PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Zhen Long (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Brian Bridges (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.

Long
vs
Bridges

181 cm
22
190 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

168 cm
20
195 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
Big right hand

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Very confident

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Zhen Long!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Brian Bridges!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Fujiwara, Tatsuya Matsuyama and Ren Mimura.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Good shot there by Long.
Bridges tries to clinch there but Long circles away.
Bridges tries to clinch but Long moves out of range.
Long throws a head kick but Bridges moves out of range.
Bridges wants to clinch up but Long keeps it at a distance.
Long misses with a jab, cross combination.
Bridges closes the distance and clinches up with Long, looking for a takedown. Bridges pushes Long against the cage but Long circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Long misses with a series of wild punches.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bridges is looking to clinch but Long is avoiding it.
A punch combination from Long misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Long throws a sloppy head kick and Bridges moves out of range easily.
Long looks to land a right hand but Bridges moved out of range.

Bridges closes the distance and clinches.
Long misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Bridges.
Bridges misses with an elbow strike.
Long tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Long wants to break the clinch but can't.
Long throws a knee to the head but misses.
Long has had enough of the clinch but Bridges keeps him there for the moment.
Long trying to control the position but instead, Bridges has worked for underhooks and has pushed Long into the cage.

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.
Long can't seem to implement his control oriented gameplan at the moment. That's no bad thing of course, for those of us who want to see a good fight.
Long wants to break free but Bridges has control.
Long is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Bridges is keeping busy.
Long missing with knees to the body.
Long tries to land knees in the clinch but Bridges avoids the damage to the body.
Long trying to stall but Bridges improves his position.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Long.
We're hearing some news coming in from back stage. It's official - Bridges has eaten all the pies!
Bridges misses with an elbow over the top.
Long throws a head punch that misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Long dodges an elbow strike from Bridges.
Bridges throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Long working aggressively here.
Long lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Bridges.
Bridges throws an elbow but it misses.
Bridges throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Bridges throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Long controlling the action here for a moment.
Long is trying to break free.
Knees to the body from Long.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Bridges lands an elbow just above Long 's eye.
Long trying to land knees to the body.
Bridges gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Long wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Bridges has him pressed against the cage.
Long connects with a knee to the head.
Bridges throws an elbow that misses.
Bridges misses with an elbow over the top.
Good body shot from Long.
Bridges creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Long's defenses.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Long avoids a wild elbow strike from Bridges.
Bridges keeps control of Long as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Long is trying to break the clinch but Bridges has him pressed against the cage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Zhen Long dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Bridges tries to clinch up but Long circles away and keeps his distance.
Long scores with a nice strike.
Long throws a head kick but Bridges moves out of range.
Long circles away from the clinch attempt.

Bridges clinches.
Long blocks an elbow strike.
Bridges misses with an elbow over the top.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bridges avoiding damage as Long throws knees to the body.
Long blocks an elbow strike.
Bridges pushes off an throws an elbow but Long leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Long avoids a wild elbow strike from Bridges.
Long blocks the elbow strike.
Bridges misses with an elbow over the top.
Bridges looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Bridges keeps control of Long as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Long tries to throw a body punch but Bridges avoids it by throwing Long back against the cage.
Bridges prevents Long from breaking the clinch.
Long takes an elbow to the temple.

It looks like Zhen Long has been cut.
Long with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Bridges throws an elbow that misses.
Bridges lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Bridges misses with an elbow strike.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
With the fighters up against the cage, Bridges throws an elbow but misses.
Bridges landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Bridges throws an elbow that misses.
Long dodges an elbow strike from Bridges.
Long misses with a knee to the head.
Bridges missing with knees to the body.
Long is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Bridges.
Long gets through Bridges's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Long is trying to break the clinch but Bridges has him pressed against the cage.
Long is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bridges looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Bridges blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Long avoids the elbow strike from Bridges, against the cage.
Long tries to break the clinch but Bridges is controlling the position.
Long blocks an elbow strike from Bridges.
Long tries to land a knee to the head but Bridges blocks with his arms.
Long stalling in the clinch but Bridges improves position.
Long avoiding damage as Bridges throws knees to the body.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Bridges.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Long wants to break free but Bridges has control.
Bridges blocks an elbow strike.
Long avoids the elbow strike from Bridges, against the cage.
Long tries a body shot but Bridges blocks it.
Long avoids a wild elbow strike from Bridges.
Nice elbow from Bridges.
Long misses with a knee strike.
Long blocks an elbow strike from Bridges.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Bridges.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Bridges just misses with a elbow thrown towards Long's brow.
Long is looking to control Bridges's arms but Bridges gets an underhook and turns him. Now Long has his back to the cage.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Brian Bridges will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Zhen Long's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Long circles away from the clinch attempt.
Long wants to land a leg kick but Bridges is out of range.
Long misses with a jab, cross combination.
Long throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Bridges is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bridges doesn't manage to clinch there - Long circles away.
Long throws a series of punches but Bridges moves out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bridges shoots in for a takedown but Long shows good takedown defense.
Some wild striking there from Long.
Zhen Long is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Bridges tries to close the distance and clinch but Long swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Bridges shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Long pinned against the cage. Long gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Bridges wants to clinch up but Long keeps it at a distance.
Long throws a head kick that misses.

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.
Long throws a right hand that Bridges ducks under and follows up with a left that Bridges also avoids with ease.
Bridges tries to close the distance and clinch up but Long swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Long lands with a nice combination. Bridges backs away looking to recover.
Long takes a swing at Bridges's ribcage but misses.
Bridges moves in looking to clinch but Long pushes him off.
Bridges tries to close the distance and clinch up but Long swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Long looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Long connects with a looping right hand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Long throws a half hearted mid kick.
Long misses with a double jab.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Long avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Bridges is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Long throws a series of punches but Bridges moves out of range.
Long circles away from the clinch attempt.
Bridges doesn't manage to clinch there - Long circles away.

That's four 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.
Long swats away the attempt to clinch by Bridges.
Bridges moves in looking to clinch but Long pushes him off.

Bridges closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Bridges throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Long goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Bridges throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Long tries a knee to the head but Bridges blocks it.
Bridges throws an elbow that misses.
Long is using his reach advantage well here, landing the more effective single shots from range.
Bridges blocks a couple of punches on the inside.

And that's the end of the fight!
Zhen Long showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Long 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 Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 29:28
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 29:28
Judge Ren Mimura scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Zhen Long!