PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Matt Cardone (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and William Shimazu (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). William Shimazu has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Cardone
vs
Shimazu

187 cm
24
260 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

180 cm
28
230 lbs
14 - 10 - 1

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter fighter
Experienced

BJJ Brown Belt
Dangerous knees
Heavy handed

FinnFighter Nutrition (Five 160Q supps!)
Crippler\'s Corner

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the heavyweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Matt Cardone!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 10 - 1, fighting out of Hilo, William Shimazu!
The judges for this bout are Paul Gruel, Roger Salmon and Jeff Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cardone shoots and misses
and Shimazu counters with a leg kick.
Cardone has his takedown stuffed
and Shimazu counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Cardone misses with a hook
and Shimazu counters with a nice low kick that buckles Cardone's knee momentarily.
Cardone tries for a takedown but Shimazu circles away easily
and Shimazu makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Matt Cardone. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cardone with a lazy takedown attempt
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Cardone is breathing heavily.
Cardone throws a left and a right that both miss
and Shimazu counters with a slapping leg kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Cardone fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Shimazu, pushing him back against the cage.
Cardone fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Shimazu.
Shimazu continues to stall. The referee tells him to work or he's going to break them up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by William Shimazu.
Cardone has his takedown stuffed
and Shimazu counters with an outside leg kick.
Cardone has his takedown stuffed
and Shimazu counters with a good low kick that Cardone was not able to check.
Cardone fails with the takedown
and Shimazu counters with a low kick, right behind Cardone 's knee.
Matt Cardone seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cardone shoots and misses
and Shimazu counters with a nice low kick that buckles Cardone's knee momentarily.

Cardone has Shimazu up against the cage in a clinch.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Shimazu.
The crowd are getting on Shimazu's back here. They're not happy about his lack of aggression in the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cardone tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Shimazu just stands there and leans against the cage.
Shimazu is pushing Cardone up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by William Shimazu.

Cardone closes the distance and pushes Shimazu back into the cage.
Cardone looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Shimazu taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

William Shimazu dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Cardone takes the fight into the clinch.
Shimazu controlling the action here for a moment.
Cardone is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cardone is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Shimazu is keeping busy.
Cardone tries to circle away but Shimazu has him pinned against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Shimazu takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Cardone tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Cardone wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Cardone letting Shimazu take a breather here.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by William Shimazu.
Cardone shoots and misses
and Shimazu counters with a slapping leg kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cardone misses with a takedown attempt
and Shimazu counters with a good low kick that Cardone was not able to check.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Matt Cardone. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Cardone gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Shimazu counters with an outside leg kick.
Cardone misses with a takedown attempt
and Shimazu counters with an inside leg kick.
Matt Cardone is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Cardone misses with a takedown attempt
and Shimazu makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Cardone throws a lazy head kick
and Shimazu counters with an inside leg kick.
Cardone shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Cardone rushes Shimazu and presses him up against the cage.
Shimazu is pushing Cardone up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Cardone is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Shimazu to keep the fight standing.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cardone looking to slow down the pace here.
Shimazu stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Cardone tries to pull guard but Shimazu holds him up against the cage and eventually Cardone drops back down to his feet.
Cardone misses with the head strike.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

William Shimazu showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Cardone's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Cardone instigates a clinch.
Cardone tries to break the clinch but Shimazu is controlling the position.
Shimazu leaning his opponent against the cage.
Cardone could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Cardone is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Shimazu stalling.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by William Shimazu.

Cardone has Shimazu up against the cage in a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Stalling in the clinch from Shimazu.
Shimazu keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Cardone's efforts to push away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Cardone tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Shimazu just stands there and leans against the cage.
Shimazu leaning against his opponent.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by William Shimazu.
Cardone has his takedown stuffed
and Shimazu counters with a slapping leg kick.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cardone shoots and misses
and Shimazu counters with a good low kick that Cardone was not able to check.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Matt Cardone. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cardone throws a sloppy head kick
and Shimazu counters with a nice low kick that buckles Cardone's knee momentarily.
Cardone throws a left and a right that both miss
and Shimazu counters with a slapping leg kick.
Cardone misses with a takedown attempt
and Shimazu makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Cardone has his takedown stuffed
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Cardone throws a lazy uppercut
and Shimazu counters with a thumping low kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cardone doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Shimazu counters with a slapping leg kick.

