PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Daisuke Toshimichi (ranked 1404 p4p, 3175 weight class) and Kale Barton (ranked 189 p4p, 362 weight class). The crowd seem to be enjoying Barton's choice of entrance music: Fredo - Scoreboard feat. Tiggs Da Author. There are an array of beautiful celebrities at ringside tonight! I wonder if any of them paid for their tickets.

Toshimichi
vs
Barton

176 cm
28
165
9 - 7 - 0

180 cm
25
160
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Decent wrestler
Counter fighter
Granite chin

Northern Zombie

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 9 - 7 - 0, fighting out of London, Daisuke Toshimichi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Kale Barton!
The judges for this bout are Alec Ball, William Peck and Trevor Gratis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Barton takes a swing at Toshimichi's ribcage but misses.
We can't be sure of the tactics at this early stage but we have heard that Barton has been working on his takedowns a lot in the buildup to the fight and we can only assume he's going to look to take this to the mat.
Toshimichi connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Daisuke Toshimichi seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Toshimichi connects with a single shot there.
Barton doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Toshimichi counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Barton has his takedown stuffed
and Toshimichi counters with a left and a right that stings Barton.

Barton feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Barton postures up in Toshimichi's guard and throws a big left but Toshimichi blocks it.
Barton throws an elbow that misses. Toshimichi uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Barton's guard. Nice move by Toshimichi!

We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Toshimichi stopping the sweep attempt from Barton.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Toshimichi wants to stand but Barton has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Toshimichi postures up.
Barton tries to strike from the bottom.
Barton wants to control but instead he gets his guard passed and Toshimichi is now in half guard.
Toshimichi wants to stand up but Barton has a hold of him and won't allow it.
Barton has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Barton is trying to get back to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Toshimichi wants to stand up but Barton is controlling the position.
Barton is trying to control but can't.

Toshimichi gets to his feet - back to striking we go!
Barton takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Toshimichi connects with the punch.
Toshimichi looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Barton has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Barton there as he acknowledges the shot.
Barton throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barton closes the distance looking to clinch
enabling Toshimichi to counter with a crisp jab.

Barton is rocked!
Are you kidding me?! Toshimichi ducked down and unloaded an uppercut from hell that sent Barton clean off his feet! Someone make me a GIF - that's knockout of the night for sure!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:25 of round 1, we have a winner by way of KO (Punch). Daisuke Toshimichi!
Daisuke Toshimichi seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.
In defeat, Kale Barton stepped up to the mic, saying 'The fire that burns after a loss is the same fire that forges champions. I'll embrace the pain, learn from the experience, and let it fuel my determination to return to the cage stronger than ever.'.