PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Ao Ki (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Elijah Judah (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Ki
vs
Judah

181 cm
22
163 lbs
7 - 2 - 0

175 cm
20
157 lbs
5 - 3 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Basic striking
KO power

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

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 7 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Ao Ki!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 3 - 0, fighting out of New York, Elijah Judah!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Fujiwara, Taro Takaoka and Tatsuya Matsuyama.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ki shoots and misses
and Judah cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Ki wants to clinch.

Ki has taken the fight to the clinch.
I was talking to Ki's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Ki takes a shot to the head.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Judah doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Good body shot from Judah.
Ki has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Judah avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
A short right from Judah.
Judah tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A short left from Judah.
Judah tries to throw a body punch but Ki avoids it by throwing Judah back against the ropes.
Judah misses with the head strike.
Ki has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Judah is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ao Ki. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Judah tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Ki's elbow.
Ki is trying to stall.
Judah pushes Ki back against the ropes and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Judah throws a head punch that misses.
The referee calls for Ki to work.
Judah lands a hook to the side of the head.
Ki is trying to stall.
A nice left hand lands by Judah.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ki trying to control the position but instead, Judah has worked for underhooks and has pushed Ki into the ropes.
Judah softening up his opponent with strikes, against the ropes.
Judah fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Ki looking to stall.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Judah.
Judah is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the ropes.
Ki is looking for a takedown up against the ropes. Judah gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Judah lands a shot to the body.
A nice left hand lands by Judah.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Judah lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Judah tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Judah misses with a punch to the body.
A frustrated look appears on Judah's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Still in the clinch, Judah scores with a nice short uppercut.

Judah pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Ki takes a jab right on the kisser.
Ki tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Judah swivels and escapes.

Ki closes the distance and clinches.
Judah tries a body shot but Ki blocks it.

Ki pulls guard successfully.
Judah must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

Ki escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Judah gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

Ki is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Ki has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Judah can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

Judah got a little sloppy there for a moment and Ki has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Judah has managed to get both his arms back between Ki's legs - danger averted.
Judah engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.

Ki looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Elijah Judah dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Ki moves out of range as Judah strikes.
Ki is trying hard to land a takedown here. Judah sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Ki displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Judah throws out the jab.
Ki moves to clinch but Judah breaks away
and Judah counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Ki tries to clinch but Judah moves away
and Judah counters with a right hand to the body.
Ki tries to clinch but Judah is having none of it.
Ki tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Judah counters with a lovely shot to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Judah smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Ki is looking to clinch but Judah is avoiding it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Judah circles away from the clinch attempt
and Judah counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Judah swats away the attempt to clinch by Ki.
Judah misses the jab.
The fight stays on the outside here - Ki looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Judah is looking for the big counter here.
Judah swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Ki.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Judah throws out a loose jab but Ki uses good head movement to avoid it.
Ki closes the distance looking to clinch
and Judah counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Judah is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Ki.
Ki closes the distance but Judah moves to the side
and Judah counters with a nice uppercut.

Ki is rocked!

Ki has Judah up against the ropes in a clinch.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Judah.
A right hook to the body lands for Judah.
Judah gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Ki.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Judah lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Ki blocks a body shot from Judah.
Judah misses with a short punch on the inside.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Judah is trying to push Ki away but Ki has him pressed against the ropes, so he's going nowhere.

Judah pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Judah misses the jab.
Elijah Judah seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Ki shoots in and drives through. Judah sprawls well.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ao Ki. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Ki tries for a takedown but Judah sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
A little jabbing left from Judah on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Ki shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Judah as he avoids it easily.
Judah misses with a hook. Ki ducked under it nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ki moves to clinch but Judah breaks away
and Judah counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Oh Ki is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Ki looks up at the clock. Bad move! Judah lands a right hand from hell, dropping Ki. Judah pounces and finishes the fight with a flurry of punches and elbows.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:21 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Elijah Judah!
During a confident post fight interview, Elijah Judah thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.