PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Kaoru Hanayama (ranked 1420 p4p, 1385 weight class) and Nate Masvidal (ranked 196 p4p, 172 weight class). Hanayama kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is Hanayama vs Katsumi. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Hanayama
vs
Masvidal

182 cm
33
175
18 - 18 - 0

188 cm
31
185
20 - 24 - 1

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin

Northern Zombie
Shadow Realm Apparel

Fantasy Threads
Un-Kaged Nutrition

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 18 - 18 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Kaoru Hanayama!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 20 - 24 - 1, fighting out of London, Nate Masvidal!
The judges for this bout are Damien Edna, Topper Green and Winston Howard.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Both fighters are only really looking to counter, so after a good 30 seconds of circling each other endlessly, the referee has stepped in and told them both to be more aggressive.
Masvidal misses with a right hand
and Hanayama counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Masvidal thinking.
Hanayama is breathing heavily.
Masvidal misses with a left hand
and Hanayama counters with a stiff right hand.

Masvidal pushes Hanayama up against the cage in a clinch.
Masvidal throws a knee to the head but misses.
Hanayama blocks a body shot from Masvidal.
Masvidal works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Masvidal digs a right hand underneath Hanayama's ribcage. Hanayama let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Masvidal tries to land knees in the clinch but Hanayama avoids the damage to the body.
Hanayama blocking some punches.
Masvidal tries a body shot but Hanayama blocks it.
Masvidal has Hanayama pressed against the cage, preventing Hanayama from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Masvidal swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Masvidal tries a knee to the head but Hanayama blocks it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hanayama managing to block the knees to the body from Masvidal.
Masvidal tries to throw a body punch but Hanayama avoids it by throwing Masvidal back against the cage.
Masvidal softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Masvidal misses with a hook to the ribs.
Masvidal lands a right hand.
Masvidal throws a punch but it's blocked by Hanayama.
Masvidal lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Hanayama.
I was talking to Hanayama's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Masvidal working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Masvidal misses with a knee to the head.
Hanayama takes a knee right on the jaw!

It looks like Kaoru Hanayama has been cut.
Masvidal scores with a nice hook to the head.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Masvidal.
Masvidal works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
A short right from Masvidal.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Masvidal.
Hanayama wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Masvidal has him pressed against the cage.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Hanayama.
Masvidal lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Masvidal swings wildly with an uppercut but Hanayama uses good head movement to avoid it.
Masvidal misses with a shot to the kidneys.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Masvidal is working Hanayama over against the cage.
Hanayama blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Hanayama blocks a punch to the side of the head.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Masvidal.
Masvidal fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
A nice right hand lands inside from Masvidal.
Masvidal throws a knee to the head but misses.
A nice left hand lands by Masvidal.
Masvidal makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Hanayama avoiding damage as Masvidal throws knees to the body.
Masvidal lands a right hand that snaps the head of Hanayama backwards.
Masvidal tries to land a knee to the head but Hanayama blocks with his arms.
Masvidal lands a hook to the side of the head.
Masvidal softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Masvidal tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Masvidal throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Hanayama blocks it with crossed arms.
Masvidal misses with a knee strike.
Masvidal lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Hanayama backwards.
Masvidal with an attempt at a knee that misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Masvidal lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Hanayama.
Masvidal tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.

Masvidal breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Masvidal swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Hanayama counters with a left and a right that stings Masvidal.

Masvidal closes the distance and clinches.
Hanayama working hard to break the clinch.
Masvidal throws a knee to the head but misses.

Masvidal breaks the clinch.
Masvidal throws a left and a right that both miss
and Hanayama counters with a straight right hand.
Masvidal misses the body punch
letting Hanayama counter with a right hand.

Masvidal closes the distance and clinches.
Masvidal lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Masvidal throws a head punch that misses.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Masvidal lands with a right to the head.

Masvidal pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Masvidal swings widly with a right hand
and Hanayama counters with a straight punch to the midsection.

