PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Nick Talley (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hokuro Kobayashi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Hokuro Kobayashi has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Talley
vs
Kobayashi

189 cm
18
140 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

174 cm
20
140 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Nick Talley!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Hokuro Kobayashi!
The judges for this bout are Micheangelo Fripello, Chris Saunders and Ryoma Takatsuka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Kobayashi gets a clinch.
Kobayashi lands a nice shot to the body.
Talley tries to pull guard but Kobayashi won't allow it.

Talley pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
A head kick misses from Kobayashi.
Talley is looking to counter with a shot to the body.

Kobayashi rushes Talley and presses him up against the cage.
Talley tries to pull guard but Kobayashi forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Kobayashi is looking to take this one to the mat.
Kobayashi misses with a hook to the ribs.

Kobayashi breaks from the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
The crowd cheers as Talley lands an impressive looking overhand right. Kobayashi doesn't seem phased though.

Kobayashi clinches up with Talley and pushes him back against the cage.
Talley fails to pull the fight into his guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Nick Talley. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Talley manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kobayashi wants to control from the top but Talley keeps moving.
Talley keeping full guard, as Kobayashi tries to pass.

Talley looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Talley will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Kobayashi's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Talley throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.
Talley thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Kobayashi in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Talley thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Kobayashi postures up.

Talley has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Kobayashi can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Talley wants to control but Kobayashi passes easily into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kobayashi trying to pass the guard but Talley defending well.
Talley is trying to stand up here but Kobayashi is controlling him well.
Kobayashi is looking to take a break and control but Talley is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Kobayashi stands, ready to strike. The ref makes him back up and allows Talley to get to his feet.

Talley takes the fight into the clinch.

Talley manages to break the clinch.
Kobayashi stuffs the takedown.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kobayashi misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.

Kobayashi closes the distance and clinches.

Talley manages to break the clinch.

Kobayashi clinches.
Kobayashi blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Kobayashi scores with a hook to the body.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Kobayashi creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.

Kobayashi drags the fight down to the ground.
Kobayashi wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.

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

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kobayashi preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Kobayashi wants to get back to his feet but Talley passes into half guard.
Talley not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Talley lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Kobayashi is trying to control but can't.
Talley drops an elbow to the side of Kobayashi's head.
Kobayashi is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Kobayashi drives through and clinches with Talley against the cage.
Talley tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Kobayashi smiles and moves away.

Kobayashi forces Talley back against the cage and clinches.
Talley fails to pull guard.
Kobayashi throws an elbow that misses.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Talley takes an elbow to the forehead.
Talley taking a breather.
Talley jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Kobayashi walks away with a smile on his face. Talley gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Nick Talley. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Talley takes the fight into the clinch.

Talley's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

Talley gets a double leg takedown into Kobayashi's guard.
Talley throwing strikes from guard but Kobayashi blocks nicely.
Talley stopping the sweep attempt from Kobayashi.
Talley missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Kobayashi pulls Talley in close to his closed guard and prevents Talley from doing any damage or advancing position.
Kobayashi working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Talley.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kobayashi avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Talley lands a couple of elbows.
Kobayashi trying to control the position.
Talley postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Kobayashi has Talley pulled in close to control his posture.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.

Talley moves into the clinch successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Kobayashi pulls guard effortlessly.
Talley lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Talley loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Kobayashi preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Nick Talley overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Kobayashi tries to strike from the bottom.
Talley postures up.
Kobayashi tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Talley stops Kobayashi from standing up.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Hokuro Kobayashi is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Talley throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Kobayashi counters with a right hand to the body.
Talley throws the left hand but Kobayashi avoids the punch easily.

Talley clinches up with Kobayashi and pushes him back against the cage.

Talley gets control of Kobayashi's arms and successfully pulls guard. Talley will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
Kobayashi must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

Kobayashi drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Talley manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Kobayashi has Talley in his guard.

Kobayashi working a defensive guard here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nick Talley dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Talley closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Talley tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Kobayashi smiles and moves away.

Kobayashi instigates a clinch.
Kobayashi throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Talleys head.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Talley is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Kobayashi to keep the fight standing.
Kobayashi misses with a punch to the body.
Talley tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Kobayashi just stands there and leans against the cage.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Nick Talley. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Talley jumps guard but Kobayashi stands there with Talley around his waist. Talley gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.

Kobayashi escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kobayashi shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Talley pinned against the cage. Talley gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Kobayashi misses with a double jab.
Talley is looking to counter punch.

Kobayashi instigates a clinch.

Kobayashi breaks the clinch.

Kobayashi rushes Talley and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Kobayashi working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Talley tries to pull guard but Kobayashi holds him up against the cage and eventually Talley drops back down to his feet.

Talley jumps into guard, dragging Kobayashi to the mat.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kobayashi scoring with some ground and pound.
Kobayashi seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Kobayashi scoring with punches to the head and body.
Kobayashi trying to stand up but can't free himself from Talley's guard.
Kobayashi really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Talley. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Talley is on top in guard.

Talley postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Kobayashi is controlling Talley's posture.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Talley stopping the sweep attempt from Kobayashi.
Talley distracts Kobayashi with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Kobayashi controls Talley momentarily but Talley frees himself.
Kobayashi has Talley pulled in close to control his posture.
Talley in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Talley throws a strike but Kobayashi rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Kobayashi avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Kobayashi chips away with some ground and pound.
Talley not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Talley 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.
Talley thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Kobayashi trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Kobayashi controlling from the top position.
Kobayashi trying to control the position from guard on top but Talley is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Kobayashi content to stall in guard here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Hokuro Kobayashi comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Kobayashi has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Micheangelo Fripello scores the fight 28:29
Judge Chris Saunders scores the fight 28:29
Judge Ryoma Takatsuka scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Hokuro Kobayashi!