PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Bert River (ranked 1961 p4p, 1206 weight class) and Kaiji Inoue (ranked 197 p4p, 132 weight class). River comes to the cage accompanied by Five Finger Death Punch- Bad Company. Inoue has chosen Ladies and Gentlemen (Saliva) as his entrance music. This should be fireworks!

River
vs
Inoue

170 cm
26
145
5 - 5 - 0

175 cm
28
147
13 - 7 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Excellent grappler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Conviction

Altitude Clothing
Ma Balls Is Hot Clothing

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 5 - 5 - 0, fighting out of New York, Bert River!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Kaiji Inoue!
The judges for this bout are Frank Antenori, Percy O'Donnell and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
River smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
A jab lands there for River.
River blocks the body kick.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
That kick from River tenderised Inoue's leg. Inoue is trying to keep his angry face on.
Inoue throws an overhand right that lands on River's shoulder, as River tries to avoid the shot.

River closes the distance and clinches.
We've been informed that Inoue has been sparring a lot of Muay Thai in the buildup to this fight so let's see if that has an impact on the result.
Inoue lands a nice knee to the body.
Inoue tries a knee to the head but River blocks it.
Inoue misses with some punches.
River fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

River decides to pull guard.

River has his foot on Inoue's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Inoue works his way back into a safe position though.
Inoue postures up.
River keeping full guard, as Inoue tries to pass.
Inoue wants to control from the top but River keeps moving.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Inoue pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. River is keeping the position for now.
Inoue wants to control from the top but River keeps moving.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
River fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Inoue takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Inoue tries to clinch up.
Inoue fails in his attempt to clinch.

Inoue clinches with his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
River softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Inoue misses with a knee to the head.
River misses with a short punch on the inside.
Stalling in the clinch from River.
River misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Inoue misses with a knee to the head.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Inoue just misses with a elbow thrown towards River's brow.

River gets a trip takedown into half guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Inoue controlling the leg, holding on to half guard.
River stops Inoue from getting back to his feet.
Inoue taking some punishment here, with River in his half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Inoue wants to control but River passes into side.
Inoue is looking for a sweep.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
You can see the frustration on Inoue's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Inoue is trying to get back to half guard.
Inoue taking a bit of punishment here - River scoring with strikes.
River lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Inoue is looking to reverse the position.
Inoue is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
River working the ground and pound from side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Inoue gets back to half guard.
River missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Inoue is looking for a sweep. River is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
River with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
River 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.
Inoue blocking the ground and pound attempt from River.
Inoue is trying to control but can't.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Bert River dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

River is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
River wants to clinch up but Inoue keeps it at a distance.
River is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Inoue can do to turn this around?
Inoue moves out of range of the leg kick from River.
River dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Inoue. That did some damage!
Inoue fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
River takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Inoue throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Kaiji Inoue is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts River, as that shot connected.
River scores with the left hand. Inoue knows he should have avoided that one.
River dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
River listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
River chopping away at his opponent's legs.
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!
River swings and misses with a hook to the body.
A nice leg kick lands there from River.
River avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
River tried to counter with a leg kick but Inoue avoided it.
Inoue slips under a jab from River.
Inoue wants to clinch up but River keeps it at a distance.
Inoue throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
A solid leg kick lands there for River.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Inoue uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before River has time to react.

Inoue gets tackled into the cage by River. River maintains the clinch.
River struggles to land a body shot inside as Inoue controls his hands.
River misses with a short punch on the inside.
A knee to the head by Inoue.

It looks like Bert River has been cut.
A head punch blocked on the inside by River.
A right hook to the body lands for River.
River digs a right hand into Inoue's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Inoue's gas tank.
Inoue is trying to maintain a safe position but River gets an underhook and turns Inoue into the cage.
River misses with a hook to the ribs.
Inoue misses with some punches.
River avoids a wild elbow strike from Inoue.
Inoue with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Inoue blocks a body shot from River.
River goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
River lands a hook to the side of the head.
River blocking some punches.
Inoue fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
River looking to stall.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Inoue misses with a hook from the clinch.
River avoiding damage as Inoue throws knees to the body.
River throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
River lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Inoue throws a head punch that misses.
River tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Inoue's elbow.

River pulls guard successfully.
Inoue controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
River controlling the position.
Inoue advances to half guard.

River looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Inoue seems to be working for a kimura but River defends the submission attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Inoue wants to lay and pray for a moment but River keeps working.

Inoue is trying to work for a kimura but River is defending well.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Inoue looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
River trying to control but Inoue postures up.

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.
Inoue is keen to just control but River is a slippery customer.
River is looking to improve his position.
River trying to hold on to Inoue's head to control him but Inoue postures up.
Bert River overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Inoue seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but River does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Inoue misses with a body kick.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Bert River dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Bert River's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

River is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Inoue's half guard.

River is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Inoue sees it coming and defends easily.

Inoue looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
River working over Inoue with some ground and pound. Inoue looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

River is working for a submission of some sort.

Inoue is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but River pulls his head out easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Inoue trying to control here but he's found himself mounted! Oh no!
River tries to control but Inoue wriggling away.
Inoue manages to regain half guard. Good work.
River is trying to control. Inoue wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
River is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Inoue trying to control but River postures up.
Kaiji Inoue has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Inoue tries to roll over but River keeps him under control.
River lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Inoue wants to control but River is keeping busy.
River working over Inoue with some ground and pound. Inoue looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are battling for position here. Inoue manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Inoue throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Inoue wants to improve his position but instead River has moved into half guard.
Inoue is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Inoue strikes from the bottom but River uses the opportunity to move to side control.
River scoring with punches from side control.
River working the head and body with strikes.
River is looking to take a break and control but Inoue is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
River lands an elbow.
Inoue taking punishment in the form of punches.
Inoue tries to control but River manages to take his back.
Inoue covers up after that shot from River.

River working for a choke but Inoue is defending well.
You can see the frustration on Inoue's face… He knows he is in trouble unless he improves his position sooner rather than later.

And that's the end of the fight!
Bert River showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for River, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 30:27
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 30:27
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Bert River!
Our winner, Bert River, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.