PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Craven Carver (ranked 4555 p4p, 5981 weight class) and Taxo Nagazaki (ranked 519 p4p, 608 weight class). Craven Carver has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Carver
vs
Nagazaki

173 cm
18
170
1 - 0 - 0

188 cm
25
168
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Very confident

METTLE

Core Combat

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Craven Carver!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Taxo Nagazaki!
The judges for this bout are Arvi Lind, Johanna Lukiainen and Tarja Halkonen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nagazaki is looking to clinch.
Carver lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Carver misses with a combination

and Nagazaki decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Carver's guard.
Carver lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Nagazaki keeping full guard, as Carver tries to pass.
Carver stops Nagazaki from standing up.
Carver content to stall in guard here.
Carver looking to pass the guard.
Carver is stalling in the full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Carver pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Nagazaki is keeping the position for now.
Carver stays in close to Nagazaki's body and controls the position.
Carver in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Carver pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Nagazaki is keeping the position for now.
Carver slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Carver's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Carver is standing up over Nagazaki. Nagazaki looks to escape but Carver dives into side control.
Nagazaki felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
Carver remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
Nagazaki really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Carver. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Carver tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Carver prevents Nagazaki from escaping the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nagazaki being controlled for a moment.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Carver tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
Carver advances to full mount.

Carver wants to finish this one by submission but Nagazaki is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Carver.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Carver wants to finish this one by submission but Nagazaki is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Carver.
Carver sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

Carver has hold of Nagazaki's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Nagazaki manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Carver unloads with some shots from mount but Nagazaki bucks and avoids them well.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Carver controlling the pace for now.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Craven Carver dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Nagazaki tries to clinch but Carver moves out of range.
Carver throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Nagazaki drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Carver defends it well.
Carver swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Nagazaki tries to clinch up.

Carver clinches up with Nagazaki and pushes him back against the cage.
Nagazaki struggles to land a body shot inside as Carver controls his hands.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Carver.
Carver lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Nagazaki backwards.
Nagazaki tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Our sources have told us that Carver has been working on his knees in the buildup to the fight.
Nagazaki tries to work over Carver's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Carver.
Carver is trying to stall.
Carver softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Carver pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Carver swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

Carver instigates a clinch.
Nagazaki tries to work over Carver's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Nagazaki takes a shot to the head.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Nagazaki lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Carver backwards.
Carver misses with a hook from the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The referee calls for Carver to work.
Carver softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Carver lands a hook that snaps the head of Nagazaki backwards.
Nagazaki throws a punch but it's blocked by Carver.
Carver fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Nagazaki tries to work over Carver's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Nagazaki throws a head punch that misses.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Carver.
Nagazaki has a couple of punches blocked by Carver.
Nagazaki doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Carver's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Nagazaki misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Carver lands an uppercut.
Nagazaki is breathing heavily.
Nagazaki scores with a shoulder strike.
Nagazaki's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Carver creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Carver has Nagazaki pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Nagazaki manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Carver prevents a body shot from Nagazaki.
Carver lands with a right to the head.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Nagazaki tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Carver's elbow.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Carver lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Nagazaki backwards.
Nagazaki struggles to land a body shot inside as Carver controls his hands.
Nagazaki misses with a body punch.
Carver lands a nice shot to the body.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Carver.
Still in the clinch, Carver scores with a nice short uppercut.

Nagazaki is rocked!
Carver lands a shoulder strike.
Nagazaki is still on wobbly legs! Can Carver finish him?
Carver lands an uppercut in the clinch that drops Nagazaki to his knees! Carver keeps firing more shots against his stricken opponent and the referee jumps in to save him!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:29 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Craven Carver!
During a confident post fight interview, Craven Carver thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.