusaba looking to control but Kimura is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rakusaba is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Rakusaba wants to control but instead Kimura manages to regain half guard.

Rakusaba is working for a kimura but Kimura is defending it quite comfortably.
Kimura is not content to let Rakusaba control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kimura is trying to get back to full guard.
Rakusaba looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Kimura tries to get to full guard but Rakusaba has control of the leg.
Rakusaba looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kazushi Rakusaba dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Kimura stuffs the takedown.
Rakusaba misses with a low kick.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Rakusaba.
You can see the frustration on Kimura's face as Rakusaba controls the position.
Kimura is trying to control Rakusaba's posture but Rakusaba avoids it.
Kimura tries to escape but Rakusaba is in control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rakusaba is looking to take a break and control but Kimura is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Kimura is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Kimura keeping his opponent close.
Kimura struggling a bit here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Masahiko Kimura.

Rakusaba has managed to clinch.

Kimura gets double underhooks and manages to take the fight to the ground.
Kimura is stalling in the full guard.
Kimura trying to stand up but can't free himself from Rakusaba's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kimura wants to pass the guard but Rakusaba is keeping the position.
Kimura wants to control from the top but Rakusaba keeps moving.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Rakusaba not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Masahiko Kimura.
Rakusaba throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Kimura's waist but Kimura gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Rakusaba off to one side.
Kimura swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.

Kimura has closed the distance and engaged Rakusaba in a clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Kimura tightens his grip and picks Rakusaba up, before dumping him to the ground. Rakusaba manages to land in guard.
Kimura trying to control the position from guard on top but Rakusaba is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Rakusaba wants to get back to his feet but he's too absorbed in his own little project and Kimura manages to pass to side control.
Kimura content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Kimura trying to control from half guard but Rakusaba is working away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Masahiko Kimura dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Rakusaba rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Kimura moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
A big left from Kimura misses.
Kimura misses with a looping right.
Rakusaba with a poor takedown
and Kimura counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Kimura displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Rakusaba.
Both fighters are looking to counter, which isn't making for the most exciting fight in the world.
Rakusaba fails with an attempt to clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kimura misses with an uppercut

and Rakusaba counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Rakusaba.

Rakusaba gets a trip takedown into half guard.
Kimura has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Rakusaba is working away from the top position though.

Kimura pushes Rakusaba off and gets back to his feet.
Kimura misses with a hook.
Rakusaba uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Kimura.

Rakusaba shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kimura keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Rakusaba controlling from the full mount.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Rakusaba can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Kimura is looking to escape.
Kimura is trying to escape the mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rakusaba trying to control but Kimura is having none of it.
Kimura is in all sorts of trouble here.
Rakusaba throwing strikes but Kimura recovers to half guard. A much better position.

Rakusaba is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Kimura is just riding it out for now. Rakusaba eventually gives up the hold.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kimura wants to get back to full guard.
Kimura is working hard here to advance position.
Kimura is staying active underneath Rakusaba, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Kazushi Rakusaba comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Rakusaba has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Yuuki Gou scores the fight 28:29
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 28:29
Judge Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kazushi Rakusaba!