PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Krayzie Jackson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kazushi Sakuraba (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Krayzie Jackson could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Kazushi Sakuraba's chin.

Jackson
vs
Sakuraba

180 cm
23
200 lbs
6 - 1 - 0

183 cm
24
190 lbs
11 - 4 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent MT
KO power

Powerful takedowns
Counter striker
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Krayzie Jackson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Kazushi Sakuraba!
The judges for this bout are Taro Takaoka, Tatsuya Matsuyama and Ren Mimura.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A head kick from Jackson lands but Sakuraba takes it in his stride.
Jackson tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Jackson tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Sakuraba clinches.
Jackson digs a right hand underneath Sakuraba's ribcage. Sakuraba let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Jackson lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Jackson misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Sakuraba.
Sakuraba is working for takedown but Jackson is calmly controlling the position for now.
Sakuraba tries to pull guard but Jackson forces him back to his feet, against the ropes.

Jackson turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Jackson manages to end up in side control.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
Jackson tries to score with some ground and pound. Sakuraba controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Sakuraba tries to bench press Jackson off him but Jackson keeps the position.
Sakuraba is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Jackson looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Sakuraba is avoiding damage well.
Sakuraba taking a bit of punishment here - Jackson scoring with strikes.
Jackson trying to control the action but Sakuraba is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sakuraba gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.

Jackson wants to work for an arm triangle but Sakuraba is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Jackson is thwarting Sakuraba's attempts to control the position.

Jackson is working for a kimura but Sakuraba is defending it quite comfortably.
Jackson thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Sakuraba's head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sakuraba is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Jackson's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Jackson's back!
Jackson has the hand control, trying to stop the rear naked choke.
Jackson has his hands over his head blocking the strikes from Sakuraba.
Jackson has his hands over his head blocking the strikes from Sakuraba.

Sakuraba working for a RNC but it's not happening just yet.
Jackson covering up well and avoiding 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!

Sakuraba looking for the choke from the back.
Sakuraba has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Sakuraba scores with a nice shot to the head of his opponent. Jackson is looking for a way out.
Jackson covering up well under a barage of strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Sakuraba looking for the choke from the back.
Sakuraba is looking to control Jackson but Jackson is wriggling around and keeping busy.

Sakuraba looking for the choke but no joy.
Sakuraba has the hooks in. Jackson is trying to push off one leg but he has to do so cautiously to avoid being submitted.

Sakuraba looking for the choke but no joy.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Jackson wants to get back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sakuraba missing with strikes from the back.

Jackson is displaying good submission defense - not really looking in danger of submitting to the rear naked choke at the moment. That could change in an instant of course if Sakuraba gets his way!
Sakuraba lands with a hammerfist to the side of Jackson's head.
Sakuraba lands a shot to the head.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Sakuraba keeps control of the position as Jackson tries to break free.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kazushi Sakuraba dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the ring so we can get back down to business.

Jackson tries to clinch

and Sakuraba counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Jackson is looking to escape.
Sakuraba looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Jackson with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Jackson has hold of Sakuraba's hands but Sakuraba slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Sakuraba wants to control but Jackson is keeping him busy.
Jackson has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Sakuraba is working away from the top position though.
Sakuraba thows a huge punch but Jackson dodges it nicely.
Sakuraba sitting and controlling from the half guard.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Jackson blocking the ground and pound attempt from Sakuraba.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sakuraba tries to pass the half guard into mount. Jackson knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Sakuraba is trying to control the action in half guard but Jackson is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

Sakuraba seems to be looking for submissions.
Jackson tries to roll over but Sakuraba keeps him under control.
Jackson trying to control but Sakuraba postures up.
Jackson is in a bad position, trying to hold on for dear life but he is really struggling to maintain any sort of control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Sakuraba is working for a submission of some sort.

Sakuraba is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Jackson looks like he's trying to stand up.
Sakuraba wants to control but Jackson is keeping him busy.
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.
Sakuraba thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Jackson's head.
Sakuraba throws a strike but Jackson avoids it easily and moves to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sakuraba trying to control but Jackson is working from the bottom.
Sakuraba is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Sakuraba connects with a couple of short punches.
Sakuraba passes into half guard.
Sakuraba wants to pass the guard but Jackson is defending well.
Jackson is looking to escape.
Jackson trying to control but Sakuraba postures up.
Sakuraba drops an elbow to the side of Jackson's head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sakuraba throwing shots but Jackson is blocking nicely.
Sakuraba missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Sakuraba wants to pass the guard but Jackson is defending well.

Jackson is defending against the submission attempts here by Sakuraba.
Jackson is trying to stand up here but Sakuraba is controlling him well.
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.
Sakuraba throwing shots but Jackson is blocking nicely.
Jackson keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Jackson avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Sakuraba.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kazushi Sakuraba showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Sakuraba finds nothing but air with that leg kick attempt.
Jackson connects with a leg kick. Sakuraba looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Jackson cracks the inside of Sakuraba's front leg.

Jackson has closed the distance and engaged Sakuraba in a clinch.

Sakuraba has clasped his hands together around Jackson's back... aaand, he's got a takedown into side control. Nicely done.
Jackson is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Sakuraba throwing ground and pound but whilst doing so, he forgets to control position and Jackson works his way back to half guard. Good composure under pressure.
Sakuraba stops Jackson from getting back to his feet.
Jackson wants to improve his position but Sakuraba is controlling well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Jackson avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Sakuraba.
Sakuraba wants to lay and pray for a moment but Jackson keeps working.

Sakuraba looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

Jackson is defending against the submission attempts here by Sakuraba.

Sakuraba is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Jackson sees it coming and defends easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Sakuraba is looking for a kimura but Jackson is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Sakuraba to get the leverage.
Sakuraba trying to mount his opponent but Jackson defends it.
Jackson moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Sakuraba trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Sakuraba wants to pass the guard but Jackson is keeping the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sakuraba in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Krayzie Jackson has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Sakuraba trying to control the position from guard on top but Jackson is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Jackson is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Sakuraba missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Sakuraba pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Jackson is keeping the position for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Jackson keeping moving, preventing Sakuraba from controlling successfully.
Jackson will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Jackson wants to sweep but no luck.
Kazushi Sakuraba is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Sakuraba is looking to advance position but Jackson has hit a scissor sweep - now he's on top in mount!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Sakuraba is in all sorts of trouble here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Kazushi Sakuraba comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Sakuraba winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Taro Takaoka scores the fight 27:30
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 27:30
Judge Ren Mimura scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kazushi Sakuraba!
A victorious Kazushi Sakuraba thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.