PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Yoshimitzu Sakuraba (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Lane Tate (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sakuraba comes to the cage accompanied by Pride theme song blares through the speaker as fireworks erupt . This should be a great matchup!

Sakuraba
vs
Tate

191 cm
25
272 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

190 cm
25
245 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Yoshimitzu Sakuraba!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Lane Tate!
The judges for this bout are Peter Branson, Michael Johnstone and Daniel Franklin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Sakuraba gets a takedown into half guard.
Tate is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Sakuraba lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Tate looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Sakuraba wants to take a breather but Tate is having none of it.
Sakuraba throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Sakuraba is keen to just control but Tate is a slippery customer.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Tate trying to hold on to Sakuraba's head to control him but Sakuraba postures up.
Sakuraba has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Sakuraba seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Tate wants to control but Sakuraba is keeping busy and won't allow it.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Tate looking for submissions off his back.
Sakuraba landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Sakuraba could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Sakuraba lands strikes from half guard.
Sakuraba slips a nice elbow through Tate's hands, connecting with Tate's forehead.
Sakuraba looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Tate with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Tate on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Sakuraba lands a nice short elbow.
Tate flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.
Sakuraba takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Sakuraba sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Tate defending well though.
Sakuraba working Tate over with strikes.
Tate is staying active underneath Sakuraba, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tate has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Sakuraba is working away from the top position though.
Tate taking some punishment here, with Sakuraba in his half guard.
Sakuraba scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Sakuraba trying to control from half guard but Tate is working away.
Sakuraba working over Tate with some ground and pound. Tate looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.

Tate is rocked!
Tate looks winded!
Sakuraba is sitting in half guard. He's postured up and lands a nice elbow. Oh, Tate is hurt! He's hurt bad - Sakuraba fires away with more strikes and the referee jumps in to save Tate from any more punishment! Congratulations to Sakuraba! Great finish!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:54 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Yoshimitzu Sakuraba!
In his post fight interview, Yoshimitzu Sakuraba started talking himself up. Luckily his charisma kept the crowd on side and gave him a good reception.