PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight kickboxing rules bout between Ukyo Sato (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Dan K (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). K is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Albatross, Albatross, Albatross. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Sato
vs
K

175 cm
30
140 lbs
20 - 13 - 1

174 cm
24
140 lbs
11 - 3 - 0

World class boxer
Insanely flexible

World class MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 20 - 13 - 1, fighting out of Tokyo, Ukyo Sato!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Dan K !
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Fujiwara, Taro Takaoka and Yuuki Gou.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sato takes a swing at K 's ribcage but misses.
Sato misses with a straight right.
Sato thows a body shot but no joy.
Sato misses with a body shot.
K throws a low kick but Sato avoids it.
K has been spending a lot of time sparring his boxing in the run up to the fight, trying to sharpen up those hands and look for a knockout.
K is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Sato.
Sato lands a nice looking body kick.
A punch combination from K misses.
K misses with a body kick.
The fighters circling - Sato throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Sato misses with an uppercut. K saw that one coming.

K clinches up with Sato and pushes him back against the ropes.
Sato looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Sato scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Sato lands a good knee to the midsection. K won't want to take too many of those.
K misses with a punch on the inside.
K swings wildly with an uppercut but Sato uses good head movement to avoid it.
K tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Sato's elbow.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Sato.
I was talking to Sato's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
K has a couple of punches blocked by Sato.
K misses with a punch on the inside.
Sato misses with the head strike.
Sato blocks an uppercut.
K 's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
K is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
K throws a knee to the head but misses.
Sato blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Sato lands with a light punch inside.

Sato breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Sato throws a sloppy head kick and K moves out of range easily.
Sato looks for the body kick but K saw that one coming.
K takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Sato swats away the attempt to clinch by K .

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sato blocks a head kick by K .
K with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
K looking to land some kicks to the body here.
K tries to clinch up but Sato circles away and keeps his distance.
K explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.
K connects with a solid leg kick.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Sato scores with a decent looking hook.
Sato chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before K can pounce on him.
Sato throws a sloppy head kick and K moves out of range easily.
Sato connects with a right hand. K shakes it off.
A big right from Sato misses.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
The fight stays on the outside here - K looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Sato blocks a leg kick.
Sato lands a nice shot that snaps K 's head back.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Ukyo Sato will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

K clobbers Sato with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Sato throws a head kick but K moves out of range.
K swings widly with a right hand
and Sato counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Sato with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
K lands with a nice body punch.
Nice shot lands for K .
Sato throws the kick towards the body but K avoids it.
Sato cracks the inside of K 's front leg.
Sato throws out a loose jab but K uses good head movement to avoid it.
Sato is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by K .
Sato blocks a jab.
K throws a hook but Sato blocks it.
K turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Jab, jab by K - just one landing.
This has been an exciting period of action!
K slips under a jab from Sato.
K slips a jab from Sato.

That's one minute gone in the round.
K swings for the body but Sato moves out of range.
K throws a jab when Sato was well out of range.
Sato throws a right hand that K ducks under and follows up with a left that K also avoids with ease.
K throws a body punch but Sato moves out of range.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from K , right into the meat.
K feints and then cracks Sato's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Sato down.
K misses with an attempted mid kick.

K rushes Sato and pushes him back against the ropes in a clinch.
Sato trying to land knees to the body.
K misses with a knee strike.
K tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Sato working aggressively here.
K blocks the elbow strike.
K working Sato over with knees to the body.
Sato looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Sato lands a left hand that snaps the head of K backwards.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sato lands an uppercut.
K is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the ropes.
Sato pushes off an throws an elbow but K leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the ropes.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Sato.
A head punch on the inside from Sato fails to land.
Sato blocking some punches.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
K goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
A frustrated look appears on Sato's face as he tries to break the clinch.
K throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Sato blocks it with crossed arms.
K misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Sato.
K throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Sato blocks it with crossed arms.
Sato lands a nice uppercut.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sato lands a right hand that snaps the head of K backwards.
Sato blocking some punches.
K blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Sato lands an elbow inside.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dan K showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

K uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Sato.
Crunch! Sato slams his shin into K 's torso.
K avoids the body shot from Sato.
K walks into a stiff left hand from Sato.
Sato moves out of range as K strikes.
K avoids a kick to the body.
Sato scores with a head kick.

K is rocked!
K takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
K is still on wobbly legs! Can Sato finish him?
Sato moves out of range of the body kick.
K misses with a jab, cross combination.
Sato scores with a big combo that sends K crashing to the mat! He's still conscious but the referee has seen enough as K flops around uncontrollably and he's called an end to the fight! Sato jumps onto the ropes and throws his mouthpiece into the crowd. Gross.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:37 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Ukyo Sato!