PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Irving Nicholson (ranked 22408 p4p, 0 weight class) and King Cobin (ranked 4628 p4p, 0 weight class). King Cobin has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Nicholson
vs
Cobin

169 cm
25
151 lbs
1 - 6 - 0

188 cm
23
155 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Experienced

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

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 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Irving Nicholson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, King Cobin!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Yamamoto, Tatsuya Matsuyama and Kenichi Hosakawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nicholson takes a jab right on the kisser.
Nicholson fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Nicholson closes this distance looking for a takedown but Cobin circles away.

Nicholson tries to keep at a distance but Cobin has taken the fight into the clinch.

Cobin breaks from the clinch.
Cobin wants to clinch.

Cobin shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Nicholson's guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cobin trying to control but Nicholson is working from the bottom.
Cobin is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cobin wants to stand but Nicholson has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Cobin not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Cobin keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Nicholson's head.
Cobin is fighting to break Nicholson's control of his arms but Nicholson is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

Nicholson scrambles and gets back to his feet.

Cobin rushes Nicholson and presses him up against the cage.

Cobin is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Nicholson can't fight it off and eventually Cobin manages to take the fight to the floor. Nicholson looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Cobin avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Nicholson is adopting a defensive guard.
Nicholson is trying to control the position from the bottom.

Nicholson throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Nicholson keeping moving, preventing Cobin from controlling successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cobin seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Let's hope that Cobin has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.

Cobin stands and steps away. Nicholson gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.

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.
Nicholson is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Nicholson circles away from the clinch attempt
and Nicholson counters with a three punch combo that has Cobin backing up. Cobin nods at Nicholson to acknowledge the strikes.
Nicholson throws a head kick that misses
and Cobin counters with an inside leg kick.

Cobin scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.

Nicholson manages to escape and get back to his feet!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Cobin feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Nicholson trying to keep a closed guard but Cobin is proving a slippery customer.
Cobin content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but King Cobin will probably get the nod.
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.

Cobin clinches up against the cage.

Nicholson breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Cobin bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Nicholson is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Nicholson is trying to control Cobin's posture but Cobin avoids it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cobin tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
Nicholson being controlled for a moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cobin scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Nicholson to see if he's OK.
Cobin is trying to move to mount but Nicholson reverses beautifully and ends up in Cobin's guard.
Cobin is looking to stand up but Nicholson isn't so interested in that idea.
Nicholson throws a big elbow that misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Cobin isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Nicholson stacks Cobin 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 Nicholson!
Cobin is trying to control Nicholson's posture but Nicholson avoids it.
Cobin tries to control but Nicholson manages to take his back.
Nicholson punches the canvas rather than the man.
Nicholson is throwing strikes from the back here. Oh that last one was to the back of the head. Nicholson gets a warning from the referee. He throws another strike to the back of the head straight away though and the referee has seen enough. He breaks up the two fighters and stands them back up. Nicholson gets a real talking to here and is lucky not to get a point deducted. Nicholson apologises and we restart here on the feet.
Cobin throws a head kick that looked like it stung.

Cobin manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Nicholson on his heels. He'll look to pass Nicholson's guard now, I'm sure.

Nicholson manages to wriggle out and sneak his way back up to his feet, so the fighters are now clinched up against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Cobin's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Cobin uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Nicholson has time to react.
Nicholson misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Cobin misses with a series of wild punches.
As Cobin looks to move away, Nicholson throws a big counter combo but Cobin just gets out of the way.

Nicholson rushes Cobin and presses him up against the cage.
Nicholson tries for a takedown but Cobin manages to get underhooks.
Nicholson landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Nicholson lands a body shot in the clinch.
Nicholson has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Cobin after a bit of a struggle.
Nicholson tries to score a body lock takedown but Cobin shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Irving Nicholson. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cobin tries a body shot but Nicholson blocks it.

Cobin pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Cobin throws a right hand that Nicholson ducks under and follows up with a left that Nicholson also avoids with ease.
Cobin misses with a head kick.
Cobin lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Nicholson avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Cobin moves in looking to clinch but Nicholson pushes him off.

Nicholson moves into range and clinches up with Cobin.

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

Cobin feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Cobin is breathing heavily.
Nicholson keeping full guard, as Cobin tries to pass.
Nicholson lands a couple of decent looking body shots there.
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 Irving Nicholson will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Cobin closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Nicholson quickly recovers to half guard.
Nicholson wants to control but Cobin is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Cobin in particular looking to stall.
Nicholson might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

Cobin wants to work for an arm triangle but Nicholson is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Nicholson is looking to control Cobin's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Nicholson avoid being mounted?
Nicholson misses with some strikes from the bottom.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nicholson controlling the position well.
Cobin stops Nicholson from getting back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nicholson is not content to let Cobin control the position.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
King Cobin seems to be getting the better of the standup.

Cobin shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Nicholson manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.

Nicholson has managed to wall walk up one of the corner posts to get back to his feet. Cobin is pushing him up against the cage, looking to control the position.
Nicholson has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Cobin is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.

Cobin jumps guard and drags Nicholson to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Cobin working for submissions but it's allowed Nicholson to get to half guard.
Cobin takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Cobin is trying to stand back up but Nicholson is controlling him

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nice strikes from Nicholson there.
Irving Nicholson overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Nicholson working the head and body with strikes.
Cobin wants to improve his position but Nicholson is controlling well.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Cobin wants to control the action here but instead Nicholson manages to pass to full mount!
Cobin tries to reverse the position but Nicholson maintains control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
BOOM! Nicholson connects with a massive shot to the dome!
The referee warns Cobin that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Nicholson landing strikes from the mount.
Nicholson looking to finish Cobin with some ground and pound. This is bad for Cobin!
Cobin wants to control but Nicholson is having none of it.
Nicholson lands a couple of good shots and Cobin has given up his back, trying to escape the position!
Nicholson 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.
Cobin trying to control the hands but Nicholson won't let him.
Cobin tries to roll but Nicholson sticks to his back.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nicholson somehow managing to miss with a strike from the back.
Cobin tries to escape but Nicholson has the hooks in and won't let him break free.
Cobin trying to get back to his feet but Nicholson is in full control for now.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Can Cobin hold on?! Nicholson is landing more strikes to his hapless foe.

And that's the end of the fight!
Irving Nicholson showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Nicholson has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 29:28
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 29:28
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 29:29

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Irving Nicholson!