PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between EM Punk (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ryo Takajiri (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Punk
vs
Takajiri

175 cm
29
160 lbs
5 - 7 - 0

171 cm
22
163 lbs
9 - 4 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Great low kicks
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Good low kicks
Good gas tank

M.O. Fight Wear

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, EM Punk!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Ryo Takajiri!
The judges for this bout are Sosuke Kotani, Tatsuya Matsuyama and Taro Takaoka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Punk takes the fight into the clinch.
Takajiri fails to pull guard.
Punk misses with a knee strike.

Punk has moved round to his opponent's back and is looking for a suplex! Oh snap! He's tossed Takajiri clear over his head and slammed him to the mat!
Takajiri trying to survive by controlling the hands.
Takajiri covering up well under a barage of strikes.
Punk throws a big right hand but he misses and hits the mat. Ouch.
Punk throwing sloppy strikes.
Takajiri covering up well and avoiding damage.
Punk struggling to keep hold of the position.
Takajiri trying to get back to his feet but Punk is in full control for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Punk throwing lazy shots from the back mount that aren't doing any damage.
Punk missing with strikes.
Punk missing with strikes.
Punk thows a huge left but connects with the canvas and not his opponent.
Takajiri covering up well and avoiding damage.
Punk controls the position.
Punk misses with an elbow to the head.
Punk misses with an elbow to the head.
A lull in the action here.
Punk avoiding Takajiri 's attempts to control his hands.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Takajiri wants to get back to his feet.
Takajiri is defending well here and trying to improve his position.
Punk misses with a punch to the head.
Takajiri looks to control his opponent's hands but he's not mananging it at the moment.
Punk throwing sloppy strikes.
Takajiri trying to control the position but Punk manages to sink in the hooks.
Takajiri is in a world of trouble here. He's outmatched on the ground here and he'd better get Punk off his back sharpish unless he wants to be submitted.
Takajiri avoids the strikes from Punk.
Takajiri wants to get back to his feet.
Punk misses with an elbow to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Takajiri is trying to stand back up.
Takajiri is being controlled on the ground here - he must escape this position otherwise surely the end is near.
Takajiri is trying to get back to his feet but Punk has full control of the position and if anything, Takajiri has just worked his way into a worse spot.
Takajiri breaks Punk's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.
Takajiri sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Takajiri's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Takajiri looking to pass the guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Punk is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Punk trying to control from half guard but Takajiri is working away.
Punk not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Punk is looking to take a break and control but Takajiri is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Punk is taking a breather. Takajiri says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Punk is just content to waste time from the top position. Takajiri takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

EM Punk dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Takajiri gets caught flat footed, as Punk shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Punk working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Punk is stalling in the full guard.
Takajiri keeping full guard, as Punk tries to pass.
Takajiri preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Punk is looking to work some ground and pound but Takajiri has wrist control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Punk passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Punk trying to control the position but Takajiri is working away.
Punk in side control, throwing shots but Takajiri defends.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Takajiri is looking for a sweep.
Punk misses with the ground and pound.
EM Punk overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Punk is looking to take a break and control but Takajiri is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Punk throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Takajiri struggling a bit here.
Punk throwing strikes but missing, from side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Takajiri holding on.
Punk tries to advance to mount but Takajiri instead regains half guard.
Takajiri is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Takajiri avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Punk.
Punk 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.
Punk thows a huge punch but Takajiri dodges it nicely.

Punk is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Takajiri defends it well.
Punk throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Punk trying to mount his opponent but Takajiri defends it.
Punk misses with a head shot. Takajiri uses the momentum to regain guard.
Punk is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Takajiri can do to turn this around?
Takajiri is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Punk is controlling him.
Punk postures up in Takajiri's guard and throws a big left but Takajiri blocks it.
Takajiri working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Punk.
Punk forces his way into half guard.
Punk seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.
Punk not doing much here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Takajiri wants to get back to full guard.
Punk seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.

Punk is looking for a kimura here.
Punk throws a big elbow that misses, also allowing Takajiri to regain full guard.
Punk wants to pass the guard but Takajiri is keeping the position.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Punk sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Takajiri's guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

EM Punk dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Takajiri throws a nice outside leg kick.
No luck for Takajiri with that takedown attempt.

Punk is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Takajiri's half guard.
Punk not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Punk seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Punk tries to pass the half guard into mount. Takajiri knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Punk trying to control from half guard but Takajiri is working away.
Punk throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Takajiri looking for submissions off his back.
Takajiri is looking to control Punk's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Takajiri avoid being mounted?
Takajiri keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Punk thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Punk takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Takajiri is not content to let Punk control the position.
Takajiri is looking for a sweep. Punk is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Ryo Takajiri has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
EM Punk is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Punk seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Takajiri does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

Punk shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Takajiri manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Punk wants to control from the top but Takajiri keeps moving.
Punk throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Punk is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Punk wants to control from the top but Takajiri keeps moving.
Punk throws a big elbow that misses.
Punk wants to control from the top but Takajiri keeps moving.

Takajiri looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Punk passes into half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Takajiri actively working from the bottom here.
Punk trying to control the pace.
Punk works his way into full mount!
Punk tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Takajiri wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Punk.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Punk takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Takajiri is squirming around, avoiding Punk's attempts to control the action.
Punk controlling from the full mount.
Takajiri is squirming around, avoiding Punk's attempts to control the action.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Punk content just to control the position here.

And that's the end of the fight!
EM Punk showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Punk, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Sosuke Kotani scores the fight for EM Punk!
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight for EM Punk!
Judge Taro Takaoka scores the fight for EM Punk!

EM Punk wins by unanimous decision!