PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Yuri Buka (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ryo Matsuda (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Buka
vs
Matsuda

175 cm
18
165 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

182 cm
19
160 lbs
3 - 5 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Cuts easily

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Yuri Buka!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Ryo Matsuda!
The judges for this bout are Ren Mimura, Taro Takaoka and Hirohito Nitta.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Buka tries to clinch there but Matsuda circles away.
Buka tries to close the distance and clinch but Matsuda swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Matsuda fails with the takedown.
Horrible takedown by Matsuda or perhaps it was just good defense by Buka which made him look bad.

Buka clinches.

Buka breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Matsuda avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Matsuda throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Buka.
Matsuda closes the distance looking to clinch

and Buka counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Buka looking to throw knees to the head but Matsuda is blocking nicely.
Buka scores with a knee to the head.

It looks like Ryo Matsuda has been cut.
Matsuda has had enough of the clinch but Buka keeps him there for the moment.
Buka landing knees to the body.
Matsuda takes an elbow to the forehead.
Buka with a knee to the head.
Matsuda misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Buka.
Buka lands an elbow inside that Matsuda shrugs off.
Matsuda tries to pull guard but Buka won't allow it.
Yuri Buka has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Ryo Matsuda.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Buka gets underhooks to prevent Matsuda's takedown attempt.
Buka lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Matsuda drops down looking for an ankle pick but Buka pulls his leg out and moves away.
Matsuda fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Matsuda looks gassed!

That's one minute gone in the round.

Buka has Matsuda up against the cage in a clinch.
Buka landing knees to the head.
Buka lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Nice elbow from Buka.

Matsuda is rocked!
Matsuda is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Buka gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Matsuda wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Buka has him pressed against the cage.
Buka tries to land a knee to the head but Matsuda blocks with his arms.
Buka lands a knee to the body.
Buka lands an elbow inside.
Buka lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Buka taking a breather.
Matsuda goes for a takedown attempt but Buka pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.

Buka moves into the clinch successfully.
Buka throws an elbow but it misses.
Buka using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Matsuda has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Buka throws a knee to the head but misses.
Matsuda landing knees to the body.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Buka takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.

Matsuda breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Matsuda throws a one two combo.
Matsuda looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Ryo Matsuda seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Buka wants to clinch up but Matsuda keeps it at a distance.
Matsuda shoots in and drives through. Buka sprawls well.
Matsuda with a poor takedown
and Buka counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Buka misses with a wild combination.
Buka tries to clinch up but Matsuda circles away and keeps his distance.
Matsuda tries to clinch but Buka is having none of it.
Matsuda connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
A combination from Matsuda does no damage.
Buka tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Matsuda counters with a nice double leg into side control. Buka won't be happy with that.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Matsuda throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Buka is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Buka takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Matsuda prevents Buka from escaping the position.
Matsuda sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Buka is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Buka tries to escape but Matsuda is in control.
Buka parries the strikes from Matsuda easily there. Matsuda is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Buka to escape.

Buka bucks up and manages to escape back to his feet!

Buka moves into the clinch.

Buka breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Buka has managed to clinch.
Matsuda tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Buka smiles and moves away.
Matsuda wants to clinch

and Buka counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Buka gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Buka lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Buka slows down the pace here.
Buka lands an elbow inside.
Buka landing knees to the body.
Buka tries to land knees in the clinch but Matsuda avoids the damage to the body.
Buka on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Buka tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Buka with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Buka creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Buka gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Matsuda unloads a knee to the mid-section. Buka lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Buka prevents a takedown attempt there.
Matsuda has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Buka is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Buka lands a nice elbow.
Buka lands a knee to the body.
Knees to the body from Buka.
Nice elbow from Buka.
Matsuda wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Matsuda breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Matsuda shoots in looking for a takedown. Buka tries to sprawl out of it but Matsuda keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Buka manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Matsuda throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Buka's waist but Buka gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Matsuda off to one side.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Matsuda.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Yuri Buka dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Ryo Matsuda's cut.
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.

Matsuda looks for a takedown but Buka sprawls well.
Yuri Buka is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Matsuda looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Matsuda throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Buka works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Matsuda in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Matsuda loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Matsuda wanted to stand there but Buka had control of the position.
Matsuda in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Matsuda throwing strikes but missing.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Matsuda throws and elbow that misses. Buka uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Matsuda's guard. Nice move by Buka!
Matsuda wants to sweep here but Buka controlling him for the moment.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Buka tries to close the distance and clinch but Matsuda swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
A slapping leg kick lands for Buka.
Buka tries to clinch up.
Matsuda fails to land the takedown.

Buka moves into the clinch.
Buka lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!

Buka breaks the clinch.
Buka clinches but Matsuda breaks the clinch

so Matsuda counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Matsuda decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Good work by Buka as he checks the leg kick.
Matsuda shoots in looking for a takedown. Buka tries to sprawl out of it but Matsuda keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Buka manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Yuri Buka has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Ryo Matsuda.
A clash of legs there as Buka blocks the low kick.

Buka gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Matsuda wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Buka lands a knee to the head.
Buka lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Buka with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.

