PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Hai Shang (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hironobu Uematsu (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Shang
vs
Uematsu

192 cm
31
198 lbs
12 - 10 - 1

188 cm
33
203 lbs
18 - 11 - 1

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class MT
Very quick

Excellent grappler
World class MT
Good gas tank

GREEN!160
Spartan Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 10 - 1, fighting out of Los Angeles, Hai Shang!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 18 - 11 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Hironobu Uematsu!
The judges for this bout are Paul Gruel, Jeff Smith and Ryoma Takatsuka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Shang tried to score with a low kick but Uematsu checks it.

Uematsu has managed to clinch.
Shang blocks an uppercut.
Uematsu misses with a punch on the inside.
Shang misses with a hook to the ribs.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Shang.
Uematsu tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Uematsu misses with a short punch on the inside.
Shang lands with a light punch inside.
Uematsu swings wildly with an uppercut but Shang uses good head movement to avoid it.
Uematsu throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Shangs head.
Shang tries to land a knee to the head but Uematsu blocks with his arms.
Shang misses with a punch on the inside.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Uematsu avoiding damage as Shang throws knees to the body.
Shang using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Shang scores with a nice hook to the head.
Shang lands a body shot.
Uematsu gets through Shang's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Uematsu gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Shang.
Uematsu swings wildly with an uppercut but Shang uses good head movement to avoid it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Uematsu lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Shang backwards.
Uematsu lands a hook to the side of the head.
Uematsu lands a body punch.
Shang swings wildly with an uppercut but Uematsu uses good head movement to avoid it.
Uematsu lands a body punch.
A head punch on the inside from Uematsu fails to land.
Shang lands a damaging elbow.

Shang is trying to trip Uematsu. He has hold of a leg but Uematsu is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Shang persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Uematsu managing to control the position.
Uematsu keeping full guard, as Shang tries to pass.
Shang throws a big right hand that misses.
Shang works over Uematsu with some ground and pound from guard.
Uematsu has his hands on Shang's head, controlling the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shang distracts Uematsu with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Uematsu pulls Shang in close to prevent any damage.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Shang throwing strikes from guard but Uematsu blocks nicely.
Uematsu pulls Shang in close to prevent any damage.
Uematsu preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Uematsu pulls Shang in to control the position.
Uematsu has momentary wrist control but Shang slips an elbow through the middle.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Uematsu pulls Shang in close to prevent any damage.
Shang is looking to work some ground and pound but Uematsu has wrist control.
Uematsu working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Shang.
Uematsu looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Shang throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Uematsu works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Shang in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Shang throws a big right hand that misses.
Shang keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Uematsu's head.
Uematsu managing to control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Let's hope that Uematsu has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
Uematsu keeping full guard, as Shang tries to pass.
Uematsu pulls Shang in close to prevent any damage.
Shang looking to pass the guard.
Shang trying to control but Uematsu is working from the bottom.

The fighters are working up against the cage. Uematsu manages to wriggle his way back to his feet, so the fighters are now clinched against the cage.
Nice body punch from Shang - that landed with a thud.
Shang blocks an uppercut.
Shang's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
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 Hai Shang will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Uematsu lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Shang looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Shang is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Uematsu throws a series of punches but Shang moves out of range.
Uematsu ducks under a wild hook from Shang.
Shang lands the left hand.
Uematsu blocks the body kick.

Shang gets a double leg takedown into Uematsu's guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Uematsu is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Shang's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Shang drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Shang jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Uematsu has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.

