PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Khalil Bradley (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Souta Itou (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). There are an array of beautiful celebrities at ringside tonight! I wonder if any of them paid for their tickets.

Bradley
vs
Itou

182 cm
25
178 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

170 cm
25
170 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Intelligent

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Khalil Bradley!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Souta Itou!
The judges for this bout are Ren Mimura, Shigeki Fujiwara and Yukihiro Yamamoto.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Itou tries a head kick but it misses.
Itou takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Bradley avoids a kick to the body.
Bradley tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Itou swivels and escapes.
The fight stays on the outside here - Itou looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Bradley swings for the body but Itou moves out of range.
An inside leg kick lands from Itou.
Itou darts in trying to clinch

and Bradley moves into the clinch.
Itou wants a takedown.

Bradley manages to break the clinch.
Bradley closes the distance and clinches up with Itou, looking for a takedown. Bradley pushes Itou against the cage but Itou circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Itou throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Bradley's waist but Bradley gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Itou off to one side.
Bradley shoots and misses

and Itou counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Bradley's guard now.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Khalil Bradley. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Itou wants to control from the top but Bradley keeps moving.

Itou has gone for a leg lock! Bradley slips out almost immediately though and dives into Itou's guard.
Bradley working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Bradley trying to control the position from guard on top but Itou is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Itou wants to control but instead he gets his guard passed and Bradley is now in half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bradley works his foot free and advances to mount.
Itou manages to regain half guard. Good work.

Bradley is working for a kimura but Itou is defending it quite comfortably.
Bradley not doing much here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Itou is looking for a sweep. Bradley is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Bradley is figuring out what he wants to do next.

Itou looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Bradley will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

Itou is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Bradley pulls his head out easily.
Itou missing with punches from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bradley is taking a breather. Itou says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Bradley not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Bradley trying to control the action but Itou is working from the bottom.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Itou tries to get to full guard but Bradley has control of the leg.
Bradley is trying to control. Itou wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Souta Itou will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Bradley blocks a head kick by Itou.
Khalil Bradley is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Bradley moves out of range as Itou throws a body kick.
Bradley shoots in but no luck this time.

Bradley pushes Itou up against the cage in a clinch.
Bradley keeps control of Itou as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
A frustrated look appears on Itou's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Bradley has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Itou avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Itou is trying to break free.

Itou has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Bradley uses from the top position.
Bradley content to stall in guard here.
Itou avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bradley throws a big right hand that misses.
Itou throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.
Bradley wants to pass the guard but Itou is keeping the position.
Bradley sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Itou not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Bradley passes Itou's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Bradley is trying to control the action in half guard but Itou is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Itou is trying to stand back up but Bradley is controlling him
Bradley seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.

Bradley is looking for a kimura but Itou is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Bradley to get the leverage.
Itou is staying active underneath Bradley, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

Itou looking for submissions off his back.

Itou looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Itou is breathing heavily.
Itou tries to get to full guard but Bradley has control of the leg.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Bradley is looking for a kimura here.

Bradley decides to stand and escape the position.
A head kick misses from Itou.
Bradley leaves Itou with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Itou pulls out of a head kick attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
No luck for Bradley with that takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Khalil Bradley. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Bradley.
Bradley misses with a head kick.
Bradley circles away from the clinch attempt.

Itou shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Itou showed some decent athleticism there.
Itou seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Bradley does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Itou tries to stand but can't do so whilst Bradley controls his leg.
Bradley is pressing down on Itou's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Khalil Bradley will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Bradley bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Itou's head.
Itou tries to close the distance and clinch up but Bradley swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Bradley is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Bradley is looking to clinch but Itou is avoiding it.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Itou is defended easily by Bradley.
Bradley will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
A big right from Itou misses.
Itou fails to land the takedown.
Itou connects with a high kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bradley lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
Itou is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Itou takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Bradley fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Itou avoids it really well and circles away.
Bradley throws a head kick that misses.
Itou wants to clinch.
Bradley shoots in for a takedown but Itou shows good takedown defense.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Khalil Bradley. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Itou closes this distance looking for a takedown but Bradley circles away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bradley is looking to land body kicks.
Itou misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Bradley.
Itou pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Itou moves out of range of the body kick.
Bradley shoots in for a takedown but Itou shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Itou misses with a right hand

and Bradley counters by clinching up.
Itou tries to circle away but Bradley has him pinned against the cage.

Itou breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Itou keeps Bradley at a distance using the push kick.
Itou throws the kick towards the body but Bradley avoids it.
A head kick misses from Itou.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Itou tries to clinch up but Bradley circles away and keeps his distance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bradley tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Itou manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Itou tries to clinch up.
Bradley tries to clinch there but Itou circles away.
Itou tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Bradley swivels and escapes.
Souta Itou seems to be getting the better of the standup.

Bradley moves into range and clinches up with Itou.
Bradley is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Itou pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Bradley gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Itou.
Bradley drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Itou gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Itou is trying to stall.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bradley has Itou pressed against the cage.
Itou is looking to take this one to the mat.

Bradley manages to break the clinch.
Itou steps to his left, right into the path of a big body kick from Bradley. That one must have hurt.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Bradley drives through and clinches with Itou against the cage.
Bradley tries to pull guard but Itou forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Bradley keeps control of Itou as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Khalil Bradley.
I think Bradley 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 Ren Mimura scores the fight 30:28
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 29:28
Judge Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 28:30

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Khalil Bradley!