PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Itagaki Fukuzawa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Yuki Takano (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Fukuzawa might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to In Flames - Colony. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Fukuzawa
vs
Takano

170 cm
35
153 lbs
29 - 18 - 2

169 cm
28
146 lbs
16 - 11 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

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 29 - 18 - 2, fighting out of New York, Itagaki Fukuzawa!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 11 - 0, fighting out of London, Yuki Takano!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Shimada, Ren Mimura and Shigeki Fujiwara.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A jab from Takano misses.
Takano wants to land a leg kick but Fukuzawa is out of range.
Fukuzawa takes one on the chin but keeps coming.

It looks like Itagaki Fukuzawa has been cut.
Fukuzawa checks the leg kick.
Takano connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Fukuzawa keeps the fight on the outside.
Takano uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Fukuzawa.
Fukuzawa scores with a nice right hand.

It looks like Yuki Takano has been cut.
Takano misses with a left hand
enabling Fukuzawa to counter with a crisp jab.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Fukuzawa on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Takano throws a lazy uppercut
and Fukuzawa counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.

Takano is rocked!
Takano has been spending a lot of time sparring his boxing in the run up to the fight, trying to sharpen up those hands and look for a knockout.
A good leg kick by Takano.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Takano connects with a high kick.
Takano throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Fukuzawa tried to counter with a leg kick but Takano avoided it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Fukuzawa keeps the fight on the outside.
Fukuzawa ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Takano moves away.
Fukuzawa backing away here, and Takano unleashes a leg kick that just misses.
Takano thuds his shin into the meat of Fukuzawa's side.
Fukuzawa takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Takano throws a hook to the side of Fukuzawa's head but Fukuzawa sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Fukuzawa throws a quick counter head kick but Takano was just out of range.
Yuki Takano seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Takano throws a low kick but Fukuzawa avoids it.
The fighters circling - Fukuzawa throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Takano takes one to the chin there.
Takano defending well as Fukuzawa loads up on a big left hand.
Takano tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
Takano throws a leg kick but Fukuzawa moved away.
Fukuzawa is looking to counter punch.
Takano looks to throw the jab but Fukuzawa is out of range.
Takano throws a leg kick but Fukuzawa moved away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
No joy there for Takano, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Takano with a nice cross.
Fukuzawa keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Fukuzawa misses with a low kick as Takano jumps back.
Takano appeared to try and counter that last move with a leg kick.
Fukuzawa throws the left hand but Takano avoids the punch easily.
Fukuzawa uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Takano.
Fukuzawa misses with a body shot.
Fukuzawa takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Takano lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Fukuzawa circles away quickly and effectively.
Takano tries to score with a low kick but Fukuzawa moves his leg out of the way.
Fukuzawa tries to land a leg kick but Takano saw it coming and moves away.
Takano scores with a head kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Fukuzawa misses with an uppercut.
Fukuzawa avoids the head kick by Takano.
A jab from Takano finds it's way through Fukuzawa's defenses.
The fighters circling - Fukuzawa throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Fukuzawa misses with a wild body shot.
Takano lands a really nice looking cross but Fukuzawa seems unphased.
Fukuzawa throws a body shot but no joy.
Takano walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Fukuzawa checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
Fukuzawa was looking to counter that last move with a shot to the body but he didn't commit.
Takano swings for the body but Fukuzawa moves out of range.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Takano.
Fukuzawa 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.
Takano throws a head kick that misses.
Fukuzawa throws a hook to the side of Takano's head but Takano sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Takano keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Takano looks to land a right hand but Fukuzawa moved out of range.
Fukuzawa throws a quick counter kick to the body but Takano avoids it.
Fukuzawa stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Takano.
Takano is landing a lot of head punches in this opening round! Fukuzawa had better start moving his head a bit unless he wants his face to turn into pâté.
Fukuzawa takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Takano moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Takano displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Fukuzawa throws out the jab.
Takano throws a nice inside leg kick.
Takano thows a leg kick but Fukuzawa checks it
and Fukuzawa makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Takano really felt that one!
Takano smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Takano thumps Fukuzawa with a low kick.
Fukuzawa moves out of range as Takano throws a body kick.
Takano looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Yuki Takano dominated that round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

A lazy body kick from Takano
and Fukuzawa cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Fukuzawa is looking to score with low kicks.
Takano drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Fukuzawa defends it well.
Takano changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Takano doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Takano changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Nice defenses there by Fukuzawa.
As Takano backs away, Fukuzawa returns fire with a leg kick that just misses.
Takano tries to clinch
and Fukuzawa counters with a left and a right that stings Takano.
Takano misses with an attempted mid kick.
An attempted straight right counter from Fukuzawa misses the target.
Takano bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Fukuzawa's head backwards.
Takano tests Fukuzawa's chin there with a solid looking shot.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Takano throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Takano feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Fukuzawa's calf.
Takano with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Takano throws a leg kick but Fukuzawa moved away.
Takano moves out of range as Fukuzawa strikes.
Takano tries to land a leg kick but Fukuzawa saw it coming and moves away.
Takano connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.

Takano gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Fukuzawa softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
A short right from Takano.
Takano presses Fukuzawa against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.

Takano breaks from the clinch.
Fukuzawa thumps Takano with a low kick.
Takano gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Fukuzawa.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Takano scores with a jab to the jaw.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Fukuzawa tries to keep at a distance but Takano has taken the fight into the clinch.
Takano tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Fukuzawa's elbow.
Takano holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Fukuzawa doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Fukuzawa is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
Fukuzawa is looking to control Takano's arms but Takano gets an underhook and turns him. Now Fukuzawa has his back to the cage.
Fukuzawa lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Takano tries a body shot but Fukuzawa blocks it.

Fukuzawa breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Fukuzawa scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Fukuzawa buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Takano buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Takano missing with a left hand there. Fukuzawa was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A big right from Fukuzawa misses.
Takano keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
A punch combination from Fukuzawa misses.
Takano tries to land a leg kick but Fukuzawa saw it coming and moves away.
A counter left hand to the body from Fukuzawa misses its target.
Nice body kick from Takano.
Takano takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Fukuzawa.
Takano lands a nice leg kick that just misses Fukuzawa's sensitive parts.
Fukuzawa swinging wildly here.
Takano scoring well with a low kick there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Takano has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Takano there as he acknowledges the shot.
A bone on bone clash there as Fukuzawa blocks the leg kick.
Takano dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Fukuzawa. That did some damage!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Takano scores with a one two! Fukuzawa had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Takano throws a wild body kick that Fukuzawa sees coming a mile off.
Fukuzawa takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Takano misses with a looping left.

Takano lands a big head kick that sends Fukuzawa tumbling to the mat! Takano takes a step backwards and waves Fukuzawa back to his feet - he wants the finish!

Fukuzawa is rocked!
Yuki Takano seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Fukuzawa swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Oh Fukuzawa is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Takano connects with an inside leg kick.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Look low, kick high! Takano uses the oldest trick in the book to send Fukuzawa tumbling to the canvas, in a truly brutal knockout! Takano is absolutely delighted - when Fukuzawa wakes up, I doubt he'll be quite so happy!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:54 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Head Kick). Yuki Takano!
In his post fight interview, Yuki Takano started talking himself up. Luckily his charisma kept the crowd on side and gave him a good reception.