PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Ryo Yoshimitsu (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Khoa Le (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Le is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Search and Destroy. Ryo Yoshimitsu has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Yoshimitsu
vs
Le

180 cm
20
155 lbs
0 - 0 - 1

175 cm
18
155 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good in bed

Good takedowns
Counter striker
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 1, fighting out of Tokyo, Ryo Yoshimitsu!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Khoa Le!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Fujiwara, Kenichi Hosakawa and Yasuomi Hirokawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Yoshimitsu fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Le sprawls well initially but Yoshimitsu persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Le wants to control the action here but instead Yoshimitsu manages to pass to full mount!
Yoshimitsu controlling from mount.
Le is working to get back to half guard.
Yoshimitsu sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Le is wriggling around trying to escape.
Le looks gassed!
Yoshimitsu tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Yoshimitsu landing strikes from the mount.
Yoshimitsu looking to control and managing it successfully.
Le takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Yoshimitsu controlling his opponent.
Le is working to get back to half guard.
Le trying desperately to get to his feet.
Yoshimitsu with the ground and pound from mount.
Yoshimitsu controlling his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
BOOM! Yoshimitsu connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Yoshimitsu tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Yoshimitsu wants to finish this one by submission but Le is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Yoshimitsu.
Yoshimitsu punishing his opponent with strikes.
Yoshimitsu takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Le tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Yoshimitsu controlling from the full mount.
Yoshimitsu punishing his opponent with strikes.
Yoshimitsu controlling from the full mount.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Le tries to reverse the position but Yoshimitsu maintains control.
Le tries to lock up and control but Yoshimitsu gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Le is desperately trying to get back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Le wants to hold on but Yoshimitsu pushes him away.

Yoshimitsu stands up from mount. Strange move.

Yoshimitsu has Le up against the cage in a clinch.

Yoshimitsu gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Le regains guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Le working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Yoshimitsu doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Yoshimitsu manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Yoshimitsu tries to free his leg and advance position but Le is retaining full guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Le throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Yoshimitsu is stalling in the full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ryo Yoshimitsu dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Yoshimitsu defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Le.
Horrible takedown by Yoshimitsu or perhaps it was just good defense by Le which made him look bad.
Yoshimitsu shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Le as he jumps to the side.
Le fails with a takedown attempt.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

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

That's one minute gone in the round.
Yoshimitsu takes Le's back.

Yoshimitsu working for a RNC but it's not happening just yet.
Yoshimitsu is looking to control Le but Le is wriggling around and keeping busy.
Yoshimitsu keeps control of the position as Le tries to break free.
Le is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
You know, I was talking to some of our celebrities at ringside tonight and they were split right down the middle on who was going to win this fight.
Le rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.
Le is trying to get back to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Yoshimitsu not doing much here.
Yoshimitsu trying to pass the guard but Le defending well.
Yoshimitsu landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Le is looking to improve his position.
Yoshimitsu stalling.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Yoshimitsu uses his free foot to push down on Le's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Le.
Le tries to reverse the position but Yoshimitsu maintains control.
Yoshimitsu avoids the attempt from Le to control.
Yoshimitsu takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Yoshimitsu trying to control but Le is having none of it.
Yoshimitsu raining down hammerfists from mount.
Le is really trying hard to get back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Le is trying desperately to improve position.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Yoshimitsu cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Le keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Yoshimitsu tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Yoshimitsu postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Le looks a forlorn figure.
Le is trying desperately to improve position.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Le is wriggling around here but as he tries to escape, Yoshimitsu has taken his back.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Le tries to roll but Yoshimitsu sticks to his back.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ryo Yoshimitsu dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Le dodges the punch combination from Yoshimitsu.
Yoshimitsu shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Le fails with the takedown

and Yoshimitsu counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Yoshimitsu controls from within his opponent's guard.
Ryo Yoshimitsu overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Le looking to hit a scissor sweep but Yoshimitsu is one step ahead there.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Yoshimitsu is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Ryo Yoshimitsu wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Yoshimitsu shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Le as he avoids it easily.
Yoshimitsu with a lazy takedown attempt

and Le counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ryo Yoshimitsu. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Yoshimitsu is trying to maintain the position but Le is very close to passing his half guard.
Yoshimitsu is looking for a sweep. Le is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Yoshimitsu wants to get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Le looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Yoshimitsu keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

Le is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Le is trying to control the action in half guard but Yoshimitsu is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Le thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Yoshimitsu is trying to stand back up but Le is controlling him
Le is trying to advance to mount but he's lost his balance and Yoshimitsu reverses the position - he's now on top in Le's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Le has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Yoshimitsu can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Yoshimitsu content to stall in guard here.

Le working for a triangle but Yoshimitsu defends it easily.

Le looking for a guillotine here but Yoshimitsu defends easily.
Yoshimitsu controls from within his opponent's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Le keeping moving, preventing Yoshimitsu from controlling successfully.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Ryo Yoshimitsu wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Yoshimitsu takes a head kick and keeps coming.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Yoshimitsu closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Le's guard.
Khoa Le has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Ryo Yoshimitsu is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Yoshimitsu got a little sloppy there for a moment and Le has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Yoshimitsu has managed to get both his arms back between Le's legs - danger averted.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Khoa Le.
Well Yoshimitsu 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 Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 29:28
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ryo Yoshimitsu!
After winning the bout, Ryo Yoshimitsu thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.