PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Kaju Akita (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Borislav Kushev (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Borislav Kushev has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Kaju Akita 's chin.

Akita
vs
Kushev

180 cm
25
173 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

182 cm
18
180 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
Intelligent

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Kaju Akita !
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Borislav Kushev!
The judges for this bout are Tatsuya Matsuyama, Ren Mimura and Hirohito Nitta.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kushev misses with the combination.

Kushev moves into the clinch successfully.
Akita stalls.
Akita misses with a short punch on the inside.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
A right handed body shot lands from Akita .
Akita stalling in the clinch.
A frustrated look appears on Kushev's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Akita is pressed up against the cage. Kushev has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Akita down to the mat. Akita avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Akita connects with the punch.
Kushev misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.

Kushev has closed the distance and engaged Akita in a clinch.
Akita throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Kushev blocks it with crossed arms.
Kushev jumps guard but Akita stands there with Kushev around his waist. Kushev gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Akita working aggressively here.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Kushev is trying to pull guard but Akita has him pressed against the cage.
Kaju Akita has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Borislav Kushev.
Nice elbow from Akita .
Akita trying to stall but Kushev improves his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Akita can't seem to implement his control oriented gameplan at the moment. That's no bad thing of course, for those of us who want to see a good fight.
Akita keeps control of Kushev as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Kushev blocks an elbow strike from Akita .
Kushev has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Akita trying to land knees to the body.
Kushev is looking to break free of the clinch but Akita has double underhooks.
Akita lands a shoulder strike.
Akita lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Akita is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Akita misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Kushev wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Akita has him pressed against the cage.
A short body shot lands from Akita as the two fighters clinch.
Kushev is trying to break free.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Akita .
Akita missing with knees to the body.
Akita digs a right hand into Kushev's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Kushev's gas tank.
Kushev wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Akita has him pressed against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Akita unloads a knee to the mid-section.

Kushev breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Kushev tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Akita manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Kushev misses with a two punch combination.
Akita misses with a body shot.
Kushev avoids a kick to the body.
Akita swings for the body but Kushev moves out of range.
Akita misses with a low kick as Kushev jumps back.
Kushev wants to clinch.
Akita keeps the fight on the outside.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Kushev moves in looking to clinch but Akita pushes him off.
Kushev throws a right and a left that Akita avoids nicely.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kaju Akita dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Kushev rushes Akita and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Akita misses with a knee strike.
Kushev tries to circle away but Akita has him pinned against the cage.
Kushev blocks an uppercut.
Akita utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Akita misses with a short punch on the inside.
Kushev wants to break free but Akita has control.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Akita .
Kushev looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Akita lands a shot to the body.
Akita throws an elbow that misses.
Akita misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Kaju Akita has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Akita stalling in the clinch.
Akita can't find room to land a body shot as Kushev controls the action.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Kushev as Akita tries to tie him up.
A head punch on the inside from Akita fails to land.
Kushev is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Akita lands a hook that snaps the head of Kushev backwards.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kushev is trying to break the clinch but Akita has him pressed against the cage.
Kushev has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Kushev can't break the clinch.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Akita is trying to maintain a safe position but Kushev gets an underhook and turns Akita into the cage.
Kushev tries to circle away but Akita has him pinned against the cage.
Akita comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Kushev blocks a punch to the side of the head.
A nice right hand lands inside from Akita .
Akita scores with a shot to the side of Kushev's head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Akita has Kushev pressed against the cage.
Akita connects with a knee to the head.
Akita misses with a hook to the ribs.
Kushev has had enough of the clinch but Akita keeps him there for the moment.
Akita dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kushev wants to break free but Akita has control.
Akita throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Kushev is trying to break free.
Kushev tries to break the clinch but Akita is controlling the position.
Akita misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Akita taking a breather.
Akita throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kaju Akita dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Kushev takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Kushev will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Akita dips to his left and cracks Kushev with an uppercut!
Akita fails with an attempt to clinch.
Akita throws a poor cross that misses
and Kushev counters with a series of strikes. Akita will be more careful next time no doubt.
Kushev misses with a wild combination.
Akita keeps the fight on the outside.
Kushev comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Akita throws a jab when Kushev was well out of range.
Kushev circles away from the clinch attempt.
Akita keeps the fight on the outside.
Kushev connects with a jab.
Kushev lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Akita circles away quickly and effectively.
Kushev throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Kushev clinches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Akita is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Kushev is keeping busy.
Kushev has had enough of the clinch but Akita keeps him there for the moment.
Kushev's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Akita scores with a shot to the side of Kushev's head.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Akita obliges.
Kushev blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Kushev wants to break the clinch but can't.
Akita throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Kushev blocks it with crossed arms.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Akita is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Kushev is defending well for now.
Akita with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Akita tries to land a knee to the head but Kushev blocks with his arms.
Akita lands an elbow just above Kushev 's eye.
Kushev blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Akita lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Akita goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Akita misses with a body punch.
Akita trying to control the position but instead, Kushev has worked for underhooks and has pushed Akita into the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kushev blocks the elbow strike.
Kushev goes for a takedown attempt but Akita pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Kushev is looking to clinch but Akita is avoiding it.
Akita looks to score with a jab to the body but Kushev is just out of range.
Kushev misses with a combination
and Akita counters with a thumping low kick.
Akita pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Akita tries to close the distance and clinch up but Kushev swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Akita is looking to clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kushev swats away the attempt to clinch by Akita .
Kushev takes one to the chin there.
Akita tries to clinch but Kushev moves out of range.
Kushev misses with a head kick.
Kushev swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
letting Akita counter with a right hand.
Kushev slips under a jab.
Kushev comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.

Akita instigates a clinch.
Akita taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Kushev is trying to break the clinch but Akita is controlling him.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Borislav Kushev has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Akita stalling.

And that's the end of the fight!
Kaju Akita showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Akita has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 30:27
Judge Ren Mimura scores the fight 30:27
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kaju Akita !