PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between William Graham (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kinjo Yoshi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Graham
vs
Yoshi

190 cm
25
240 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

187 cm
25
288 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Big heart

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Tends to cut

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, William Graham!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Kinjo Yoshi!
The judges for this bout are Ren Mimura, Sosuke Kotani and Yuuki Gou.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Graham tries to keep at a distance but Yoshi has taken the fight into the clinch.
Yoshi can't find room to land a body shot as Graham controls the action.
Yoshi tries to land knees in the clinch but Graham avoids the damage to the body.

Graham decides to pull guard.
Graham throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
Graham thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Graham is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.

Graham has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Yoshi off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Yoshi has Graham up against the cage in a clinch.

Graham successfully pulls guard.
Graham 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.
Graham pulls Yoshi in to control the position.

Graham is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Yoshi is aware though and is defending well.
Yoshi must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Graham looking for a guillotine here but Yoshi defends easily.
Graham has his hands on Yoshi's head, controlling the position.

Graham pushes Yoshi off and gets back to his feet.
Graham shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Yoshi defends it nicely.
Graham darts in looking for a takedown but Yoshi gets double underhooks and turns Graham into the cage.

Yoshi clinches.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Graham ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Graham no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Graham bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Yoshi's guard.

Graham seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

Graham stands up from Yoshi's guard - Graham perhaps looking for a knockout.

Graham gets tackled into the cage by Yoshi. Yoshi maintains the clinch.
Yoshi gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Graham.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for William Graham. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Yoshi pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Graham avoiding damage as Yoshi throws knees to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Graham is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Yoshi pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Graham wants a takedown but no success here.
Yoshi misses with a punch on the inside.
Yoshi misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Yoshi struggles to land a body shot inside as Graham controls his hands.
Graham is working for takedown but Yoshi is calmly controlling the position for now.

Graham manages to pull guard.
Yoshi really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Graham. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Graham managing to control the position.
Yoshi wants to stand but Graham has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Graham seems keen to control Yoshi's posture.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Graham keeping moving, preventing Yoshi from controlling successfully.
Yoshi throws a strike but Graham rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Graham controlling from the top position.
Yoshi wants to sweep but no luck.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

William Graham dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Graham gets tackled into the cage by Yoshi. Yoshi maintains the clinch.
Yoshi tries a body shot but Graham blocks it.
Graham has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Yoshi is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Graham is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Yoshi gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Graham goes for a takedown attempt but Yoshi pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for William Graham. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Donk. Yoshi catches Graham right on the button with a cross.
Graham dives in and grabs Yoshi's left leg, looking for a takedown. Yoshi pushes down on Graham's head and hops out.
Yoshi appears to be waiting to throw a counter punch to the body.

Yoshi clinches with his opponent.
Yoshi tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Graham avoids it.

Graham manages to break the clinch.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Yoshi misses with a low kick.

Yoshi has closed the distance and engaged Graham in a clinch.
With the fighters up against the cage, Yoshi throws an elbow but misses.
Yoshi pushes off an throws an elbow but Graham leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Graham is stalling here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Yoshi tries to work over Graham's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Graham fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Graham scores with a shoulder strike.
Yoshi prevents the takedown attempt.

Graham breaks the clinch.
Yoshi fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Graham drops down looking for a counter takedown but Yoshi sprawls and moves away.
Yoshi throws a head kick but Graham moves out of range.

Yoshi moves into the clinch.

Graham manages to break the clinch.

Yoshi clinches up with Graham and pushes him back against the cage.

Graham breaks the clinch.
William Graham seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
A punch combination from Yoshi misses.
Graham tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Yoshi swivels and escapes.
Yoshi stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Yoshi wants it to stay on the feet.
Graham shoots for a double leg takedown but Yoshi sprawls well. He's pushed Graham's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Yoshi will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Graham looks for a takedown but Yoshi sprawls well.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Yoshi looks to land a combination. Graham sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Graham walks into a jab.
Yoshi scores with a body shot.
Yoshi has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

Yoshi moves into the clinch successfully.
Yoshi looking to throw knees to the head but Graham is blocking nicely.
Yoshi misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Graham.
Yoshi pushes Graham back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Yoshi tries to throw a body punch but Graham avoids it by throwing Yoshi back against the cage.
Graham blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Yoshi tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Graham's elbow.
Graham pressing his opponent against the cage.

Graham gets control of Yoshi's arms and successfully pulls guard. Graham will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Yoshi trying to control but Graham is working from the bottom.

Graham is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Graham holds on and takes a little breather.
Yoshi has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Graham is proving hard to escape from.
Yoshi throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Yoshi wanted to stand there but Graham had control of the position.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Graham controlling the position.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Kinjo Yoshi is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Graham with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Yoshi to score with a decent uppercut.
Yoshi ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Graham moves away.
As Yoshi looks to move away, Graham throws a big counter combo bu Yoshi just gets out of the way.
Graham blocks a head kick by Yoshi.
Graham shoots in for a double leg but Yoshi sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Yoshi stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Yoshi wants it to stay on the feet.

Graham drives through and clinches with Yoshi against the cage.

Graham escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Yoshi misses with a body kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kinjo Yoshi showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Yoshi pushes Graham up against the cage in a clinch.
Graham managing to block the knees to the body from Yoshi.
Yoshi doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Yoshi misses with the head strike.
Graham avoids the elbow strike from Yoshi, against the cage.
Graham pushes off an throws an elbow but Yoshi leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Yoshi tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Graham avoids it.
Yoshi throws a head punch that misses.
Graham blocks a couple of punches on the inside.

Graham pulls guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Yoshi trying to control the position from guard on top but Graham is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Graham is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
William Graham overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Graham is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Graham prevents Yoshi from standing back up.

Graham is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Yoshi doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Graham.
Graham keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.

Graham is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Graham stalling.
Graham moves into side control, avoiding the strikes from Yoshi.
Graham misses with an attempted head punch from side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Yoshi is trying to improve his position.
Graham staying calm.
Graham throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.

Graham stands up and beckons Yoshi to his feet.
Horrible takedown attempt by Graham or perhaps it was just good defense by Yoshi, which made it look bad.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Graham shoots in for a double leg but Yoshi sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Graham takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Yoshi moves into range and clinches up with Graham.
Graham blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Kinjo Yoshi seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Yoshi stops a takedown attempt from Graham.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for William Graham. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Graham goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Graham blocks an elbow strike.
Graham lands a nice shot to the body.

Graham has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Yoshi uses from the top position.
Yoshi working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Yoshi wants to control from the top but Graham keeps moving.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Yoshi throwing strikes from guard but Graham blocks nicely.

Yoshi drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Graham manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Yoshi has Graham in his guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to William Graham.
I think Graham has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Ren Mimura scores the fight 29:28
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 29:28
Judge Yuuki Gou scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... William Graham!