PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Kichirou Yamauchi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rick Ross (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Yamauchi's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, Roy Jones JR Legend - Can't Be Touched . Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Kichirou Yamauchi
vs
Ross

155 cm
21
130 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

160 cm
21
145 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Granite chin

Good takedowns
Counter fighter
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Kichirou Yamauchi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Rick Ross!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fray, Josh West and Ryoma Takatsuka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ross misses with a takedown attempt
and Yamauchi counters with a body kick.
Ross has his takedown stuffed
and Yamauchi counters with a body kick that stops Ross in his tracks momentarily.
Rick Ross seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Ross swings for the body but Yamauchi moves out of range.
Ross closes the distance and clinches up with Yamauchi, looking for a takedown. Ross pushes Yamauchi against the cage but Yamauchi circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Kichirou Yamauchi has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Rick Ross.
Ross throws a leg kick that is checked
and Yamauchi counters with a nice kick to the body.
Ross misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Ross tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Yamauchi defends well and Ross ends up having to push Yamauchi into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Yamauchi gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Ross.
Ross takes a knee to the side of the body.
Ross tries to land a knee to the head but Yamauchi blocks with his arms.
Ross is trying to pull guard but Yamauchi turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Yamauchi obliges.
Ross goes for a takedown in the clinch but Yamauchi prevents it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Yamauchi pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Ross tries to score a power double leg takedown but Yamauchi sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Ross somewhat.
A head kick by Ross misses
and Yamauchi makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Ross really felt that one!
Kichirou Yamauchi is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Ross shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Yamauchi's guard.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Ross tries to free his leg and advance position but Yamauchi is retaining full guard.
Ross wants to control from the top but Yamauchi keeps moving.
Yamauchi controls Ross momentarily but Ross frees himself.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ross stays in close to Yamauchi's body and controls the position.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.

Ross throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Yamauchi was covering up waiting for the punch and Ross finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Yamauchi is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ross looking to pass the guard.
Yamauchi keeping moving, preventing Ross from controlling successfully.
Ross slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
It looks like Ross might be adopting somewhat of a lay and pray gameplan here, which I'm sure won't go down too well with the paying fans in attendance... Or the ring announcers come to think of it.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Rick Ross.
Ross closes the distance and clinches up with Yamauchi, looking for a takedown. Ross pushes Yamauchi against the cage but Yamauchi circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rick Ross dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Ross misses with a takedown attempt - Yamauchi sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Ross.
Ross tries for a takedown but Yamauchi circles away easily
and Yamauchi finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.
Kichirou Yamauchi has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Rick Ross.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Yamauchi keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Both fighters are looking to counter, which isn't making for the most exciting fight in the world.
Ross throws a push kick but Yamauchi slaps the foot to one side.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ross shoots and misses
and Yamauchi counters with a nice body kick.
Ross misses with a takedown attempt
and Yamauchi finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.
Ross has his takedown stuffed
and Yamauchi finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.
Ross is breathing heavily.
Ross with a poor takedown
and Yamauchi finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.
Ross has developed a nice purple lump on his ribcage, as a result of some heavy body kicks from Yamauchi.
Ross shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Yamauchi as he jumps to the side.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ross throws a leg kick that is checked
and Yamauchi counters with a body kick that brings a smile to the face of both fighters.
Ross fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Ross fails with the takedown.
Ross tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Yamauchi defends well and Ross ends up having to push Yamauchi into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Yamauchi pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Ross shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Yamauchi counters with a body kick that stops Ross in his tracks momentarily.
Ross closes the distance and clinches up with Yamauchi, looking for a takedown. Ross pushes Yamauchi against the cage but Yamauchi circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Ross throws an off balance right hand
and Yamauchi counters with a solid body kick.
Ross shoots in for a takedown but Yamauchi shows good takedown defense.
Yamauchi could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Ross shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Yamauchi stuffs the takedown attempt from Ross. Ross gets slowly back to his feet.
Ross shoots in looking for a takedown. Yamauchi tries to sprawl out of it but Ross keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Yamauchi manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Ross fails with the takedown.
Ross has his takedown stuffed
and Yamauchi counters with a solid body kick.
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 Kichirou Yamauchi 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!

Ross tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Yamauchi defends well and Ross ends up having to push Yamauchi into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Yamauchi is trying to break the clinch but Ross has him pressed against the cage.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Ross tries to land a knee to the head but Yamauchi blocks with his arms.
Yamauchi working Ross over with knees to the body.
Ross is looking to take this one to the mat.
Ross is working for takedown but Yamauchi is calmly controlling the position for now.
Kichirou Yamauchi has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Rick Ross.
Yamauchi lands a knee to the body.
Ross takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Ross looking to slow down the pace here.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Yamauchi obliges.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ross tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Ross fails to pull the fight into his guard.

Yamauchi breaks from the clinch.
Ross tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Yamauchi defends well and Ross ends up having to push Yamauchi into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.

Yamauchi's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Ross.
Ross shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Yamauchi sprawls well. Yamauchi wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Ross gets slowly back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ross doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Yamauchi counters with a good, hard body kick but Ross shrugs it off.
Ross throws a head kick that misses
and Yamauchi counters with a nice body kick.
Rick Ross seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Ross darts in looking for a takedown but Yamauchi gets double underhooks and turns Ross into the cage.
Knees to the body from Yamauchi.
Yamauchi using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Ross takes a knee to the side of the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Yamauchi crunches a lovely knee into Ross's ribcage.
Ross jumps guard but Yamauchi stands there with Ross around his waist. Ross gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Yamauchi landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.

Yamauchi's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Ross throws a leg kick
and Yamauchi counters with a nice kick to the body.
Ross misses with a takedown attempt
and Yamauchi counters with a body kick that stops Ross in his tracks momentarily.
A low kick from Ross is predictable there
and Yamauchi counters with a body kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ross with a lazy takedown attempt
and Yamauchi counters with a nice body kick.
Ross tries for a takedown but Yamauchi sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Ross shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Yamauchi defends it nicely.
Ross misses with a takedown attempt
and Yamauchi counters with a solid body kick.
Ross fails with the takedown
and Yamauchi finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.
Nice takedown defense from Yamauchi. No joy for Ross on that attempt.

And that's the end of the fight!
Kichirou Yamauchi showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Yamauchi 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 Colin Fray scores the fight 29:29
Judge Josh West scores the fight 29:28
Judge Ryoma Takatsuka scores the fight 29:29

The fight is ruled a majority draw!