PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Carlos Seles (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Minamoto Shigetoki (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Seles
vs
Shigetoki

215 cm
23
255 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

196 cm
18
255 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Carlos Seles!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Minamoto Shigetoki!
The judges for this bout are Alyssa Summers, Jorge Garcia and David Schapiro.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Seles pulls out of a head kick attempt.

Seles instigates a clinch.
Seles stalling in the clinch.
Shigetoki stalling in the clinch but Seles improves position.

Shigetoki pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Seles moves into the clinch.
Shigetoki unloads a knee to the mid-section. Seles lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Shigetoki missing with knees to the body.
Shigetoki tries a knee to the head but Seles blocks it.
Shigetoki gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.

It looks like Carlos Seles has been cut.
Seles is breathing heavily.
Shigetoki trying to land knees to the body.

Shigetoki breaks the clinch.

Seles clinches up with Shigetoki and pushes him back against the cage.
Shigetoki fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

Shigetoki's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Seles swats away the attempt to clinch by Shigetoki.
Shigetoki is looking to clinch.

Seles clinches up with Shigetoki and pushes him back against the cage.
Shigetoki looking to throw knees to the head but Seles is blocking nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shigetoki tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Shigetoki is struggling to control the position.
Seles has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Seles looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Seles avoiding damage as Shigetoki throws knees to the body.
Shigetoki drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.

Shigetoki pulls guard.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Seles stopping the sweep attempt from Shigetoki.
Seles wants to get up but he can't break Shigetoki's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

Shigetoki has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Seles off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shigetoki is looking to clinch but Seles is avoiding it.
Seles circles away from the clinch attempt.
Shigetoki tries to clinch but Seles is having none of it.
Shigetoki is looking to clinch but Seles is avoiding it.
Shigetoki tries to clinch there but Seles circles away.

Shigetoki closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Shigetoki with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Seles looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Shigetoki looking to throw knees to the head but Seles is blocking nicely.
Shigetoki is pushing Seles up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Shigetoki tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Shigetoki leaning against his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shigetoki trying to land knees to the body.
Seles is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

Shigetoki drags the fight down to the ground.
Shigetoki controls Seles momentarily but Seles frees himself.
Seles wanted to stand there but Shigetoki had control of the position.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Shigetoki is on top in guard.

Shigetoki stands up from Seles's guard - Shigetoki perhaps looking for a knockout.
Shigetoki fails with an attempt to clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Shigetoki fails with an attempt to clinch.

Shigetoki pushes Seles up against the cage in a clinch.
Shigetoki throws a knee to the head but misses.
Shigetoki looking to stall.
Shigetoki with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Shigetoki tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Seles scores with a hook to the body.
Seles has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.

Shigetoki's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

Seles rushes Shigetoki and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Seles throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Shigetoki tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
A short left from Seles.
Shigetoki throws an elbow that misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Minamoto Shigetoki dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Carlos Seles's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Seles tests Shigetoki's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Carlos Seles is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Seles tries to sprawl but Shigetoki drives through with a takedown into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Seles is trying to stand up here but Shigetoki is controlling him well.

Shigetoki decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.
Shigetoki will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Shigetoki tries to clinch up but Seles circles away and keeps his distance.
Seles bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.
Shigetoki dodges the punch combination from Seles.

Seles has closed the distance and engaged Shigetoki in a clinch.

Shigetoki's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Shigetoki fails with an attempt to clinch.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Shigetoki tries to clinch but Seles moves out of range.

Seles has Shigetoki up against the cage in a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shigetoki blocks a body shot from Seles.
Seles is trying to break the clinch but Shigetoki is controlling him.

Shigetoki breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Seles avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Shigetoki wants to clinch up but Seles keeps it at a distance.
Shigetoki tries to close the distance and clinch but Seles swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Seles tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

Shigetoki has taken the fight to the clinch.

Shigetoki escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

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

Shigetoki kicks Seles off and gets back to his feet.

Shigetoki gets tackled into the cage by Seles. Seles maintains the clinch.
Shigetoki tries a knee to the head but he's missed.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shigetoki lands a damaging elbow.
Seles blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Shigetoki looking to throw knees to the head but Seles is blocking nicely.

