PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Ariel At Night (ranked 1212 p4p, 157 weight class) and Yokuni Togashi (ranked 1180 p4p, 154 weight class). At Night's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, Kat Dahlia - Mirror. Togashi comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Imagine Dragons - Radioactive kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

At Night
vs
Togashi

179 cm
22
175 lbs
8 - 7 - 0

181 cm
23
177 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Zenith Nutrition (160q/$200)

Urban Fighter

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 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Ariel At Night!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Yokuni Togashi!
The judges for this bout are Frank Antenori, Timothy Bukovac and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Togashi misses the jab.
Togashi shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Togashi lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.

It looks like Ariel At Night has been cut.

At Night lands a jab followed by a vicious hook that sends Togashi sprawling to the canvas. At Night follows him down, looking for the kill. Can Togashi hang on?

Togashi is rocked!

It looks like Yokuni Togashi has been cut.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
At Night throwing shots but Togashi is blocking nicely.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Togashi controlling the leg, holding on to half guard.
At Night looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Togashi with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nice strikes from At Night there.
Togashi regains full guard. Nicely done.
Togashi really doesn't want to stay on the ground with At Night. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
At Night preventing the sweep.
Togashi keeps trying to improve his position.
Togashi is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
At Night trying to control the position from guard on top but Togashi is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
At Night is working Togashi over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Togashi avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Togashi avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
At Night looking to pass the guard.
At Night makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Togashi wants to sweep here but At Night controlling him for the moment.
At Night distracts Togashi with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
At Night lands a couple of digs.
At Night throws a big elbow that misses.
At Night controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
At Night content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Togashi can do anything to dispel that myth.
Togashi controlling At Night's posture.
At Night makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
At Night slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Togashi on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
At Night in side control lands a decent elbow.
We've been hearing that At Night has been drilling a lot of ground and pound in training, so let's see if he get the finish.
Togashi takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
At Night scoring with punches from side control.

At Night thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
At Night 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.
At Night lands a few punches from side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
At Night in side control, just content to control the action for now.
Togashi is not content to let At Night control the position.
At Night grinds an elbow into Togashi's temple.
Togashi tries to get back to half guard but can't.
At Night lands a few punches from side control.
At Night grinds an elbow into Togashi's temple.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ariel At Night dominated that round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Togashi misses with a lunging right hand
and At Night counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
At Night has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from At Night there as he acknowledges the shot.
Togashi looks to land a right hand but At Night moved out of range.
Yokuni Togashi seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
At Night shoots in for a takedown but Togashi shows good takedown defense.
At Night gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Togashi.
Togashi lands a right hook to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
At Night staying out of range there.
At Night drops down looking for a counter takedown but Togashi sprawls and moves away.
Togashi jabbing away but nothing is landing.
At Night seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
At Night lands with a nice body punch.
At Night is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Togashi can do to turn this around?

That's one minute gone in the round.
At Night throws a shot from downtown. Togashi moves away and avoids it.
Togashi throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Togashi bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Togashi misses the shot to the body.
At Night will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Yokuni Togashi is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Nice body punch from Togashi.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
At Night swings for the body but Togashi moves out of range.
At Night with a hook.
Togashi throws a looping overhand right but At Night ducks down to avoid it.
Togashi swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

At Night takes the fight into the clinch.
At Night is trying to break the clinch but Togashi is controlling him.
A frustrated look appears on At Night's face as he tries to break the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Togashi scores with a hook to the body.

Togashi breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
At Night takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Togashi thows a left - swing and a miss!
At Night lands a jab.
The fighters circling - Togashi throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Nice defenses there by Togashi.
At Night looks to land a left hand but Togashi moved out of range nicely.
At Night lands with a nice body punch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The fighters circling - Togashi throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Togashi swings widly with a right hand
and At Night counters with a three punch combo that has Togashi backing up. Togashi nods at At Night to acknowledge the strikes.
At Night throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Togashi.
This has been an exciting period of action!
At Night blocks a jab.
Togashi cracks At Night with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Jab by At Night.
At Night moves out of range of the strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Ariel At Night will probably get the nod.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Togashi slips a jab and a cross from At Night.
At Night misses with an uppercut. Togashi saw that one coming.
Nice shot by At Night.
A looping hook to the body misses from Togashi. At Night does a little dance to reset his feet.
A shot to the liver by Togashi. Beautiful body shot.
Togashi misses with a wild body shot.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Togashi misses with an uppercut.
At Night tries to counter with a takedown but Togashi is quick to defend against it.
At Night misses with a body shot.
Ariel At Night is winning the standup battle so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
At Night misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Togashi.
At Night takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Togashi throws a shot from downtown. At Night moves away and avoids it.
At Night throws an overhand right that lands on Togashi's shoulder, as Togashi tries to avoid the shot.
Togashi throws a hook but At Night blocks it.
A telegraphed right hand from At Night misses the target.
Togashi slips a jab from At Night.
A slow jab from Togashi misses its intended target.
It looked like At Night wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Togashi misses the shot to the body.
Togashi throws out a loose jab but At Night uses good head movement to avoid it.
At Night connects with the punch.
At Night will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Togashi misses with a looping left.
At Night is looking to counter punch.
Togashi punishes At Night's body with a nice straight punch.
A swing and a miss from At Night.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Togashi throws an overhand right that lands on At Night's shoulder, as At Night tries to avoid the shot.
Togashi stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Togashi wants it to stay on the feet.
It seemed like Togashi was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
At Night ducks under a wild hook from Togashi.
Togashi thows a left - swing and a miss!
Togashi misses with a series of wild punches.

At Night darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Yokuni Togashi has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Ariel At Night is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with At Night in particular looking to stall.
At Night looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Togashi with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Togashi is looking to improve his position.
At Night is trying to control the action in half guard but Togashi is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
At Night takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
At Night wants to take a breather but Togashi is having none of it.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Yokuni Togashi.
Well At Night has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Frank Antenori scores the fight 28:29
Judge Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 30:27
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Yokuni Togashi!
A very excited looking Yokuni Togashi made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.