PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Kenichi Shirahama (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Zak Drezner (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Drezner has chosen Champions as his entrance music. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Shirahama
vs
Drezner

178 cm
36
142 lbs
10 - 3 - 0

175 cm
41
158 lbs
38 - 20 - 4

Great wrestler
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Heavy handed

Spartan Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 10 - 3 - 0, fighting out of London, Kenichi Shirahama!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 38 - 20 - 4, fighting out of London, Zak Drezner!
The judges for this bout are Richard Clark, Colin Fotheringham and Chris Edwards.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Drezner moves away from the strike by Shirahama.
Shirahama checks the leg kick nicely there.
Shirahama really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Shirahama looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Drezner is fending him off so far but Shirahama persists. Nope, Drezner circles away and we're back to standing.
Shirahama lands a nice shot to the body.
Shirahama moves away from the strike by Drezner.
A slow jab from Drezner misses its intended target.
Shirahama throws a jab when Drezner was well out of range.
Drezner misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Drezner throws a nice head kick!
Shirahama is looking to clinch.
Drezner throws a fast counter high kick but Shirahama manages to duck under it in time.
Shirahama uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Drezner.
Drezner lands with a good body shot.
Drezner blocks a jab.
Drezner takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.

Shirahama gets in close and instigates a clinch.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Drezner's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Shirahama checks a leg kick nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shirahama on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
A telegraphed right hand from Shirahama misses the target.
Drezner tries a head kick but it misses.
Drezner pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Drezner defending well as Shirahama loads up on a big left hand.
Shirahama takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Drezner keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Drezner throws a lazy head kick
and Shirahama counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Drezner fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Shirahama throws a jab but it's blocked by Drezner.
Shirahama swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Shirahama avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Shirahama misses the shot to the body.
Drezner misses with a two punch combination.
Shirahama lands a glancing blow to the side of Drezner's head.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Drezner cracks a nice hook into Shirahama's ribs.
Zak Drezner is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Drezner fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shirahama has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Drezner.
Drezner displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Shirahama.
The crowd cheers as Drezner lands an impressive looking overhand right. Shirahama doesn't seem phased though.
Drezner wants to clinch up but Shirahama keeps it at a distance.
Drezner throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
A slow jab from Shirahama misses its intended target.
Drezner is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Shirahama keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Nice jab there from Drezner.
Drezner cracks Shirahama with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Drezner misses with a wild body shot.
Shirahama thows a left - swing and a miss!
Drezner stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
The fighters circling - Shirahama throws out the jab but it was never going to land.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Drezner cracks Shirahama with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Drezner tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Shirahama manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Shirahama wants to clinch up but Drezner keeps it at a distance.
Drezner moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Shirahama closes this distance looking for a takedown but Drezner circles away.
Drezner looks like he wanted to counter with a high kick but didn't throw it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Kenichi Shirahama. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Shirahama is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Drezner digs a good body shot into Shirahama's ribs.
Shirahama throws a shot from downtown. Drezner moves away and avoids it.
Drezner uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Shirahama.
It seemed like Drezner was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.

Drezner gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Drezner is trying to break the clinch but Shirahama is controlling him.
Drezner struggles to land a body shot inside as Shirahama controls his hands.
Drezner is trying to break free.
Shirahama goes for a takedown in the clinch but Drezner prevents it.
Shirahama tries a body shot but Drezner blocks it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Shirahama lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Drezner wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Shirahama tries to work over Drezner's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Shirahama misses with some punches.
A frustrated look appears on Drezner's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Drezner scores with a shot to the side of Shirahama's head.

Shirahama breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Shirahama ducks under a wild hook from Drezner.

Drezner takes the fight into the clinch.

Drezner breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Shirahama keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Drezner.
Shirahama clobbers Drezner with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Shirahama avoids the head kick by Drezner.
Shirahama half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
The fighters circling - Shirahama throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
A nice combination there by Drezner.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Zak Drezner dominated that round.
That's time! Shirahama's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Drezner jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Drezner tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
A counter left hand to the body from Shirahama misses its target.
Shirahama walks into a stiff left hand from Drezner.
Shirahama takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Drezner pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Shirahama misses with a looping left.
Shirahama gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Drezner.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Drezner tries to break free but Shirahama pushes him back against the cage.
Drezner prevents a takedown attempt there.
Shirahama scores with a hook to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Shirahama has clasped his hands together around Drezner's back... aaand, he's got a takedown into side control. Nicely done.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Drezner pushes Shirahama away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Shirahama gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
Shirahama happy to just control the position for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shirahama trying to control the action but Drezner is working from the bottom.
Drezner tries to get back to his feet but has found himself mounted instead. Damn, that's gotta suck.
Shirahama throwing strikes here but Drezner is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Shirahama thowing shots but they're missing.
Shirahama controlling the pace for now.
Shirahama working Drezner over with strikes here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shirahama is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Drezner can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Drezner is trying to stand up.
Shirahama fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Shirahama 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.
Shirahama has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Drezner's face.
Shirahama looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Drezner is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Shirahama trying to control but Drezner is having none of it.
Shirahama 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!
Shirahama pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

Drezner is rocked!
Shirahama with the ground and pound from mount.
Drezner is still in real trouble! Can Shirahama finish him?
Drezner is trying to stand up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shirahama tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Kenichi Shirahama overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Shirahama lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Drezner is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
Shirahama landing strikes from the mount and Drezner is in trouble!
Oooooh, big shot lands for Shirahama! Drezner is hurt baaadly! Shirahama is firing away with more strikes - Drezner is covering up... the ref is warning him to do something. He's just covering up though still and the ref has to step in to end the fight! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:28 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Kenichi Shirahama!
Zak Drezner was interviewed post fight and said 'Would like to congratulate my opponent for an amazing fight he's a warrior and he deserved to win tonight i have no excuses i lost so im just going to have to suck it up and come back more focused and stronger for my next fight thank you '.