PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Katuro Tisoaka (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Fedor Morozov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Tisoaka's entrance music is Festivo. A fine choice. Morozov has chosen Young Thug feat. Gucci Mane – Again as his entrance music. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Tisoaka
vs
Morozov

169 cm
29
184 lbs
14 - 8 - 0

189 cm
29
185 lbs
16 - 12 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Excellent grappler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 14 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Katuro Tisoaka!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 12 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Fedor Morozov!
The judges for this bout are Taro Takaoka, Sosuke Kotani and Shigeki Sano.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Morozov closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Morozov's corner calls for a 1-2. Morozov obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Tisoaka leaves Morozov with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Morozov shoots in looking for a takedown. Tisoaka tries to sprawl out of it but Morozov keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Tisoaka manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Some wild striking there from Morozov.

Tisoaka shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.

Tisoaka avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Tisoaka controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

Morozov has his foot on Tisoaka's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Tisoaka works his way back into a safe position though.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Morozov is on top in guard.

Morozov throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Morozov works over Tisoaka with some ground and pound from guard.
Tisoaka preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Morozov scoring with some ground and pound.

Tisoaka is scooting his butt against the cage and has managed to get back to his feet. Morozov presses him back against the cage, presumably looking to take the fight back to the mat.
Morozov is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Tisoaka can't get the takedown.
I was talking to Tisoaka's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Morozov prevents the takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Katuro Tisoaka. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tisoaka changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Morozov fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Tisoaka closes this distance looking for a takedown but Morozov circles away.

Morozov throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Tisoaka was covering up waiting for the punch and Morozov finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Tisoaka might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Morozov with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Morozov trying to control but Tisoaka is working from the bottom.
Morozov prevents Tisoaka from getting back to his feet.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Morozov trying to control the position from guard on top but Tisoaka is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tisoaka wants to stand and escape but Morozov is having none of it.

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

Tisoaka shoots in and bounces Morozov off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.

Morozov working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Tisoaka doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Tisoaka manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

Morozov has his foot on Tisoaka's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Tisoaka works his way back into a safe position though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morozov can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Tisoaka controls the pace.
Tisoaka seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Morozov for as long as he can get away with.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Morozov throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Fedor Morozov dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Tisoaka tries for a takedown but Morozov sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Fedor Morozov seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Morozov shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Morozov was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Morozov lands a nice forearm strike.
Morozov landing strikes.
Morozov taking a break here but Tisoaka is having none of it and regains half guard.

Tisoaka has managed to escape just enough to sneak back to his feet but Morozov is on him like a limpet, forcing Tisoaka back against the cage.
Morozov working hard to break the clinch.
Tisoaka is looking for a takedown.

Morozov manages to break the clinch.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Morozov darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.

Tisoaka has managed to escape just enough to sneak back to his feet but Morozov is on him like a limpet, forcing Tisoaka back against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tisoaka tries for a takedown but Morozov manages to get underhooks.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Katuro Tisoaka. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Morozov breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Morozov gets the takedown into side control.

Tisoaka bucks up and manages to escape back to his feet!

Tisoaka shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Morozov looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Morozov is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Morozov looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Tisoaka looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Tisoaka controlling the action here.
Tisoaka works his way into side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morozov tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Tisoaka happy to just control the position for now.
Morozov tries to get back to half guard but can't.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Morozov looks to move to half guard but instead Tisoaka has passed into mount! Damn!
Tisoaka sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Morozov keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Katuro Tisoaka dominated that second 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. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Morozov fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Tisoaka avoids it really well and circles away.

Morozov throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Tisoaka was covering up waiting for the punch and Morozov finishes the takedown easily into guard.

Tisoaka pushes Morozov off and scrambles back to his feet.
Morozov shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Tisoaka tries to score a power double leg takedown but Morozov sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Tisoaka somewhat.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Tisoaka shoots for a takedown but Morozov saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Morozov swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Tisoaka keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Katuro Tisoaka has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Fedor Morozov.
Tisoaka fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Morozov lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Tisoaka shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Morozov manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Morozov is looking to stand back up... there's a bit of a scramble and Tisoaka dives into side control.

Morozov is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Morozov looks to move to half guard but instead Tisoaka has passed into mount! Damn!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tisoaka looking to control and managing it successfully.
Morozov is working to get back to half guard.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
Tisoaka tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Morozov is trying desperately to improve position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tisoaka takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Morozov tries to improve his position but instead Tisoaka has taken his back!
I really don't envy Morozov right now.
I would not like to be Morozov right now.
Katuro Tisoaka overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Morozov turns into Tisoaka and is now in his guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tisoaka wants to stand up but Morozov is controlling him.
Morozov working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Tisoaka's head.
Morozov pushes down on Tisoaka's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Tisoaka is looking to escape.
Morozov throws a strike but Tisoaka avoids it easily and moves to full guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Tisoaka wants to get back to his feet but Morozov is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Morozov throws a big elbow that misses.

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 Katuro Tisoaka.
I think Tisoaka 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 Taro Takaoka scores the fight 29:28
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 29:28
Judge Shigeki Sano scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Katuro Tisoaka!
Our winner, Katuro Tisoaka, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.
Fedor Morozov was interviewed post fight and said 'i want rematch'.