PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Ippo Makunouchi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Calvin McCork (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). McCork has chosen Great Balls Of Fire By The Killer Himself as his entrance music. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Makunouchi
vs
McCork

170 cm
26
160 lbs
8 - 7 - 0

172 cm
28
183 lbs
6 - 7 - 1

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Powerful takedowns
Good kicks
Good gas tank

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 8 - 7 - 0, fighting out of New York, Ippo Makunouchi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 7 - 1, fighting out of New York, Calvin McCork!
The judges for this bout are Joseph Jones, Jonathan Paton and Dean Styles.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
McCork waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Makunouchi.
Makunouchi throws a lazy right hand but McCork sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
McCork gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Makunouchi shoots and misses
and McCork counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
McCork moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
McCork avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
McCork drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Makunouchi showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from McCork.
McCork bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Makunouchi's head backwards.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
McCork keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
McCork walks into a straight right hand from Makunouchi.
Makunouchi is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Makunouchi lands a nice hook to McCork's body. McCork takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
A slow jab from Makunouchi misses its intended target.
Makunouchi looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? McCork is fending him off so far but Makunouchi persists. Nope, McCork circles away and we're back to standing.
Makunouchi throws a shot to the body.
McCork tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Makunouchi tries to close the distance and clinch but McCork swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Nice sprawl there from McCork as Makunouchi shoots in.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ippo Makunouchi. That's going to take a lot out of him.
McCork lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by McCork.
Makunouchi looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Makunouchi avoids the head kick by McCork.
McCork throws a body punch but Makunouchi moves out of range.
Makunouchi avoids the body shot from McCork.
McCork throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Makunouchi doesn't succeed with the takedown
and McCork counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
McCork lands a lovely overhand right.
Makunouchi throws an off balance right hand
and McCork counters with a nice uppercut.
McCork moves into range and connects with a jab.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
McCork lands with a kick to the temple. Makunouchi shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
McCork takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Decent striking displayed by McCork there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A cross from McCork lands.

Makunouchi is rocked!
Makunouchi throws an uppercut from half a mile away. McCork sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Makunouchi misses with a takedown
and McCork counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
McCork jabs Makunouchi to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Makunouchi misses with a right hand

and McCork counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by McCork.
Makunouchi is breathing heavily.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.

McCork is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Makunouchi keeping moving, preventing McCork from controlling successfully.

McCork drops back looking for a leg! Makunouchi is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Makunouchi manages to kick McCork off! McCork jumps back into Makunouchi's guard.
Makunouchi avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
McCork trying to control the position from guard on top but Makunouchi is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

McCork drops back for a leg here. A bit of a high risk move... He's looking for a kneebar by the looks of things. Now both of them are looking for submissions. McCork seems to have locked his on tight now - Makunouchi screams in pain and taps out furiously! It certainly was a high risk move but it's paid off for McCork, as he picks up the win!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:36 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kneebar). Calvin McCork!
During a confident post fight interview, Calvin McCork thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.