PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Takeshi Toriyama (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Stephane Mermoud (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Man, I cannot wait for this one!

Toriyama
vs
Mermoud

170 cm
25
160 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

168 cm
25
160 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

Good takedowns
Counter fighter
Very quick

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Very confident

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Takeshi Toriyama!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Stephane Mermoud!
The judges for this bout are Aleksei Zolotukhin, Sergei Dronov and Dmitry Maklakov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Mermoud connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Toriyama moves out of range of the body kick.
Toriyama takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Toriyama avoids the head kick by Mermoud.
Mermoud stuffs the takedown.
Toriyama checks a leg kick.
Mermoud defending well as Toriyama loads up on a big left hand.
Mermoud throws the kick towards the body but Toriyama avoids it.
Stephane Mermoud seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Toriyama shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Toriyama scoring with some ground and pound.
Toriyama throws a big elbow that misses.
Toriyama with a nice head shot there.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Toriyama trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Toriyama prevents Mermoud from getting back to his feet.
Toriyama working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Mermoud's head.
Toriyama is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Toriyama throwing strikes but missing.
Mermoud avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Toriyama pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Mermoud is keeping the position for now.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Mermoud can do anything to dispel that myth.
Mermoud working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Toriyama.
Toriyama throws an elbow that misses. Mermoud uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Toriyama's guard. Nice move by Mermoud!

Toriyama is looking for a triangle but Mermoud pushes his legs off easily.
Toriyama wants to get back to his feet but Mermoud is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Toriyama looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
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!
Toriyama has a closed guard, preventing Mermoud from standing up.
Toriyama wants to sweep but no luck.

Toriyama is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

Mermoud avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Toriyama had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Mermoud defends it easily.
Toriyama looking to hit a scissor sweep but Mermoud is one step ahead there.
Mermoud would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Toriyama tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Toriyama has his feet on Mermoud's thighs here. He's pushed Mermoud off and worked for a very quick armbar from the bottom! He's flipped onto his stomach and he's cranking hard on the arm! Mermoud screams in pain and taps out! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:23 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Takeshi Toriyama!
After the fight, Takeshi Toriyama was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.