PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Hakuin Ekaku Jr (ranked 91 p4p, 14 weight class) and Karl Denke (ranked 689 p4p, 102 weight class). Ekaku Jr kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is Jiu Jitsu. Hakuin Ekaku Jr has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Ekaku Jr
vs
Denke

175 cm
31
165 lbs
30 - 10 - 2

175 cm
27
180 lbs
17 - 9 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Aspire Clothing
Venom Combat Sports

Aspire Clothing
Aspire Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the welterweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 30 - 10 - 2, fighting out of Los Angeles, Hakuin Ekaku Jr!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 17 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Karl Denke!
The judges for this bout are Trevor Gratis, Gregory Folan and William Peck.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ekaku Jr connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Nice jab there from Ekaku Jr.
Ekaku Jr lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Ekaku Jr misses with a looping right.
Denke takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Denke enables Ekaku Jr to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Denke manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Ekaku Jr trying to control but Denke is working from the bottom.

Denke looks to be working for a triangle here. Oh, it looks like he might have it! Ekaku Jr has picked Denke up and slammed him! Denke can't keep hold of the triangle and Ekaku Jr manages to pass to side control!
Denke is looking for a sweep.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Denke manages to get back to half guard.

Denke actively working from the bottom here.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Ekaku Jr lands a nice short elbow.
Ekaku Jr has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Ekaku Jr raining down hammerfists from mount.
Denke gets back to half guard.

Denke actively working from the bottom here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nice strikes from Ekaku Jr there.

Denke looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Ekaku Jr is looking to take a break and control but Denke is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Denke is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Ekaku Jr pulls his head out easily.
Ekaku Jr wants to lay and pray for a moment but Denke keeps working.

Denke actively working from the bottom here.
Ekaku Jr working Denke over with strikes.

Denke looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Ekaku Jr is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Ekaku Jr wants to pass the guard but Denke is defending well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Denke is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Ekaku Jr pulls his head out easily.
Denke makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Denke.

Denke working for a triangle but Ekaku Jr defends it easily.
Ekaku Jr controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Ekaku Jr scoring with some ground and pound.
Ekaku Jr wants to control from the top but Denke keeps moving.
Ekaku Jr scoring with some ground and pound.
Ekaku Jr content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Ekaku Jr is in close to Denke's body, working some short punches and elbows.

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

Denke looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Ekaku Jr distracts Denke with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Denke looking for a guillotine here but Ekaku Jr defends easily.
Ekaku Jr slips nicely into half guard.

Denke looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Denke is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Ekaku Jr pulls his head out easily.

Denke looking for submissions off his back.

Denke is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Ekaku Jr pulls his head out easily.
Ekaku Jr wants to control but Denke is keeping him busy.
Ekaku Jr working over Denke with some ground and pound. Denke looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Ekaku Jr drops an elbow to the side of Denke's head.
Ekaku Jr wants to control but Denke is keeping him busy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Denke actively working from the bottom here.
Ekaku Jr is keen to just control but Denke is a slippery customer.
Ekaku Jr controlling the pace.

Denke looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Denke looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Ekaku Jr scoring with strikes to the body and head.

Denke looking for submissions off his back.

Denke is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Ekaku Jr pulls his head out easily.
Denke makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Denke.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Denke walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Ekaku Jr dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Denke. That did some damage!
Ekaku Jr looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Denke takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Ekaku Jr swings away with a body shot that misses
and Denke counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Denke uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Ekaku Jr.
It seemed like Denke was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Ekaku Jr moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Denke rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Ekaku Jr counters with a good low kick that Denke was not able to check.
Ekaku Jr throws a leg kick which misses Denke's front leg but catches the back leg as Denke tries to avoid it.
Ekaku Jr is looking to slow Denke down with leg kicks.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ekaku Jr with a jab.
Hakuin Ekaku Jr is winning the standup battle so far.
Ekaku Jr fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Ekaku Jr misses with a hook. Denke ducked under it nicely.
Denke throws a hook to the side of Ekaku Jr's head but Ekaku Jr sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Ekaku Jr fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Denke avoids it really well and circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Denke on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Ekaku Jr throws a jab but it's blocked by Denke.
Denke takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Denke missing with a left hand there. Ekaku Jr was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Ekaku Jr tries to counter with a takedown but Denke is quick to defend against it.
Denke dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Nice uppercut there from Ekaku Jr.
Karl Denke is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Ekaku Jr throws a nice outside leg kick.
Nice uppercut lands for Ekaku Jr. That snapped Denke's head back.
Ekaku Jr uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Denke.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Ekaku Jr gets a double leg takedown into Denke's guard.
Ekaku Jr lands a couple of elbows.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Denke has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Ekaku Jr can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Ekaku Jr is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

Denke isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Ekaku Jr stacks Denke on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Ekaku Jr!
Ekaku Jr is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Denke can do to turn this around?
Denke is trying to get back to half guard.
Denke sneaks back into half guard.
Ekaku Jr passes to full mount!
Denke bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Denke wants to pass the guard but Ekaku Jr is keeping the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ekaku Jr looking for a sweep. Not yet Ekaku Jr, not yet.
Ekaku Jr keeping moving, preventing Denke from controlling successfully.
Ekaku Jr seems keen to control Denke's posture.
Ekaku Jr wants to sweep but no luck.
Denke tries to free his leg and advance position but Ekaku Jr is retaining full guard.
Denke trying to control but Ekaku Jr is working from the bottom.
Ekaku Jr pulls Denke in to control the position.
Denke won't allow Ekaku Jr to sweep him here.
Ekaku Jr keeping full guard, as Denke tries to pass.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Ekaku Jr managing to control the position.
Denke looking to pass the guard.
Ekaku Jr wants to sweep but no luck.
Ekaku Jr manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Denke manages to get himself to full guard.

