PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Kenji Kawakami (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Geoff Deal (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Kawakami
vs
Deal

170 cm
22
140 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

168 cm
22
136 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Improved boxing
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Solid chin

Freakin Supplements

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Kenji Kawakami!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Geoff Deal!
The judges for this bout are Igor Prikhodko, Aleksandr Martynov and Viktor Lagutenko.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Deal takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Kawakami closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Kawakami fails to land with a series of punches.
Kawakami throws a right and a left that Deal avoids nicely.
Deal misses with a head kick.
Kawakami tries to clinch but Deal is having none of it.
Deal throws a hook but Kawakami avoids it easily.
Horrible takedown by Deal or perhaps it was just good defense by Kawakami which made him look bad.
Kawakami clobbers Deal with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kawakami misses with a jab, cross combination.
Kawakami works Deal's body with a nice hook.
Deal walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
A big left from Deal misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Deal ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Kawakami moves away.
Kawakami shoots and misses

and Deal counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Kawakami!
Kawakami tries to reverse the position but Deal maintains control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Deal content just to control the position here.
Kawakami tries to reverse the position but Deal maintains control.

Deal looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Kawakami is looking to improve his position but Deal isn't that keen on the idea.
Kawakami swinging wildly from the bottom but he's not landing.
Kawakami can't escape the position.
Deal sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Deal really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Kawakami. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Deal looks gassed!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kawakami is looking to improve his position but Deal isn't that keen on the idea.
Kawakami really wants to buck Deal off and get back to his feet.
Kawakami regains half guard.
Kawakami is looking to improve his position.
Kawakami trying to control but Deal postures up.
Kawakami tries to get to full guard but Deal has control of the leg.
Kawakami misses with some strikes from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kawakami is trying to control but can't.
Kawakami gets full guard.
Kawakami has a closed guard, preventing Deal from standing up.
Deal trying to control but Kawakami is working from the bottom.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fight is doing enough on the ground.
Kawakami swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Deal counters with a left to the body.
Kawakami misses with a two punch combination.
Kawakami lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
Kawakami misses with a two punch combination.
Kawakami moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Kawakami misses with the combination.
A punch combination from Kawakami misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Kawakami throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Deal counters with a nice body kick.
Deal wants to clinch up but Kawakami keeps it at a distance.
Kawakami fails with the takedown.
Kawakami will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Kenji Kawakami. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Deal throws a leg kick but Kawakami moved away.
Deal tries to clinch up.
Deal shoots in but Kawakami avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Kawakami fails with an attempt to clinch.
Kawakami rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Deal moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Kawakami tries to bum rush Deal with a series of wild strikes but Deal uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Kawakami throws a right and a left that Deal avoids nicely.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Geoff Deal will probably get the nod.
That's time! Kawakami's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Kawakami fails with a takedown attempt.
Kawakami lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Kawakami swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Deal fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Kawakami!
Deal misses with a body kick.
Kenji Kawakami is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kawakami cracks a nice hook into Deal's ribs.
Deal darts in trying to clinch
and Kawakami counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Deal is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kawakami lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Kawakami.
Deal misses with a right hand
and Kawakami counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Kawakami falls off balance throwing a combination

and Deal counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Kawakami flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.
Kawakami moves into full guard.
Deal wants to stand but Kawakami has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Kawakami wants to sweep but no luck.

Kawakami is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Kawakami looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Kawakami throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
Kawakami is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Deal wants to stand but Kawakami is controlling his posture from full guard.
Kawakami looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Kawakami lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Deal!
Deal tries to hold on but Kawakami postures up.
Kawakami throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Kawakami avoids the attempt from Deal to control.
Deal is trying to escape the mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kawakami has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Deal's face.
Deal is looking to improve his position but Kawakami isn't that keen on the idea.
Deal is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.

Kawakami moves into side control, trying to work for a kimura. That looks painful! Will he finish!!?? No, Deal has worked his arm free - good work by Deal!
Deal wants to get back to his feet.
Kawakami working the head with strikes.

Kawakami looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Deal is trying to get back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Kawakami thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Deal is trying to control Kawakami's posture but Kawakami avoids it.

Kawakami tries for a kimura but Deal is defending well.
Kawakami passes to full mount! That's big trouble for Deal!
A nice elbow there by Kawakami.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Kawakami cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kenji Kawakami dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Kawakami goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Kawakami throws a one two combo.
Kawakami throws a right hand that Deal ducks under and follows up with a left that Deal also avoids with ease.
Kawakami throws a combination that misses
and Deal makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Kawakami really felt that one!
Kawakami ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Kawakami lands an overhand right.
Kawakami swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Kawakami keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Deal tries to clinch but Kawakami is having none of it.
Nice shot by Kawakami.
Deal takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Kawakami misses with a double jab.
Kawakami lands a body shot.
Kenji Kawakami seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kawakami shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Deal but Deal pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Kawakami has his takedown stuffed

and Deal counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Kawakami!
Kawakami is desperately trying to improve his position but Deal has a good base and remains in mount.

Deal working for a submission but Kawakami is keeping him at bay.
Deal controlling the pace for now.
Kawakami 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.
Kawakami keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Deal landing strikes from the mount.
Deal controlling the pace for now.
Kawakami can't escape the position.
Deal controlling from the full mount.
A nice elbow there by Deal.
Kawakami is working to get back to half guard.
Deal can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Kawakami is looking to escape.
Kawakami tries to reverse the position but Deal maintains control.
Geoff Deal has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Deal putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Kawakami is squirming around, avoiding Deal's attempts to control the action.
Kawakami working to try and regain half guard.
Deal controlling the position easily from mount.
Kawakami is squirming around, avoiding Deal's attempts to control the action.
Kawakami tries to hold on but Deal postures up.
Kawakami regains half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Deal tries to stand and escape but Kawakami is controlling the position.
Kawakami wants to improve his position but Deal is controlling well.
Deal wants to take a breather but Kawakami is having none of it.
Deal wants to get back to his feet.
Deal wants to take a breather but Kawakami is having none of it.
Deal is taking a breather. Kawakami 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.

Kawakami looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Kawakami wants to get back to full guard.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Deal wants to clinch
and Kawakami counters with a right hand to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
Geoff Deal comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Deal has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Igor Prikhodko scores the fight 28:29
Judge Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 29:28
Judge Viktor Lagutenko scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Geoff Deal!