Seles lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.

Shigetoki makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!
Shigetoki fails with an attempt to clinch.

Seles forces Shigetoki back against the cage and clinches.
Seles looking to slow down the pace here.
Shigetoki tries to land a knee to the head but Seles blocks with his arms.
Seles wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Shigetoki has him pressed against the cage.
Shigetoki has a couple of punches blocked by Seles.
Seles gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Shigetoki.
Shigetoki keeps control of Seles as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shigetoki has a couple of punches blocked by Seles.
Shigetoki connects with a nasty looking knee right to Seles's face.
Seles struggles to land a body shot inside as Shigetoki controls his hands.
Shigetoki leaning his opponent against the cage.
Shigetoki tries a knee to the head but Seles blocks it.
Shigetoki is trying to push Seles away but Seles has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Shigetoki throws a knee to the head but misses.

Seles gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Shigetoki regains guard.
Shigetoki manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Seles can't escape the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Shigetoki trying to control but Seles is having none of it.
Seles is trying to stand up.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Shigetoki can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Seles is looking to escape.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Minamoto Shigetoki will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Carlos Seles's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Seles swats away the attempt to clinch by Shigetoki.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Shigetoki.
Seles misses with a body kick.
Seles avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Seles throws a nice looking combination but Shigetoki bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Shigetoki tries to close the distance and clinch but Seles swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Seles instigates a clinch.

Shigetoki manages to break the clinch.
Minamoto Shigetoki seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Shigetoki closes the distance and pushes Seles back into the cage.
Seles tries to break the clinch but Shigetoki is controlling the position.

Shigetoki manages to break the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Seles pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Shigetoki tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Seles fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Shigetoki, pushing him back against the cage.
Seles managing to block the knees to the body from Shigetoki.

Shigetoki drags the fight down to the ground.
Seles tries to free his leg and advance position but Shigetoki is retaining full guard.
Shigetoki wants to stand and escape but Seles is having none of it.
Seles tries to stand but Shigetoki is controlling from the bottom.

Shigetoki pushes Seles off and gets back to his feet.
Shigetoki moves in looking to clinch but Seles pushes him off.
Shigetoki is looking to clinch but Seles is avoiding it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shigetoki tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Shigetoki fails with an attempt to clinch.
Shigetoki is looking to clinch but Seles is avoiding it.
Shigetoki moves in looking to clinch but Seles pushes him off.

Seles moves into the clinch.

Shigetoki pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Shigetoki fails with the takedown.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Shigetoki tries to close the distance and clinch but Seles swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Shigetoki avoids the head kick by Seles.
Seles throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

Seles moves into the clinch.

Shigetoki breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Shigetoki tries to clinch but Seles is having none of it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shigetoki tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Shigetoki tries to clinch up.
Seles goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Shigetoki shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Seles but Seles pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Carlos Seles has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Minamoto Shigetoki.
Shigetoki fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Shigetoki fails with an attempt to clinch.
Shigetoki is looking to clinch but Seles is avoiding it.
Seles keeps the fight on the outside.
Shigetoki tries to clinch up.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Shigetoki.

Seles rushes Shigetoki and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Shigetoki has a couple of punches blocked by Seles.
Seles wants to stall.
Shigetoki tries to land a knee to the head but Seles blocks with his arms.
Shigetoki creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Seles's defenses.
Shigetoki throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Seles blocks it with crossed arms.
Seles tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Seles misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Shigetoki.
Seles is trying to push Shigetoki away but Shigetoki has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.

Shigetoki breaks the clinch.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Shigetoki wants to clinch up but Seles keeps it at a distance.
Shigetoki is looking to clinch but Seles is avoiding it.
Carlos Seles has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Shigetoki wants to clinch.

And that's the end of the fight!
Minamoto Shigetoki comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Shigetoki has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Alyssa Summers scores the fight 27:30
Judge Jorge Garcia scores the fight 27:30
Judge David Schapiro scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Minamoto Shigetoki!
Minamoto Shigetoki was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.