PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Anthony Cirelli (ranked 752 p4p, 822 weight class) and Akaro Horiguchi (ranked 104 p4p, 116 weight class). Cirelli's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, We Come One. Horiguchi has chosen Japanese Imperial Army Death March as his entrance music. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Cirelli
vs
Horiguchi

178 cm
30
155
17 - 7 - 0

176 cm
30
159
14 - 7 - 1

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Tengelü Hekite

Ma Balls Is Hot Clothing
Voodoo Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the lightweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 17 - 7 - 0, fighting out of London, Anthony Cirelli!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 7 - 1, fighting out of Sydney, Akaro Horiguchi!
The judges for this bout are Chris Edwards, James Ackerman and William Gold.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cirelli looks for a takedown but Horiguchi sprawls well.
Horiguchi swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Cirelli with a nice cross.
Cirelli throws a head kick that misses.
We've been informed that Horiguchi 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.
A swing and a miss from Cirelli.
Horiguchi jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Akaro Horiguchi seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Cirelli stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Horiguchi.
Cirelli misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Horiguchi.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Horiguchi! But no joy.
Cirelli misses with a body shot.
Cirelli looks to throw the jab but Horiguchi is out of range.
Horiguchi jabs Cirelli to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Cirelli connects with a body shot.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Horiguchi connects with a leg kick.
Horiguchi ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Cirelli slips under a jab from Horiguchi.
Cirelli feinted with a counter takedown.
A low kick from Horiguchi is predictable there

and Cirelli counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Cirelli is looking for a kimura. It's pretty deep but Horiguchi still has the half guard so he's probably OK. Oh, Horiguchi has exploded into a beautiful escape there and after a quick scramble, he's ended up in side control on top! Nice work!
Horiguchi wants to control but Cirelli is keeping him busy.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cirelli sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Horiguchi is controlling the pace.
Cirelli tries to roll over but Horiguchi keeps him under control.

Cirelli looking for submissions off his back.
Cirelli is trying to get back to full guard.

That's two 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.
Cirelli tries to regain full guard. Instead though, Horiguchi has advanced to mount. Uh oh.

Horiguchi stands up from mount. Strange move.
Horiguchi dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Horiguchi ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Cirelli throws a big shot that misses.
Cirelli ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Horiguchi moves away.
Cirelli waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Horiguchi.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Cirelli checks a leg kick.
Horiguchi lands a jab to the nose.
Cirelli works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Horiguchi throws out a loose jab but Cirelli uses good head movement to avoid it.
Horiguchi fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Cirelli tries for a takedown but Horiguchi sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Horiguchi appeared to try and counter that last move with a leg kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Horiguchi throws a hook but Cirelli blocks it.
Horiguchi fails with an attempt to clinch.
Horiguchi is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Horiguchi throws a leg kick that misses.
Horiguchi throws a jab but it's blocked by Cirelli.
Good leg kick by Horiguchi.
Horiguchi uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Cirelli.
Cirelli doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
A big left from Cirelli misses.
A looping hook to the body misses from Cirelli. Horiguchi does a little dance to reset his feet.
Cirelli lands with a hook. Horiguchi tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
A solid leg kick lands there for Cirelli.
Nice shot by Cirelli.
Horiguchi lands with a hook. Cirelli tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Cirelli slips under a jab from Horiguchi.
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!
Cirelli checks a low kick from Horiguchi.
Nice straight punches there by Cirelli. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Cirelli.
Cirelli throws a poor cross that misses
and Horiguchi counters with a straight right hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Horiguchi misses the jab.
A telegraphed right hand from Cirelli misses the target.
Cirelli tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Horiguchi was well out of range. Poor timing from Cirelli.
Horiguchi avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Horiguchi dodges the punch combination from Cirelli.
Horiguchi looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Nice body punch from Cirelli.
Cirelli loads up on a big right hand but Horiguchi slips the punch.
Cirelli gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Horiguchi.
Cirelli keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Horiguchi.
Cirelli throws a quick counter head kick but Horiguchi was just out of range.
Horiguchi fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Cirelli has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Cirelli pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Horiguchi slips under a jab from Cirelli.
Cirelli misses with a double jab.
Cirelli takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.

Horiguchi moves into the clinch successfully.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Akaro Horiguchi will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Cirelli sizes up Horiguchi with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Horiguchi fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Cirelli looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Horiguchi does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Cirelli misses with a right hand
and Cirelli takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Cirelli throws a right hand that Horiguchi ducks under and follows up with a left that Horiguchi also avoids with ease.
Horiguchi scores with a push kick.
Cirelli scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Horiguchi doesn't seem bothered though.
Cirelli cracks a nice hook into Horiguchi's ribs.
Horiguchi misses with a right hand
and Cirelli counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Nice defenses there by Cirelli.
Anthony Cirelli is winning the standup battle so far.
Cirelli throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Horiguchi with a nice cross.
Horiguchi lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Horiguchi scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Horiguchi tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Cirelli manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Cirelli misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Horiguchi takes a jab right on the kisser.
Cirelli checks a leg kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Horiguchi misses with a few strikes there.
Horiguchi looks to land a combination. Cirelli sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.

Cirelli is rocked!
Horiguchi gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Oh Cirelli is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Cirelli misses with an uppercut. Horiguchi saw that one coming.
Horiguchi lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Cirelli avoids the head kick by Horiguchi.
Cirelli avoids a kick to the body.
Horiguchi slips under a jab from Cirelli.
A left lands for Horiguchi.
Horiguchi cracks Cirelli with a big right hand that sees him stumbling back against the cage! Cirelli falls to his knees and Horiguchi doesn't need a second invitatation - he rushes in and fires off several unanswered shots that force the referee to stop the fight! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:37 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Akaro Horiguchi!
Akaro Horiguchi is the new lightweight champion!
Jumping up and down and very excited, Akaro Horiguchi waved his t-shirt featuring Ma Balls Is Hot Clothing's logo in front of the cameras.