That's one minute gone in the round.
We're seeing a lot of stalling here from Uematsu.
Shang is in close to Uematsu's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Shang with a flurry of punches that miss.
Uematsu is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Shang postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Shang works over Uematsu with some ground and pound from guard.
Shang throwing strikes from guard but Uematsu blocks nicely.
Uematsu has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Shang drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Shang jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Uematsu wants to stand up but Shang is controlling him.
Uematsu is controlling Shang's posture.
Shang in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Uematsu seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Shang tries to free his leg and advance position but Uematsu is retaining full guard.
Shang is working hard here to advance position.
Shang working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Shang loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shang pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Uematsu is keeping the position for now.
Shang throwing strikes but missing.
Shang throws a big elbow that misses.
Uematsu wants to stand but Shang is controlling the position.
Uematsu is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Uematsu avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Uematsu pulls Shang in close to prevent any damage.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Shang throws a sloppy body shot
and Uematsu counters with a straight right hand.
Uematsu keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Hai Shang seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Shang with a nice cross.
Shang shoots in but Uematsu avoids the takedown attempt easily.
A countering left hand to the body from Uematsu misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Uematsu misses with a lunging right hand
and Shang counters with a stiff right hand.
Shang pivots, looking for a leg kick but Uematsu is out of range and Shang settles back down.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Shang crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Uematsu - the referee stops the clock and Shang gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Uematsu. Shang manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Uematsu throws a body punch but Shang moves out of range.
A jab lands there for Uematsu.
Shang walks into a jab.
Shang lands a nice looking body kick.
This has been an exciting period of action!
A looping hook to the body misses from Uematsu. Shang does a little dance to reset his feet.
Shang keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Uematsu.
Shang will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
Shang dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Uematsu. That did some damage!
Shang tries a head kick but it misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hai Shang dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Uematsu uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Shang.
Uematsu fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Shang manages to avoid it.
Uematsu tries to close the distance and clinch up but Shang swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Shang ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Uematsu moves away.
Danga de danga de dang - Uematsu scores with a four punch combination!
Shang works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Uematsu gets cracked there but stands up to it.
A chopping leg kick lands by Shang.
Shang throws a head kick but Uematsu moves out of range.
Uematsu throws out a counter right but Shang avoids it with no problem.
A good leg kick by Shang.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Uematsu takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Uematsu swings widly with a right hand
and Shang counters with a stiff right hand.
Shang goes for a double leg but Uematsu avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Uematsu continues to drive forward.
Uematsu looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Shang thows a leg kick but Uematsu checks it
and Uematsu makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Hai Shang is winning the standup battle so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Uematsu on the wrong end of a kick to the body.
Shang shoots in but no luck this time.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Uematsu bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Uematsu moves out of range as Shang throws a body kick.
Uematsu waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Shang.
Uematsu avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Uematsu throws a sloppy head kick and Shang moves out of range easily.
A head kick from Uematsu lands but Shang takes it in his stride.

Shang gets tackled into the cage by Uematsu. Uematsu maintains the clinch.
Shang trying to land knees to the body.
Uematsu lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Shang is looking for a takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Hai Shang. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Uematsu tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Uematsu lands a hook that snaps the head of Shang backwards.
Uematsu throws a head punch that misses.
Hironobu Uematsu has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Uematsu lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Shang backwards.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Shang tries to land knees in the clinch but Uematsu avoids the damage to the body.
Uematsu lands a left hand.
Shang blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Uematsu has a couple of punches blocked by Shang.
Uematsu misses with a short punch on the inside.
Uematsu blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Uematsu lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Shang backwards.

Shang is rocked!
Uematsu misses with a hook from the clinch.
Oh Shang is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Uematsu swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Uematsu swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Shang seems to have got his legs back now.
Uematsu lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Uematsu lands with a light punch inside.
A hook to the body from Uematsu.
Uematsu lands with a short shot to the head.
Uematsu blocks an elbow strike.
Shang blocking some punches.
Uematsu lands a hook to the side of the head.
Hironobu Uematsu seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Shang landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Uematsu dips a shoulder and cracks Shang with a mighty uppercut! Shang falls back against the cage and Uematsu unloads with a barrage of strikes! Shang is completely out with his eyes open, only supported by the cage! Save him ref! Eventually the ref decides to do his job and jumps in - Uematsu screams abuse at the incompetent official before going over to celebrate with his corner. Brutal stuff!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:11 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Hironobu Uematsu!