PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Yokozuna Asashoryu (ranked 3846 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ichabod Crane (ranked 4438 p4p, 0 weight class). Crane comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Broken Bones - Decapitated kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Asashoryu
vs
Crane

212 cm
41
274 lbs
37 - 21 - 0

200 cm
35
241 lbs
18 - 17 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Lethal high kicks
Cardio machine

BJJ Red Belt
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Power Matrix Nutrition
Urban Fighter

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 37 - 21 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Yokozuna Asashoryu!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 18 - 17 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Ichabod Crane!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Fujiwara, Shigeki Sano and Yukihiro Yamamoto.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Asashoryu misses with a hook.
Asashoryu throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Asashoryu tries to bum rush Crane with a series of wild strikes but Crane uses good footwork to avoid the assault.

Crane scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Crane working the head and body with strikes.
Asashoryu is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Crane trying to control the position but Asashoryu is working away.
Crane cracks Asashoryu with an elbow. That is naaassty.

Crane looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Asashoryu takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
You can see the frustration on Asashoryu's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Asashoryu is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

Crane is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Asashoryu has escaped the position, nice work there.
Asashoryu is pushing Crane's head away, looking to escape. Crane manages to hold on to the position though.
Asashoryu is looking to reverse the position.
Crane taking a breather here.
Crane wants to lay and pray for a moment but Asashoryu keeps working.
Asashoryu wants to get back to his feet.

Crane tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Crane has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

Crane wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Asashoryu, who protects the arm well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Crane cracks Asashoryu with a big right hand but Asashoryu just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Asashoryu tries to buck Crane off but Crane is having none of it.
My spies in Savage Dojo MMA Tokyo inform me that Crane has been getting involved in the gym's BJJ sparring sessions. Let's see whether that pays dividends!

Crane wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Asashoryu, who protects the arm well.
Asashoryu wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
Crane wants to lay and pray for a moment but Asashoryu keeps working.
Asashoryu tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Crane wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Asashoryu manages to get back to half guard.

Crane seems to be working for a kimura but Asashoryu defends the submission attempt.
Crane working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Crane maintaining the dominant position here and is working for a kimura. He's locked it up! Asashoryu could be in real trouble here! He's trying to wriggle out but Crane has cracked it and Asashoryu is screaming in pain - he's tapped out! Great finish by Crane!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:28 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Ichabod Crane!
Ichabod Crane really struggled to get his t-shirt on before his hand was raised. Making sure that Power Matrix Nutrition logo gets some air time is pretty tricky when you're all sweaty.