PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Chang Walsh (ranked 8144 p4p, 0 weight class) and Sagolik Gustafsson (ranked 5659 p4p, 0 weight class). Sagolik Gustafsson has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Walsh
vs
Gustafsson

200 cm
18
150 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

163 cm
18
150 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Chang Walsh!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Sagolik Gustafsson!
The judges for this bout are Kenichi Hosakawa, Tatsuya Matsuyama and Sosuke Kotani.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Walsh tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Gustafsson swivels and escapes.

Gustafsson moves into the clinch successfully.
Walsh misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Walsh working aggressively here.
Walsh drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Gustafsson gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Walsh is trying to pull guard but Gustafsson turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Chang Walsh. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Walsh wants a takedown but no success here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Walsh fails to pull the fight into his guard.

Gustafsson pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Gustafsson decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Gustafsson is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Walsh tries to roll over but Gustafsson keeps him under control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Gustafsson gets to his feet - back to striking we go!

Gustafsson changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Walsh looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Walsh tries to bench press Gustafsson off him but Gustafsson keeps the position.
Gustafsson is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Walsh will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.

Gustafsson is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Walsh has escaped the position, nice work there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Gustafsson working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Gustafsson controls the position.
Gustafsson sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Walsh is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Walsh wants to control but Gustafsson postures up.
Gustafsson taking a breather here.
Gustafsson advances to mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gustafsson controlling the position easily from mount.
Walsh squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.
Gustafsson content just to control the position here.
Walsh is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Walsh really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Walsh tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Walsh is squirming around, avoiding Gustafsson's attempts to control the action.
Walsh really trying hard to get back to half guard here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gustafsson fails to move to back control.
Gustafsson won't let Walsh get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
Walsh keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Walsh gets back to half guard.
Gustafsson throwing shots but Walsh is blocking nicely.
Walsh pushes Gustafsson off looking to stand but Gustafsson dives back in and keeps control.
Walsh is breathing heavily.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Gustafsson moves into full mount! Walsh won't be happy about that!
Gustafsson lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Walsh hang on?
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sagolik Gustafsson dominated 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.

Gustafsson throws a sloppy head kick
and Walsh counters with a one-two to the body.
Chang Walsh is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Gustafsson closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Gustafsson lands in his opponent's guard.

Gustafsson drops back looking for a leg! Walsh is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Walsh manages to kick Gustafsson off! Gustafsson jumps back into Walsh's guard.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Walsh holds on and takes a little breather.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Walsh utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Walsh is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gustafsson controlling from the top position.
Walsh trying to keep a closed guard but Gustafsson is proving a slippery customer.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Gustafsson throws a big elbow that misses.
Gustafsson in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Walsh working a defensive guard but Gustafsson manages to pass into side control anyway.

Gustafsson thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Gustafsson wants to control but Walsh is keeping him busy.

That's two 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.
Gustafsson taking a breather here.
Gustafsson trying to control the position but Walsh is working away.
Walsh wants to control but Gustafsson postures up.
Gustafsson throwing strikes but Walsh manages to buck up and roll into a nice reversal - now he's on top in side control!
Gustafsson tries to bench press Walsh off him but Walsh keeps the position.
Gustafsson is trying to escape and get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Walsh working away.
Gustafsson is trying to get back to half guard.
Gustafsson is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Sagolik Gustafsson has got the better of the ground game so far.

Walsh stands up and we're back to a striking position.

Gustafsson drives through and clinches with Walsh against the cage.
Gustafsson will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Walsh up against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Walsh keeps control of Gustafsson as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.

Gustafsson wants the takedown. Walsh is fighting it off but Gustafsson persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Walsh's guard against the cage.

Gustafsson decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.

Gustafsson shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Gustafsson is breathing heavily.
The fighters are battling for position here. Walsh manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Walsh looking for a sweep. Not yet Walsh, not yet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Sagolik Gustafsson will probably get the nod - 10:9.
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. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Gustafsson drives through with a takedown into guard.
Gustafsson sitting in guard here, content to control.

Gustafsson pulls Walsh in to control the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Walsh decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Walsh shoots for a double leg takedown but Gustafsson sprawls well. He's pushed Walsh's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Gustafsson throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Gustafsson has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Gustafsson manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Walsh on his heels. He'll look to pass Walsh's guard now, I'm sure.
Gustafsson takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Walsh wants to sweep here but Gustafsson controlling him for the moment.
Gustafsson throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Walsh keeping full guard, as Gustafsson tries to pass.
Walsh will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Gustafsson won't allow Walsh to sweep him here.

Gustafsson gets to his feet - Walsh follows without any prompting.
Gustafsson scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Gustafsson.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Walsh tries to escape but Gustafsson is in control.
Gustafsson controls the position.
Walsh is looking for a sweep.
Gustafsson creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Walsh pushes Gustafsson away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Gustafsson gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.

Gustafsson decides to stand back up.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Walsh darts in looking for a takedown but Gustafsson gets double underhooks and turns Walsh into the cage.

Walsh tries to sprawl but Gustafsson drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Walsh tries to roll over but Gustafsson keeps him under control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Walsh trying to control but Gustafsson postures up.
Gustafsson missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Walsh wants to control but Gustafsson is keeping busy.
Gustafsson looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Gustafsson missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

Walsh kicks off Gustafsson and gets to his feet.

Gustafsson shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Walsh keeping full guard, as Gustafsson tries to pass.

Gustafsson got a little sloppy there for a moment and Walsh has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Gustafsson has managed to get both his arms back between Walsh's legs - danger averted.
Walsh being controlled here, momentarily.
Walsh is trying to hold Gustafsson in close to prevent damage but Gustafsson has managed to pass into half guard.
Gustafsson is taking a breather. Walsh says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.

And that's the end of the fight!
Sagolik Gustafsson comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Gustafsson has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 27:30
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 27:30
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Sagolik Gustafsson!