PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Akihito Yamato (ranked 2728 p4p, 298 weight class) and Shawn Griffin (ranked 2217 p4p, 261 weight class). Griffin comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Medicate - Flaw kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Yamato
vs
Griffin

188 cm
22
179 lbs
8 - 4 - 0

171 cm
23
170 lbs
7 - 6 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Very quick

Decent wrestler
Basic striking
Knockout power

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Akihito Yamato!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Shawn Griffin!
The judges for this bout are Russell Pearce, John Kavanagh and Columbo Gatti.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Griffin is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Yamato uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Griffin has time to react.
We can't be sure of the tactics at this early stage but we have heard that Griffin has been working on his takedowns a lot in the buildup to the fight and we can only assume he's going to look to take this to the mat.
Griffin will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Griffin tries to close the distance and clinch but Yamato swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Yamato displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Griffin.
Yamato throwing a counter right hand but Griffin manages to avoid it.
Yamato stuffs the takedown attempt from Griffin. Griffin gets slowly back to his feet.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Yamato slaps away a takedown attempt from Griffin, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Akihito Yamato has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Shawn Griffin.
Griffin fails with a takedown attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Griffin moves into the clinch successfully.
Griffin is looking to take this one to the mat.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Yamato.

Griffin's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Griffin misses with a wild combination.
Yamato displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Griffin throws out the jab.
Yamato throwing a counter right hand but Griffin manages to avoid it.
Yamato throws a good cross that connects.

Griffin shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Yamato manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Griffin postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Griffin has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Griffin throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Yamato works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Griffin accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Griffin missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Yamato on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Yamato tries to get out of the position.
Yamato preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Griffin postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Griffin lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Griffin scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Griffin is looking to work some ground and pound but Yamato has wrist control.
Yamato is breathing heavily.
Griffin throws a big elbow that misses.
Griffin distracts Yamato with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Griffin lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Griffin stands up over Yamato, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Yamato working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Griffin.
Griffin throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Griffin throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Yamato works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Griffin is in close to Yamato's body, working some short punches and elbows.

Yamato is rocked!
Griffin throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Oh Yamato is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!

Griffin is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Yamato seems to have got his legs back now.
Yamato will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Griffin stands up over Yamato, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Griffin in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Griffin landing with the ground and pound.
Yamato knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Griffin on the ground.
Griffin lands a couple of digs.
Griffin postures up in Yamato's guard and throws a big left but Yamato blocks it.
Griffin gets to his feet and stands over Yamato, holding his ankles. He dives in with a big left hand that connects! Yamato felt that one! Griffin unloads more punches and elbows and this one is over! The ref has dived in to save Yamato from any more punishment!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:55 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Shawn Griffin!
Shawn Griffin decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.