Masvidal closes the distance and clinches.
Masvidal softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
A short right from Masvidal.
Masvidal scores with a shoulder strike.
Masvidal lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Hanayama or not.
Masvidal with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.

Masvidal's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Masvidal throws an off balance right hand
letting Hanayama counter with a right hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Masvidal rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Hanayama counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Masvidal swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Hanayama counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Masvidal thinking.

Masvidal has Hanayama up against the cage in a clinch.
Masvidal lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Masvidal throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Hanayamas head.
A frustrated look appears on Hanayama's face as he tries to break the clinch.
A body shot lands from Masvidal.
Masvidal lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Hanayama backwards.

Masvidal breaks the clinch.
Masvidal misses with a left hand
and Hanayama counters with a left and a right that stings Masvidal.
Masvidal misses with a left hand
and Hanayama counters with a left to the body.
Masvidal dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Hanayama. That did some damage!

Masvidal clinches with his opponent.
A right handed body shot lands from Masvidal.
Masvidal can't find room to land a body shot as Hanayama controls the action.

Masvidal pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Masvidal throws a poor cross that misses
and Hanayama makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
A head kick from Masvidal lands but Hanayama takes it in his stride.
Masvidal swings widly with a right hand
and Hanayama counters with a series of strikes. Masvidal will be more careful next time no doubt.
Masvidal misses with a hook
and Hanayama counters with a lovely straight right hand!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Masvidal throws a poor cross that misses
enabling Hanayama to counter with a crisp jab.
Masvidal falls off balance throwing a combination
and Hanayama cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Masvidal throws a right hand that misses
and Hanayama counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Masvidal thinking.
Masvidal throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Hanayama cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Masvidal misses with a right hand
and Hanayama counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.

Masvidal darts in and clinches Hanayama up against the cage.
A nice right hand lands inside from Masvidal.
Masvidal misses with a punch on the inside.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Nate Masvidal dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Kaoru Hanayama's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action.

Masvidal throws an ugly left hook that misses
letting Hanayama counter with a right hand.
Masvidal throws a poor cross that misses
and Hanayama counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Masvidal swings widly with a right hand
and Hanayama counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Masvidal misses with a lunging right hand
and Hanayama counters with a stiff right hand.
Masvidal lands a leg kick that knocks Hanayama off balance momentarily.
Masvidal misses with a hook
and Hanayama cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

Masvidal has Hanayama up against the cage in a clinch.
Masvidal lands a shoulder strike.
Masvidal lands a right hand.

Masvidal manages to break the clinch.
Masvidal throws a poor cross that misses
and Hanayama counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Masvidal thinking.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Masvidal swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Hanayama counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Masvidal throws a lazy uppercut
and Hanayama counters with a three punch combo that has Masvidal backing up. Masvidal nods at Hanayama to acknowledge the strikes.
Masvidal throws an off balance right hand
and Hanayama counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Masvidal throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Hanayama counters with a one-two to the body.
Masvidal connects with a high kick.

Hanayama is rocked!
Masvidal misses with an uppercut
and Hanayama counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Oh Hanayama is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Masvidal throws an ugly left hook that misses
letting Hanayama counter with a right hand.
Masvidal throws an off balance right hand
and Masvidal takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Masvidal misses with a lunging right hand
and Hanayama cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Masvidal throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Hanayama counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Masvidal misses with a lunging right hand
and Hanayama makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.

Masvidal closes the distance and clinches.
Masvidal creates some distance for himself and unleashes a massive uppercut that sends Hanayama's eyes rolling into the back of his head! Hanayama drops to his knees and Masvidal pours it on with more strikes until the referee steps in to end the bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:45 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Nate Masvidal!
A loyal slave to those sponsorship dollars, Nate Masvidal made sure he mentioned Un-Kaged Nutrition, along with how happy he was to win his fight.