PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Nick James (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gouki Sakuraba (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Nick James had a look across the cage there at his opponent. He definitely means business

James
vs
Sakuraba

176 cm
20
178 lbs
3 - 5 - 0

177 cm
21
170 lbs
5 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Good chin

Dangerous GnP
Excellent boxer
Powerful

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 3 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Nick James!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Gouki Sakuraba!
The judges for this bout are Winston Howard, Summer Carpenter and Hugh Johnson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
James showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Sakuraba.
Sakuraba connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
James looks to land a combination but Sakuraba avoids it well.
Sakuraba throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Sakuraba throws a body punch but James moves out of range.
Sakuraba misses with a double jab.
Sakuraba stuffs the takedown attempt from James. James gets slowly back to his feet.
Sakuraba throws a series of punches but James moves out of range.
A nice combination there by Sakuraba.

That's one minute gone in the round.
James throws a series of punches but Sakuraba moves out of range.
James misses with the combination.
James shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Sakuraba pinned against the cage. Sakuraba gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

James has managed to clinch.

James manages to break the clinch.
James misses with a straight right.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
James on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Sakuraba. Sakuraba obviously looking to wear him down.
Sakuraba lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
Sakuraba lands with a straight right. James didn't see that one coming.

James changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Sakuraba looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
This has been an exciting period of action!
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
James tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
James in side control, throwing shots but Sakuraba defends.
Sakuraba is trying to buck James off.
Sakuraba avoids any damage from the ground and pound of James.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

James is trying to get an arm triangle but Sakuraba is defending well.
James in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
James misses with the ground and pound.
James staying calm.
Sakuraba wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
James tries to score with some ground and pound. Sakuraba controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Sakuraba on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
James 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.
James misses with the ground and pound.
James throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
A lull in the action here.
James tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Nick James will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Sakuraba throws a series of strikes that have James backpedaling.
James will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Sakuraba ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Nice shot lands for Sakuraba.
Sakuraba jabs at James's body.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Sakuraba throws a wild body kick that James sees coming a mile off.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sakuraba fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Sakuraba throws a combination but it was largely blocked by James.
Sakuraba throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Sakuraba uses good head movement to avoid the hook from James.
Sakuraba lands a straight punch to the body, keeping James at a distance.
Gouki Sakuraba seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

James clinches up against the cage.
Sakuraba has had enough of the clinch but James keeps him there for the moment.

Sakuraba breaks the clinch.
Sakuraba fails to land with a series of punches.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
James tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Sakuraba paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Sakuraba swats away the attempt to clinch by James.
Sakuraba throws a left and a right that both miss

and James counters with a takedown into side control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
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!
James is staying tight to Sakuraba's torso, preventing him from escaping.
James misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
James misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.

James tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no James has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Sakuraba is pushing James's head away, looking to escape. James manages to hold on to the position though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
James throwing shots but missing, from side control.
James wants to lay and pray for a moment but Sakuraba keeps working.
The strikes coming from James are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Sakuraba parries the strikes from James easily there. James is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Sakuraba to escape.

Sakuraba throws James to one side and escapes!
Gouki Sakuraba is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sakuraba connects with a right hand. James shakes it off.

Sakuraba gets tackled into the cage by James. James maintains the clinch.
Sakuraba being controlled against the cage.

James pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Sakuraba swinging wildly here.
Sakuraba throws a right hand that James ducks under and follows up with a left that James also avoids with ease.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
James takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gouki Sakuraba showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Sakuraba throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Sakuraba takes a swing at James's ribcage but misses.
James throws a looping overhand right but Sakuraba ducks down to avoid it.
Sakuraba lands with an overhand left.
James throws a series of punches but Sakuraba avoids them all with ease.
James throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Sakuraba's waist but Sakuraba gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing James off to one side.
James looks to land a left hand but Sakuraba moved out of range nicely.
Sakuraba lands with a thumping leg kick.
James gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sakuraba misses with a two punch combination.
Sakuraba works over James's head and body with a nice combination.
Sakuraba swinging wildly here.

James forces Sakuraba back against the cage and clinches.
James landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.

James is trying to trip Sakuraba. He has hold of a leg but Sakuraba is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. James persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
James throwing strikes from guard but Sakuraba blocks nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
James throwing strikes but missing.
Sakuraba wants to stand up but James is controlling him.
James controls from within his opponent's guard.
Sakuraba utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
James controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
James trying to control the position from guard on top but Sakuraba is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Sakuraba really doesn't want to stay on the ground with James. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

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

James closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Sakuraba's guard.
James throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
James working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Sakuraba is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

James 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.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

James 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.
James advances to half guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
James moves into full mount! Sakuraba won't be happy about that!
Sakuraba blocking the ground and pound.

And that's the end of the fight!
Nick James showed his dominance in that final round.
I think James has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Winston Howard scores the fight 29:28
Judge Summer Carpenter scores the fight 29:28
Judge Hugh Johnson scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Nick James!
A relieved looking Nick James thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.