PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Kalani Kapena (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mike Howard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Howard has chosen My Block as his entrance music. Mike Howard is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Kapena
vs
Howard

180 cm
25
160 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

165 cm
36
163 lbs
13 - 20 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Decent wrestler
Basic striking
Determined

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 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Kalani Kapena!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 20 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Mike Howard!
The judges for this bout are Ryoma Takatsuka, Jeff Smith and Paul Gruel.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Howard gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Kapena counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!

Howard shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Kapena manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Howard postures up.
Howard with a nice head shot there.
Kapena keeping moving, preventing Howard from controlling successfully.
Howard tries to free his leg and advance position but Kapena is retaining full guard.
Kapena will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Kapena is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Howard trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but Kapena manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!
Howard is controlling Kapena's posture.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Howard looking for a sweep. Not yet Howard, not yet.
Kapena wants to control from the top but Howard keeps moving.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Howard can do anything to dispel that myth.
Kapena would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Howard has Kapena pulled in close to control his posture.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Howard goes for a double leg but Kapena avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Kapena continues to drive forward.

Kapena manages to break the clinch.
Howard takes one to the side of the head.

Howard closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Kapena is looking to control Howard's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Kapena avoid being mounted?
Kapena is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Howard scores with a couple of nice shots.
Howard not landing any meaningful shots this time.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Ground and pound from Howard.
Howard not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Howard slips a nice elbow through Kapena's hands, connecting with Kapena's forehead.
Howard should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Howard looks to score some points with some ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Howard thows a huge punch but Kapena dodges it nicely.
Kapena keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Kapena avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Howard.
Howard slips a nice elbow through Kapena's hands, connecting with Kapena's forehead.
Kapena definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Kapena avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Howard.
Kapena keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Howard prevents Kapena from standing back up.
Howard throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Howard missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Ground and pound from Howard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kapena is trying to stand.
Kapena is breathing heavily.
Howard looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Kapena with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
The fighters are battling for position here. Kapena manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Howard postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Howard has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Howard working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Kapena's head.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Howard keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Kapena's head.
Howard sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Howard throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Howard darts in looking for a takedown but Kapena gets double underhooks and turns Howard into the cage.
Howard is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Kapena gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Howard drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Kalani Kapena has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mike Howard.
Howard drops down looking for an ankle pick but Kapena pulls his leg out and moves away.
Howard fails with a takedown attempt.
Howard looks for a takedown but Kapena sprawls well.
Nice shot lands for Kapena.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Kapena, as that shot connected.
Kapena bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.

Howard is rocked!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Kapena jabs Howard to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Howard is still on wobbly legs! Can Kapena finish him?
Howard is breathing heavily.

Kapena cracks Howard with a big right hand that sends him crashing to the floor. Kapena has the opportunity to follow him to the ground but instead he's beckoning Howard to stand back up!
Kapena darts in and lands a big hook, right on the button! Howard's legs crumble underneath him as he falls to the canvas! The ref tackles Kapena before he gets to land any more shots to his stricken foe.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:59 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Punch). Kalani Kapena!
Kalani Kapena decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.