Matsuda breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Matsuda closes this distance looking for a takedown but Buka circles away.
Matsuda shoots for a double leg takedown but Buka sprawls well. He's pushed Matsuda's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.

Matsuda drives through with a takedown into guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Buka pushes Matsuda off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
Jab from Buka.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Buka darts in trying to clinch

and Matsuda counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Matsuda.
Matsuda missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Buka wants to stand up but Matsuda is controlling him.

Matsuda decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Buka, up you get!

Buka clinches up with Matsuda and pushes him back against the cage.
Buka connects with a nasty looking knee right to Matsuda's face.
Buka unloads a knee to the mid-section. Matsuda lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Buka lands a knee to the head.
Matsuda prevents Buka from breaking the clinch.
Matsuda can't break the clinch.
Nice body punch from Matsuda - that landed with a thud.

Matsuda manages to break the clinch.
Buka tries to clinch there but Matsuda circles away.
Matsuda blocks a head kick by Buka.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Matsuda looks for a takedown but Buka sprawls well.
Buka looks to clinch

and Matsuda moves into the clinch.
Knees in the clinch landing for Buka.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for leaving it all in the cage!
Matsuda takes an elbow to the temple.
Buka misses with a knee to the head.
Nice elbow from Buka.
Yuri Buka has scored more points in the clinch so far.

Buka manages to break the clinch.
Matsuda shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Buka pinned against the cage. Buka gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Buka connects with a solid leg kick.
Buka tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Matsuda paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Matsuda moves in looking to clinch but Buka pushes him off.
Buka wants to clinch but Matsuda slips to the side

and Matsuda counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Buka's guard now.
Matsuda throwing strikes but missing.
Matsuda has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Matsuda thows a big elbow that misses.
Buka working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Matsuda.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ryo Matsuda showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Ryo Matsuda's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Buka instigates a clinch.
Matsuda works on Buka's body with a couple of short punches.
Buka throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Buka managing to block the knees to the body from Matsuda.
Buka lands a nice elbow.
Buka is trying to maintain a safe position but Matsuda gets an underhook and turns Buka into the cage.
Buka lands a nice elbow.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Buka just misses with a elbow thrown towards Matsuda's brow.
Buka lands an elbow just above Matsuda 's eye.

Buka breaks from the clinch.
Buka tries to clinch but Matsuda moves out of range.
Matsuda tries to clinch up but Buka circles away and keeps his distance.
Matsuda circles away from the clinch attempt.
Matsuda keeps the fight on the outside.
Matsuda feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Buka's calf.
Matsuda circles away from the clinch attempt.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Buka tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Matsuda makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Matsuda swats away the attempt to clinch by Buka.
Matsuda shoots and misses

and Buka counters by moving into the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Buka lands a nice elbow.
Matsuda drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Buka lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Buka stalls.
Buka tries to land a knee to the head but Matsuda blocks with his arms.

Buka breaks from the clinch.
Matsuda fails with the takedown

and Buka counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Yuri Buka has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Ryo Matsuda.
Matsuda tries a body shot but Buka blocks it.
Matsuda wants to get back to striking at distance but Buka won't allow it.
Buka has Matsuda pressed against the cage.
Buka avoiding damage as Matsuda throws knees to the body.
Buka on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Buka connects with a nasty looking knee right to Matsuda's face.

Buka breaks the clinch.
Buka showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Matsuda.
Buka looks to clinch

and Matsuda counters with a shoot takedown. Buka fights it but they end up in guard.
Buka preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Matsuda throwing strikes from guard but Buka blocks nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Buka avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Matsuda tries to free his leg and advance position but Buka is retaining full guard.
Matsuda is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Ryo Matsuda has got the better of the ground game so far.
Matsuda stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Buka swivels though and keeps the full guard.

Buka has his feet on Matsuda's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.
Buka lands a head kick!

That's three minutes gone in the round.

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

Buka breaks from the clinch.
Matsuda tries for a takedown but Buka sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.

Buka rushes Matsuda and presses him up against the cage.

Matsuda breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Buka looks to clinch

and Matsuda holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Matsuda is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Buka stops a takedown attempt from Matsuda.
Matsuda is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Matsuda lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.

Matsuda pulls Buka into guard.
Matsuda is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Matsuda has a closed guard, preventing Buka from standing up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Buka gets to his feet. Matsuda looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Yuri Buka is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
A chopping leg kick lands by Buka.

Buka gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Matsuda avoiding damage as Buka throws knees to the body.
Matsuda goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Matsuda tries to throw a body punch but Buka avoids it by throwing Matsuda back against the cage.
Matsuda tries to break the clinch but Buka is controlling the position.
Buka blocks a body shot from Matsuda.
Buka lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Buka crunches a lovely knee into Matsuda's ribcage.
Buka lands an elbow inside that Matsuda shrugs off.
Buka using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Matsuda has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Buka tries to stall but Matsuda uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Matsuda has Buka pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Buka manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Buka with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Buka misses with an elbow strike.

Matsuda pulls guard successfully.
Matsuda bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Buka's guard.

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 Yuri Buka.
I think Buka 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 29:29
Judge Taro Takaoka scores the fight 29:28
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Yuri Buka!