PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Masa Funaki (ranked 929 p4p, 590 weight class) and Akaro Horiguchi (ranked 125 p4p, 79 weight class). Horiguchi is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Japanese Imperial Army Death March. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Funaki
vs
Horiguchi

180 cm
31
154
15 - 15 - 0

176 cm
32
159
16 - 9 - 1

Good wrestling
World class MT
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Ma Balls Is Hot Clothing
Paddy's Enhancing Drugs (160Q)

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 15 - 15 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Masa Funaki!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 9 - 1, fighting out of Sydney, Akaro Horiguchi!
The judges for this bout are Ron Honeybunn, Steve Erwin and Donatello Bradman.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A big right from Horiguchi misses.
Funaki tries to clinch but Horiguchi is having none of it.
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.
Horiguchi checks the leg kick nicely there.
Funaki backing away here, and Horiguchi unleashes a leg kick that just misses.
Funaki throws a leg kick but Horiguchi sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Funaki connects with an inside leg kick.
Funaki tries to clinch but Horiguchi moves out of range.
Funaki keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.

Horiguchi clinches.
Nice body punch from Funaki - that landed with a thud.
Horiguchi lands with a right to the head.
Horiguchi is trying to push Funaki away but Funaki has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Funaki lands an elbow inside.
Funaki swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Funaki misses with the head strike.
Our sources have told us that Funaki has been working on his elbows in the gym.
Funaki wants to stall.
Funaki lands an elbow inside.

It looks like Akaro Horiguchi has been cut.
Horiguchi misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Funaki tries to land knees in the clinch but Horiguchi avoids the damage to the body.
Horiguchi struggles to land a body shot inside as Funaki controls his hands.
Horiguchi tries to land knees in the clinch but Funaki avoids the damage to the body.
Funaki creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Horiguchi tries to work over Funaki's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Funaki lands a nice uppercut.
Funaki lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Funaki lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Horiguchi tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Funaki is leaning against Horiguchi and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Horiguchi avoids a wild elbow strike from Funaki.
Funaki creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Horiguchi's defenses.
Horiguchi swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Funaki pushes off an throws an elbow but Horiguchi leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Horiguchi throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
A head punch on the inside from Funaki fails to land.
Horiguchi blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Horiguchi blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
With the fighters up against the cage, Funaki throws an elbow but misses.

Horiguchi breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Funaki takes a swing at Horiguchi's ribcage but misses.
Horiguchi lands a really nice looking cross but Funaki seems unphased.

It looks like Masa Funaki has been cut.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Funaki tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Horiguchi fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Funaki fails in his attempt to clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Horiguchi throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Horiguchi throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Horiguchi avoids a kick to the body.
Horiguchi explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.
Horiguchi has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Funaki finds it's way round the side to connect with Horiguchi's head.
Horiguchi avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Funaki keeps Horiguchi at a distance using the push kick.
Horiguchi throws a big shot that misses.
Horiguchi attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Funaki wants to clinch.
Horiguchi takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Horiguchi throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Funaki slips a straight right by Horiguchi.