Shimazu gets tackled into the cage by Cardone. Cardone maintains the clinch.
Shimazu is struggling to control the position.
Shimazu receives a warning from the referee for stalling.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

William Shimazu really dominated that round.
That's time! Cardone's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Cardone fails with the takedown
and Shimazu counters with a thumping low kick.
Cardone fails with the takedown
and Shimazu counters with an inside leg kick.
Cardone has his takedown stuffed
and Shimazu counters with a slapping leg kick.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Matt Cardone. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cardone doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Shimazu counters with a thumping low kick.
William Shimazu seems to be getting the better of the standup.
It's got to the stage where if one of these guys blows hard enough, the other might fall over.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cardone misses with a takedown
and Shimazu counters with an inside leg kick.

Cardone clinches.
Shimazu effectively controlling the action here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cardone jumps guard but Shimazu stands there with Cardone around his waist. Cardone gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Shimazu is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by William Shimazu.
Cardone shoots and misses
and Shimazu counters with a nice leg kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cardone misses with an uppercut
and Shimazu counters with a nice leg kick.
Cardone throws a lazy head kick
and Shimazu counters with a leg kick.
Cardone misses with a takedown attempt
and Shimazu makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Cardone throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Shimazu counters with a good low kick that Cardone was not able to check.

Shimazu gets tackled into the cage by Cardone. Cardone maintains the clinch.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Cardone tries for a takedown but Shimazu circles away easily
and Shimazu counters with an outside leg kick.
Cardone misses with a takedown attempt
and Shimazu counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Cardone shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Shimazu counters with a thumping low kick.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Matt Cardone. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cardone shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Shimazu counters with a leg kick.
Cardone has his takedown stuffed
and Shimazu makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Both of our modern day gladiators look out of it here - an gruelling 5 rounds of action taking it's toll on them, no doubt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cardone with a poor takedown
and Shimazu counters with a low kick, right behind Cardone 's knee.
Cardone has his takedown stuffed
and Shimazu makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Cardone throws a body kick despite being completely out of range
and Shimazu counters with a leg kick.
Cardone with a poor takedown
and Shimazu counters with a slapping leg kick.
Cardone shoots and misses
and Shimazu counters with an inside leg kick.
William Shimazu is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cardone misses with a body punch
and Shimazu counters with a leg kick.
Cardone throws a head kick that misses
and Shimazu counters with a good low kick that Cardone was not able to check.
Cardone fails with the takedown
and Shimazu counters with an inside leg kick.
Cardone misses with a takedown attempt
and Shimazu counters with a nice low kick that buckles Cardone's knee momentarily.
Cardone tries for a takedown but Shimazu circles away easily
and Shimazu counters with a leg kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cardone throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Shimazu counters with a thumping low kick.
Cardone has his takedown stuffed
and Shimazu counters with a low kick, right behind Cardone 's knee.
Cardone with a lazy takedown attempt
and Shimazu counters with a good low kick that Cardone was not able to check.

Cardone closes the distance and pushes Shimazu back into the cage.
Shimazu holding his opponent close, against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cardone wants to get back to striking at distance but Shimazu won't allow it.
Shimazu displaying some good clinch control by pressing Cardone up against the cage.
Matt Cardone has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
William Shimazu is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by William Shimazu.
Cardone tries to land a body kick
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.

And that's the end of the fight!
William Shimazu comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Shimazu 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 5 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Paul Gruel scores the fight 45:50
Judge Roger Salmon scores the fight 45:50
Judge Jeff Smith scores the fight 45:50

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... William Shimazu! William Shimazu retains his heavyweight title!
An out of breath William Shimazu thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.