PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Yamamoto Funaki (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Micheal Morton (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Funaki
vs
Morton

173 cm
22
161 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

170 cm
20
161 lbs
6 - 4 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Intelligent

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Knockout power

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the lightweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Yamamoto Funaki!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Micheal Morton!
The judges for this bout are Kenichi Hosakawa, Shigeki Fujiwara and Ren Mimura.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Funaki uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Morton.
Funaki fails with a takedown attempt.
Funaki shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Morton but Morton pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Funaki fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Yamamoto Funaki. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Morton looks to land a combination. Funaki sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.

Funaki is rocked!
Funaki shoots in but Morton avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Oh Funaki is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Morton ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Funaki seems to have got his legs back now.
Funaki is breathing heavily.
Morton thows a body shot but no joy.
Morton misses with a jab, cross combination.
Morton digs a good body shot into Funaki's ribs.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Funaki gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Funaki scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.

Funaki is looking for submissions but instead, Morton has regained full guard.
Funaki won't allow Morton to get back to his feet.
Funaki pushes down on Morton's leg and manages to get into half guard.

Morton is defending against the submission attempts here by Funaki.
Funaki wants to advance to full mount but Morton doesn't think that's going to happen and regains full guard instead.
Funaki stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Morton swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Funaki drops back looking for a leg! Morton is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Morton manages to kick Funaki off! Funaki jumps back into Morton's guard.

Funaki drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Morton dives on top into guard.

Funaki working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Morton doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Morton manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Funaki looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

Funaki had isolated an arm as going for an omaplata. Morton is defending the submission well but is in a very vulnerable position. Funaki Is leaning forward trying to finish the omaplata but decides to abandon it, and take Morton's back instead.

Funaki tightening his grip on Morton, looking for the choke.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Funaki working for a choke but Morton reverses nicely into Funaki 's guard.
Funaki looking to hit a scissor sweep but Morton is one step ahead there.
Morton would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

Morton stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Micheal Morton is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Morton misses with a series of wild punches.
Morton throws a right and a left that both miss.
Morton misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Nice takedown defense from Morton. No joy for Funaki on that attempt.
Morton throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Funaki stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Morton looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Morton throws a half hearted mid kick.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Funaki fails to land the takedown.
Funaki fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Morton is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Funaki rather than just go for the knockout.
Morton misses with a wild combination.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Micheal Morton dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Funaki.
Morton lands with a cross.
Morton throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Funaki looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Morton ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Funaki moves away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Morton tries to bum rush Funaki with a series of wild strikes but Funaki uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Morton misses with a two punch combination.
Funaki misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Yamamoto Funaki. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Morton tries a head kick but it misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Funaki keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Morton swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Morton throws a right and a left that Funaki avoids nicely.
Funaki misses with a takedown attempt - Morton sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Funaki shoots in but no luck this time.
Funaki closes the distance and clinches up with Morton, looking for a takedown. Funaki pushes Morton against the cage but Morton circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Yamamoto Funaki is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Morton misses with a two punch combination.
Funaki will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Morton scores with a jab.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morton will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Funaki showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Morton.
Morton misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Funaki.
Funaki takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
Funaki fails with a takedown attempt.
Micheal Morton seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Funaki showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Morton.
Funaki showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Morton.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morton tries to land a front kick but Funaki steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Morton misses with a series of wild punches.
Some wild striking there from Morton.
Morton throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Funaki throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Morton's waist but Morton gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Funaki off to one side.
A punch lands to the side of Funaki 's head but he takes it in his stride.
No luck for Funaki with that takedown attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Nice takedown defense from Morton. No joy for Funaki on that attempt.
Morton looks to land a body kick but Funaki moved away.
Funaki takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Funaki shoots in looking for a takedown. Morton tries to sprawl out of it but Funaki keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Morton manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Morton throws a sloppy head kick and Funaki moves out of range easily.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
A punch combination from Morton misses.
Some wild striking there from Morton.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Micheal Morton showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Morton misses with a two punch combination.
A punch combination from Morton misses.
Morton misses with a hook.
Morton misses with a double jab.
Morton scores with a hook to the body. Funaki takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Morton misses with a wild combination.
Funaki avoids the body shot from Morton.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Morton dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Morton throws a big shot that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morton keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Morton misses with a jab, cross combination.
Morton throws a wild body kick that Funaki sees coming a mile off.
Morton throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Funaki shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Morton uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Funaki has time to react.
Morton misses the shot to the body.

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

Funaki swings around for an armbar but it's a sloppy attempt and Morton is now in Funaki's guard. A big mistake from Funaki there, giving up the dominant position!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Funaki has a closed guard, preventing Morton from standing up.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Funaki lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Morton!

Funaki looking for a guillotine from mount but Morton is having none of it.

Funaki looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.

Funaki goes for an armbar but he's not got it… Morton turns into him and now he's in Funaki's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Funaki wants to sweep here but Morton controlling him for the moment.

Morton is sitting in close to Funaki's body. Funaki has gone for a guillotine from the bottom. Oh damn, that looks pretty tight! Morton is panicking - it looks like this one could be all over! Yes, Morton is tapping! That was a very nice submission by Funaki.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:38 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Guillotine). Yamamoto Funaki!
Yamamoto Funaki is the new lightweight champion!