Funaki moves into range and clinches up with Horiguchi.
Funaki displaying some good clinch control by pressing Horiguchi up against the cage.
Funaki throws an elbow that misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Horiguchi blocks the elbow strike.
Horiguchi stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Horiguchi lands a shot to the body.
Horiguchi lands with a left to the head.
Funaki avoids the elbow strike from Horiguchi, against the cage.
A short right from Horiguchi.
Nice body punch from Horiguchi.
Horiguchi blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Funaki misses with a hook to the ribs.
Horiguchi pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Horiguchi doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Horiguchi creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Funaki dodges an elbow strike from Horiguchi.
Horiguchi digs a right hand into Funaki's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Funaki's gas tank.
Funaki creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Horiguchi's defenses.
Horiguchi misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Horiguchi blocks an elbow strike from Funaki.
Horiguchi lands a damaging elbow.
A left hand lands to the body for Horiguchi.
Funaki is breathing heavily.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Horiguchi lands with a right to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Funaki throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Horiguchi has a couple of punches blocked by Funaki.
Horiguchi struggles to land a body shot inside as Funaki controls his hands.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Horiguchi.
Horiguchi swings wildly with an uppercut but Funaki uses good head movement to avoid it.
Funaki misses with a punch to the body.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Horiguchi.
Horiguchi misses with a punch to the body.
Funaki trying to land knees to the body.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Funaki just misses with a elbow thrown towards Horiguchi's brow.
Funaki taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Horiguchi misses with a body punch.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Horiguchi.
Funaki struggles to land a body shot inside as Horiguchi controls his hands.
Horiguchi jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Funaki walks away with a smile on his face. Horiguchi gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Funaki ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Funaki throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Horiguchi cracks Funaki with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Funaki walks into a straight right hand from Horiguchi.
Funaki lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
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.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Funaki checks a low kick from Horiguchi.
Funaki tries to counter by moving into the clinch but Horiguchi manages to circle out of the way.
Funaki scores with a nice right hand.
Funaki throws a shot from downtown. Horiguchi moves away and avoids it.
Funaki swings for the body but Horiguchi moves out of range.
Horiguchi looks to land a right hand but Funaki moved out of range.
Funaki throws a leg kick but Horiguchi checks it.
Good work by Funaki as he checks the leg kick.
Funaki tries to counter by clinching up but Horiguchi breaks away and moves out of range.
Horiguchi circles away from the clinch attempt.
Akaro Horiguchi seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Funaki is looking to clinch but Horiguchi is avoiding it.
Funaki lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Horiguchi throws a low kick but Funaki avoids it.
Horiguchi throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Horiguchi looks to land a body kick but Funaki moved away.
Funaki tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Horiguchi manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Horiguchi keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Funaki.
Horiguchi counters with a body kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Funaki doesn't manage to clinch there - Horiguchi circles away.
Funaki drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Horiguchi chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Funaki can pounce on him.
A solid leg kick lands there for Horiguchi.
Horiguchi throws a low kick but it's checked well by Funaki.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Funaki tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Funaki throws a wild body kick that Horiguchi sees coming a mile off.
Horiguchi throws a low kick but Funaki moves out of range easily.
Good leg kick by Funaki.
Horiguchi connects with the punch.
Horiguchi gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Horiguchi looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Horiguchi comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Horiguchi moves out of range of the leg kick from Funaki.
Jab by Horiguchi.
Funaki throws a jab when Horiguchi was well out of range.
Funaki avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
A nice leg kick lands there from Horiguchi.
Jab from Funaki.
Funaki wants to clinch up but Horiguchi keeps it at a distance.
Horiguchi's corner calls for a 1-2. Horiguchi obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Horiguchi moves away from the strike by Funaki.
Horiguchi let fly with a counter punch to the body but it didn't land.
Horiguchi fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Funaki looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Funaki avoids a kick to the body.
Funaki is trying to close the distance and clinch up, after that failed offence from Horiguchi.
Akaro Horiguchi seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Horiguchi throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Horiguchi lands a nice shot that snaps Funaki's head back.
Horiguchi drops his hands momentarily and Funaki takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Funaki lands a nice looking body kick.
Funaki missing with a left hand there. Horiguchi was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Funaki backing away here, and Horiguchi unleashes a leg kick that just misses.
Horiguchi pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Horiguchi throws a low kick but Funaki moves out of range easily.
Horiguchi is looking to chop away at Funaki's legs.
Horiguchi fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Funaki on the side of the head.
Horiguchi jabs Funaki to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Horiguchi has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Funaki with a nice calf kick.
The crowd cheers as Horiguchi lands an impressive looking overhand right. Funaki doesn't seem phased though.
Funaki lands with a nice body punch.
Nice body kick there by Horiguchi.
Funaki tries to clinch but Horiguchi moves out of range.
Horiguchi misses with a hook.
Horiguchi motions for Funaki to come forward. Horiguchi throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Funaki tries to clinch up but Horiguchi circles away and keeps his distance.
Funaki throws a leg kick but Horiguchi sees it coming and moves out of range.
Horiguchi checks a leg kick nicely.
Funaki fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Horiguchi.
A good leg kick by Horiguchi.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Funaki lands a nice leg kick that just misses Horiguchi's sensitive parts.
A nice leg kick from Funaki, right into the meat of the thigh.
Funaki lands with a cross.
Horiguchi fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Funaki manages to avoid it.
Horiguchi uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Funaki.