Denke looking for a guillotine here but Ekaku Jr defends easily.

Denke has his foot on Ekaku Jr's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Ekaku Jr works his way back into a safe position though.
Denke has momentary wrist control but Ekaku Jr slips an elbow through the middle.
Ekaku Jr trying to control but Denke is working from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hakuin Ekaku Jr 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.

Ekaku Jr connects with a leg kick. Denke looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Ekaku Jr looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Ekaku Jr will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Ekaku Jr throws the kick towards the body but Denke avoids it.
Ekaku Jr misses with a right hand
enabling Denke to counter with a crisp jab.
Ekaku Jr throws a poor cross that misses
enabling Denke to counter with a crisp jab.
Ekaku Jr uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Denke.
Denke throws a jab when Ekaku Jr was well out of range.
Ekaku Jr half committed to a counter leg kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ekaku Jr takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Denke's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Denke checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
A swing and a miss from Ekaku Jr.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Ekaku Jr is defended easily by Denke.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A nice combination there by Ekaku Jr.
Denke on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Denke throws a poor cross that misses
and Ekaku Jr connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Ekaku Jr tries for a takedown but Denke circles away easily
and Denke cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Hakuin Ekaku Jr. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Denke with a jab.

Ekaku Jr drives through with a takedown into Denke's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.

Denke is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.

Denke is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Ekaku Jr is aware though and is defending well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Denke keeping moving, preventing Ekaku Jr from controlling successfully.

Denke looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Ekaku Jr postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Ekaku Jr trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Ekaku Jr cracks Denke with a solid left hand.

Denke has his foot on Ekaku Jr's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Ekaku Jr works his way back into a safe position though.
Ekaku Jr wants to control from the top but Denke keeps moving.
Ekaku Jr scoring with punches to the head and body.
Ekaku Jr lands a couple of digs.
Both fighters have adopted an aggressive gameplan on the ground!

Denke looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Ekaku Jr passes into side control.
Denke is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ekaku Jr landing strikes.
Denke manages to get back to half guard.
Denke on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Ekaku Jr trying to pass the guard but Denke defending well.
Ekaku Jr 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.

Denke looking for submissions off his back.
Ekaku Jr is trying to control the action in half guard but Denke is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Denke regains full guard. Nicely done.
Ekaku Jr distracts Denke with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Ekaku Jr slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Denke gets back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Denke actively working from the bottom here.
Denke takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Denke looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Ekaku Jr is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Ekaku Jr lands strikes from half guard.
Ground and pound from Ekaku Jr.
Ekaku Jr is looking to take a break and control but Denke is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Ekaku Jr working Denke over with strikes.

Denke is rocked!
Nice strikes from Ekaku Jr there.
Denke is still in real trouble! Can Ekaku Jr finish him?
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Ekaku Jr trying to control the action but Denke is working from the bottom.

Denke looking for submissions off his back.
Denke seems to have recovered his senses.

Denke looking for submissions off his back.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hakuin Ekaku Jr clearly takes that 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.

Ekaku Jr throws a nice outside leg kick.
Ekaku Jr looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Ekaku Jr throws a combination that misses
and Denke counters with a nice uppercut.

Ekaku Jr closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Denke quickly recovers to half guard.
Ekaku Jr is trying to control the action in half guard but Denke is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Ekaku Jr working Denke over with strikes.
Ekaku Jr lands with a punch from half guard.

Denke looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Denke looking for submissions off his back.
Denke is not content to let Ekaku Jr control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Denke looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Ekaku Jr lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Denke taking some punishment here, with Ekaku Jr in his half guard.
Denke is looking to improve his position.

Denke looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Denke looking for submissions off his back.
Ekaku Jr tries to pass to full mount but Denke defends it.

Denke actively working from the bottom here.

Denke is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Ekaku Jr pulls his head out easily.
Denke is absolutely dripping with sweat - he looks exhausted.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ekaku Jr is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Ekaku Jr passes to full mount!
Ekaku Jr can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Denke is looking to escape.
Denke working to try and regain half guard.
Ekaku Jr can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Denke is looking to escape.
Ekaku Jr lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Ekaku Jr with good strikes from the mount here!
Ekaku Jr tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Ekaku Jr pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Denke in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Denke is desperately trying to improve his position but Ekaku Jr has a good base and remains in mount.
Ekaku Jr softens up his opponent with a couple of shots there and then CRACK! One massive shot lands there and Denke is out cold! Ekaku Jr jumps to his feet and celebrates on the cage with the fans, who are, quite frankly, going absolutely mental!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:29 of round 4, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Hakuin Ekaku Jr!
Hakuin Ekaku Jr retains his welterweight title!
Hakuin Ekaku Jr took to the mic in his post fight interview and said 'Thank you to my inspiration, my father, THE GREATEST EVER Hakuin "Zen" Ekaku.'.