PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Emong Salvacion (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Shinya Aoki (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Salvacion comes to the cage accompanied by Till I Collapse. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Salvacion
vs
Aoki

178 cm
23
158 lbs
8 - 3 - 0

176 cm
23
158 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the featherweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Emong Salvacion!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Shinya Aoki !
The judges for this bout are Winston Howard, Damien Edna and Darius Henderson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Aoki lands a slapping body shot.
Salvacion jabs at Aoki 's body.
Aoki misses with a straight right.
Aoki avoids the body shot from Salvacion.
Aoki connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Salvacion tries for a takedown but Aoki circles away easily
letting Aoki counter with a right hand.
Aoki ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Salvacion moves away.
Salvacion walks into a jab.
Good shot there by Aoki .
Salvacion throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Aoki 's waist but Aoki gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Salvacion off to one side.
Aoki lands the left hand.
Aoki throws a shot to the body.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Aoki ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Salvacion moves away.
Salvacion moves out of range of the strikes.

Salvacion closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Aoki 's guard.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Aoki trying to control the position here.
Salvacion throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Salvacion with a flurry of punches that miss.
Salvacion trying to control the position from guard on top but Aoki is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Salvacion passes Aoki 's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Salvacion is nestled in close to Aoki , controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Salvacion is trying to control the action in half guard but Aoki is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Salvacion is looking to stall here but Aoki recovers full guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Salvacion accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Aoki wants to sweep but no luck.
Salvacion working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Salvacion working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Salvacion passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Aoki tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Salvacion wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Aoki felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Salvacion in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Aoki is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Salvacion wants to pass the guard but Aoki is defending well.

The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Aoki looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Aoki wants to get back to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Salvacion controlling the action here.
Aoki wants to control but Salvacion is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Salvacion missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Salvacion is looking to advance position but Aoki won't allow it.
Aoki has hold of Salvacion's hands but Salvacion slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Salvacion thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Aoki is staying active underneath Salvacion, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Salvacion connects with a nice short shot to Aoki 's temple.
Salvacion wants to lay and pray for a moment but Aoki keeps working.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Salvacion throwing shots but Aoki is blocking nicely.
Salvacion is thwarting Aoki 's attempts to control the position.

Salvacion looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Aoki manages to get to full guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Salvacion looking to pass the guard.
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 Emong Salvacion will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Aoki looks to land a combination but Salvacion avoids it well.
A swing and a miss from Salvacion.
Salvacion moves out of range of the strikes.
Aoki 's jab looks to have found its range, popping Salvacion under the eye.
Aoki throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Aoki lands with a right hand.
Aoki will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Salvacion darts in looking for a takedown but Aoki gets double underhooks and turns Salvacion into the cage.
Salvacion gets underhooks to prevent Aoki 's takedown attempt.
Aoki scores with a shot to the side of Salvacion's head.
Salvacion blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Aoki tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Salvacion goes for a takedown attempt but Aoki pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Aoki enables Salvacion to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Aoki manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Salvacion with a flurry of punches that miss.
Salvacion passes into half guard.

Aoki looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Aoki is looking to control Salvacion's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Aoki avoid being mounted?
Salvacion works his way into full mount!
Aoki working to try and regain half guard.
Salvacion pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Salvacion working the ground and pound effectively.
Aoki is in all sorts of trouble here.
Aoki takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Salvacion is in the full mount, landing strikes.
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!
Aoki really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Aoki avoids a series of strikes thrown by Salvacion.
Aoki gets back to half guard.
Salvacion sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Salvacion scores with a couple of good hammerfists.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Salvacion is looking for a kimura here.
Salvacion not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Salvacion lands with a punch from half guard.
Aoki is looking for a sweep. Salvacion is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Salvacion throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Salvacion lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Salvacion is trying to control. Aoki wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

Aoki actively working from the bottom here.
Emong Salvacion overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Salvacion is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Salvacion wants to take a breather but Aoki is having none of it.
Salvacion passes to side control.
Salvacion scoring with punches from side control.
Aoki looks to move to half guard but instead Salvacion has passed into mount! Damn!
Aoki is squirming around, avoiding Salvacion's attempts to control the action.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Aoki is trying to escape the mount.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
BOOM! Salvacion connects with a massive shot to the dome!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Emong Salvacion dominated that second round.
That's time! Salvacion's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Salvacion walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.

Aoki tries to sprawl but Salvacion drives through with a takedown into half guard.

Aoki looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Salvacion slips a nice elbow through Aoki 's hands, connecting with Aoki 's forehead.

Aoki is rocked!
Salvacion is trying to control. Aoki wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Aoki is still in real trouble! Can Salvacion finish him?
Salvacion lands a big elbow from half guard. That looks like it's hurt Aoki quite badly. Aoki pulls Salvacion in close trying to recover. Salvacion postures up and lands two really hard shots that put Aoki on queer street! The ref takes a look and decides to call an end to the fight! Possibly an early stoppage but Aoki doesn't seem to be complaining too much.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:41 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Emong Salvacion!
Emong Salvacion retains his featherweight title!
Post fight, an emotional Emong Salvacion said 'Well what can I say man... He's a good fighter but I train harder than anyone in this division. I worked hard to be the champ and I'm not going to give this belt away that easy. Anyone who thinks I'm an easy fight should think twice. I may not be the most decorated champ. But nobody in this org c'.