Funaki moves into range and clinches up with Horiguchi.
Horiguchi unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Funaki blocks an elbow strike from Horiguchi.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Funaki lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
A right hand to the body from Horiguchi.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Horiguchi is trying to pull guard but Funaki has him pressed against the cage.

Horiguchi breaks the clinch.
A nice leg kick from Horiguchi, right into the meat of the thigh.
Horiguchi's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Horiguchi swings for the body but Funaki moves out of range.
Funaki with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Horiguchi lands a jab to Funaki's midsection.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Funaki ducks under a wild hook from Horiguchi.
Funaki misses with a right hand
and Horiguchi counters with a nice low kick that buckles Funaki's knee momentarily.
Horiguchi missing with a left hand there. Funaki was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Horiguchi avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Horiguchi's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Horiguchi duly obliges.
Funaki takes one on the button.
Funaki wants to clinch.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Horiguchi, as that shot connected.
Horiguchi misses with a straight left.
Horiguchi lands a really nice looking cross but Funaki seems unphased.

Funaki is rocked!
An inside leg kick from Funaki misses.
Oh Funaki is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Funaki moves in looking to clinch but Horiguchi pushes him off.
Funaki seems to have got his legs back now.
Funaki tries to clinch there but Horiguchi circles away.
Funaki throws a leg kick but Horiguchi sees it coming and moves out of range.
Funaki tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Horiguchi counters with an inside leg kick.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Funaki tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Horiguchi manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Horiguchi moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Akaro Horiguchi showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Funaki is looking to clinch.
Horiguchi fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Funaki manages to avoid it.

Funaki closes the distance and clinches.
Horiguchi working some nice short punches in the clinch.

Horiguchi's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Horiguchi looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Horiguchi takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
Horiguchi misses with a hook.

Funaki clinches with his opponent.
Funaki stalling in the clinch but Horiguchi improves position.
Funaki struggles to land a body shot inside as Horiguchi controls his hands.
Horiguchi misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Funaki struggles to land a body shot inside as Horiguchi controls his hands.
Funaki has a couple of punches blocked by Horiguchi.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Horiguchi avoiding damage as Funaki throws knees to the body.
Funaki prevents a body shot from Horiguchi.
Horiguchi lands a nice elbow.
Funaki misses with an elbow over the top.
Funaki is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Horiguchi lands with a short head shot on the inside.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Funaki has a couple of punches blocked by Horiguchi.
Horiguchi stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Funaki just misses with a elbow thrown towards Horiguchi's brow.
Horiguchi lands a shoulder strike.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
A short right from Horiguchi.
Horiguchi lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Funaki.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Funaki dodges an elbow strike from Horiguchi.
Funaki throws an elbow that misses.
Funaki managing to block the knees to the body from Horiguchi.
Horiguchi letting Funaki take a breather here.
Horiguchi softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Funaki is trying to maintain a safe position but Horiguchi gets an underhook and turns Funaki into the cage.
Horiguchi on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Akaro Horiguchi seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Horiguchi pulls back and lands a big elbow that stuns Funaki! Horiguchi unloads with more strikes and Funaki sinks to his knees! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:56 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Akaro Horiguchi!
An out of breath Akaro Horiguchi thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.