PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Gurizuri Nakamura (ranked 965 p4p, 840 weight class) and John Lawrence (ranked 140 p4p, 121 weight class). Lawrence is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by No Surrender. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Nakamura
vs
Lawrence

168 cm
33
186
18 - 15 - 1

180 cm
36
195
27 - 23 - 1

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Very quick

Excellent grappler
World class boxer
Heavy handed

Brooklyn Apothecary
PWNAGE™

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 18 - 15 - 1, fighting out of Los Angeles, Gurizuri Nakamura!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 27 - 23 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, John Lawrence!
The judges for this bout are Steve Erwin, Ben Hemmingworth and Donatello Bradman.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nakamura lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Nakamura slips under a jab.
Nakamura swings for the body but Lawrence moves out of range.
Nakamura changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Nakamura scores with a punch to the head.
Nakamura misses the jab.
Lawrence lands a nice hook to Nakamura's body. Nakamura takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Nakamura lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Nakamura lands with a nice body punch.
Nakamura works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Nakamura changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Nakamura takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Lawrence looks to score with a jab to the body but Nakamura is just out of range.
Nakamura swings for the body but Lawrence moves out of range.
Lawrence swings for the body but Nakamura moves out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Lawrence is defended easily by Nakamura.
Lawrence throws a nice outside leg kick.
Nakamura avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Donk. Nakamura catches Lawrence right on the button with a cross.
Nakamura throws a shot from downtown. Lawrence moves away and avoids it.
Lawrence is loading up here, looking for a big counter of his own.
Nice uppercut lands for Nakamura. That snapped Lawrence's head back.
Lawrence tries to clinch but Nakamura is having none of it.
Lawrence on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Nakamura connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Lawrence gets caught napping as Nakamura dives in and scores a takedown. Lawrence manages to retain guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Nakamura looking to pass the guard.
Nakamura trying to control but Lawrence is working from the bottom.
We've been hearing that Nakamura has been drilling a lot of ground and pound in training, so let's see if he get the finish.
Nakamura is looking to work some ground and pound but Lawrence has wrist control.
Lawrence is trying to control the position from the bottom.

Lawrence escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Nakamura gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Nakamura trying to control the position from guard on top but Lawrence is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Lawrence looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nakamura loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

Lawrence has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Nakamura can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Nakamura landing with the ground and pound.
Lawrence bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Nakamura's guard.

Nakamura keeping moving, preventing Lawrence from controlling successfully.
Lawrence is in close to Nakamura's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Lawrence trying to control the position from guard on top but Nakamura is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Lawrence lands a couple of decent looking shots.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nakamura tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Lawrence stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Nakamura swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Lawrence working some strikes from top position.
Nakamura keeping moving, preventing Lawrence from controlling successfully.
Lawrence passes Nakamura's left leg - he's now in half guard.

Lawrence seems to be trying to get a kimura but instead Nakamura has recovered full guard.
Nakamura keeping full guard, as Lawrence tries to pass.
Lawrence trying to control but Nakamura is working from the bottom.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Gurizuri Nakamura dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Lawrence lands with a right hand.

Lawrence drives through with a takedown into guard.
Nakamura throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Nakamura 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.
Nakamura keeping moving, preventing Lawrence from controlling successfully.
Lawrence is on the wrong end of a couple of strikes there.
John Lawrence has got the better of the ground game so far.
Lawrence is in close to Nakamura's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Lawrence working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Lawrence throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Nakamura works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nakamura wants to sweep here but Lawrence controlling him for the moment.
Nakamura is working hard here to advance position.
Lawrence passes easily into side control. Nice work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lawrence scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Nakamura to see if he's OK.
Nakamura is not content to let Lawrence control the position.
Nakamura is looking to regain half guard here but Lawrence keeps moving and retains side control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Lawrence wants to control but Nakamura is keeping him busy.
Nakamura takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Nakamura sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Nakamura is looking for a sweep. Lawrence is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Lawrence missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Nakamura gets full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nakamura avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Lawrence passes Nakamura's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Lawrence is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Nakamura is just riding it out for now. Lawrence eventually gives up the hold.
Nakamura gets full guard.
Lawrence is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Lawrence preventing the sweep.
Lawrence trying to control the position from guard on top but Nakamura is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Lawrence working his ground and pound in the gym. So far it seems to be working well.
Nakamura bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Lawrence's guard.

Nakamura with a nice head shot there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nakamura postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Nakamura lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Lawrence looking for a sweep. Not yet Lawrence, not yet.
Lawrence preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

Lawrence had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Nakamura defends it easily.
Nakamura cracks Lawrence with a solid left hand.
Lawrence avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Lawrence not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Nakamura stands up over Lawrence, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Nakamura landing some decent shots from guard.

Lawrence is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lawrence controls Nakamura momentarily but Nakamura frees himself.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Nakamura accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Nakamura trying to control but Lawrence is working from the bottom.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Lawrence is on top in guard.

Lawrence engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Nakamura looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

John Lawrence showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Lawrence gets caught napping as Nakamura dives in and scores a takedown. Lawrence manages to retain guard.
Lawrence is trying to control the position but Nakamura postures up.
Nakamura missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

Lawrence is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Nakamura working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.

Lawrence is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Nakamura chips away with some ground and pound.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lawrence looking to control.
Nakamura is pushing down on Lawrence's leg trying to pass to half guard. Lawrence is fighting to maintain full guard but Nakamura has managed to sneak the leg through.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nakamura throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Lawrence moves into full guard.

Lawrence is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Nakamura with a flurry of punches that miss.
Nakamura pushes down on Lawrence's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Nakamura wants to take a breather but Lawrence is having none of it.
Nakamura scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Nakamura winds up and cracks Lawrence with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Lawrence blocking the ground and pound attempt from Nakamura.
Lawrence has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Nakamura is working away from the top position though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nice strikes from Nakamura there.
Lawrence has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Nakamura is working away from the top position though.
Lawrence moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.

Lawrence throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Nakamura landing with the ground and pound.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Nakamura's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

Lawrence is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nakamura lands a couple of elbows.
Nakamura working some strikes from top position.
Lawrence has momentary wrist control but Nakamura slips an elbow through the middle.

Lawrence looking for a guillotine here but Nakamura defends easily.
Lawrence takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Nakamura advances position into side control!
Nakamura is looking to take a break and control but Lawrence is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nakamura is working Lawrence over with some ground and pound from side control.
Nakamura wants to lay and pray for a moment but Lawrence keeps working.
Lawrence tries to buck Nakamura off but Nakamura is having none of it.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Lawrence keeps trying to improve his position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Gurizuri Nakamura showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Nakamura has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Steve Erwin scores the fight 29:28
Judge Ben Hemmingworth scores the fight 29:28
Judge Donatello Bradman scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Gurizuri Nakamura!
John Lawrence spoke after the fight, saying 'Cobra Kai Rules!! Ill be back. No retreat! No surrender! Strike First! Strike Hard!'.