PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Lyoto Aoki (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Brad Brown (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Aoki kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genuis that is Handlebars. Brad Brown is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Aoki
vs
Brown

183 cm
19
200 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

185 cm
22
210 lbs
6 - 4 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Lyoto Aoki!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Brad Brown!
The judges for this bout are Yasuomi Hirokawa, Yuuki Gou and Tatsuya Matsuyama.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Aoki closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Brown to the mat! Brown manages to get full guard.
Brown is looking to stand up but Aoki isn't so interested in that idea.
Aoki pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Brown is keeping the position for now.
Aoki postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Aoki prevents Brown from getting back to his feet.
Brown can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Aoki controls the pace.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Aoki is looking to work some ground and pound but Brown has wrist control.
Brown wants to stand but Aoki is controlling the position.
Aoki controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Aoki working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Brown's head.
Aoki passes Brown's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Aoki stops Brown from getting back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Aoki looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Aoki scoring with strikes to the body and head.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Aoki scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Still in half guard, Aoki seems content to control.
Brown is trying to stand up here but Aoki is controlling him well.
Aoki is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Brown tries to kick Aoki off but Aoki keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Aoki has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

Brown bucks up and throws Aoki to the side - he's got back to his feet. Great escape!
Brown looks gassed!

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Aoki fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Brown, pushing him back against the cage.
Aoki lands a hook that snaps the head of Brown backwards.
Aoki lands a damaging elbow.

It looks like Brad Brown has been cut.

Aoki breaks the clinch.
Brown throws a looping overhand right but Aoki ducks down to avoid it.
Aoki throws a right and a left that both miss.

Aoki has closed the distance and engaged Brown in a clinch.
Brown prevents the takedown attempt.
Brown is trying to stall.
Brown letting Aoki take a breather here.
Aoki with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Aoki prevents Brown from breaking the clinch.
Aoki avoiding damage.
Aoki lands a right hand that snaps the head of Brown backwards.
Aoki prevents Brown from breaking the clinch.
Aoki using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Brown has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Aoki using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Brown can't break the clinch.
Aoki misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Brown.
Aoki will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Brown up against the cage.
Aoki trying to land knees to the body.
Aoki lands a knee to the body.
Aoki lands a nice elbow.
A short right from Aoki on the inside.

Aoki breaks the clinch.

Brown tries to keep at a distance but Aoki has taken the fight into the clinch.
Aoki has Brown pressed against the cage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Lyoto Aoki dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Brad Brown's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Aoki clinches with his opponent.
Aoki stalling the fight.
Aoki misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Brown.
Aoki lands a knee to the head.
Aoki lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Aoki using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Brown has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Aoki with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Aoki misses with a knee to the head.
Aoki with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Aoki has Brown pressed against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Aoki gets a warning from the ref for wasting time.
Brown avoids the elbow strike from Aoki, against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Aoki tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Brown prevents the takedown attempt.

Aoki breaks from the clinch.
Aoki on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Aoki doesn't manage to clinch there - Brown circles away.
Aoki throws a hard body shot but it just misses.

Aoki forces Brown back against the cage and clinches.
Aoki content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Brown avoiding damage as Aoki throws knees to the body.
Aoki with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.

Aoki breaks the clinch.

Aoki gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.

Aoki breaks the clinch.
A shot to de liver by Brown. Beautiful body shot.
Brown thows a body shot but no joy.
Brown throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Brown misses with a jab, cross combination.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Brown fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Aoki is out of range.
Brown throws a low kick but Aoki avoids it.
Brown misses with a combination

and Aoki counters with a takedown into side control.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Brown is pushing Aoki's head away, looking to escape. Aoki manages to hold on to the position though.
Aoki taking a breather here.
Aoki working the ground and pound.
Brown is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
Brown taking a bit of punishment here - Aoki scoring with strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Aoki remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fight is doing enough on the ground.

Aoki clinches.

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

Aoki gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Aoki lands an elbow that stopped Brown in his tracks for a moment.
Aoki tries to land a knee to the head but Brown blocks with his arms.
Aoki unloads a knee to the mid-section. Brown lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Brown gets underhooks to prevent Aoki's takedown attempt.

Aoki breaks the clinch.
Lyoto Aoki is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Brown avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Brad Brown seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Aoki moves into the clinch.
Aoki landing knees to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Brown avoiding damage as Aoki throws knees to the body.
Aoki content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Brown prevents the takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Lyoto Aoki. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Brown is looking to break free of the clinch but Aoki has double underhooks.

Aoki breaks the clinch.
Brown will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

Aoki clinches up against the cage.
Brown dodges an elbow strike from Aoki.

Aoki breaks from the clinch.
Aoki fails with an attempt to clinch.
Aoki lands a jab to the head.

Aoki gets a clinch.
Aoki lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Lyoto Aoki dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Brad Brown's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Brown keeps the fight on the outside.

Aoki clinches with his opponent.
Aoki tries to land knees in the clinch but Brown avoids the damage to the body.
Aoki scores a nice knee to the body.
Brown is pressed up against the cage. Aoki has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Brown down to the mat. Brown avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Aoki uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Brown.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Brown just misses with a punch to the body.
Aoki swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Brown.

Aoki closes the distance and clinches.
Aoki with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Aoki lands an elbow just above Brown 's eye.

Aoki manages to break the clinch.

Aoki closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Brown wants to get back to his feet but Aoki is dominant here and he's now got Brown's back!
Aoki looking to control and managing it successfully.
Brown is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A nice elbow there by Aoki.
Aoki takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Brown is trying to get back to his feet but can't.
The referee warns Brown that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Aoki tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Aoki seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Brown for as long as he can get away with.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Brown's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Aoki cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Brown is trying to stand.
Aoki controlling the pace for now.
Aoki has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Aoki has control of Brown's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Brown regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Brown is in a horrible position here. Aoki smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Brown in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Brown is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.
Aoki controlling from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Brown is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Aoki controlling the position easily from mount.
Aoki fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Aoki is landing with some decent strikes but Brown is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Aoki sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Lyoto Aoki just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.

Aoki drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Aoki controlling the position from side mount.

And that's the end of the fight!
Lyoto Aoki showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Aoki, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yuuki Gou scores the fight 30:27
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Lyoto Aoki!