PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight kickboxing rules bout between Israel Adesanya (ranked 2079 p4p, 4253 weight class) and Holden Easterly (ranked 243 p4p, 427 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Adesanya might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Israel Adesanya Entrance Music. Holden Easterly will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Adesanya
vs
Easterly

193 cm
27
184
15 - 4 - 1

190 cm
30
192
8 - 6 - 0

Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

World class boxer
Good gas tank

Hawaii Nutrition

New Standard

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 15 - 4 - 1, fighting out of Helsinki, Israel Adesanya!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Holden Easterly !
The judges for this bout are Leandro Rodrigues, Matheus Silva and Edson Gomes.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Easterly throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Adesanya.
Adesanya tries to clinch but Easterly is having none of it.
Sloppy strikes from Adesanya. Those never looked like landing.
Easterly tries to close the distance and clinch up but Adesanya swats him away and circles back towards the center.

Easterly gets a clinch.

Adesanya's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Easterly lands with a nice combination. Adesanya backs away looking to recover.
Easterly falls off balance throwing a combination
and Adesanya counters with a straight right hand.
Adesanya tries to bum rush Easterly with a series of wild strikes but Easterly uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Adesanya defending well as Easterly loads up on a big left hand.
Easterly misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Easterly is looking to clinch but Adesanya is avoiding it.
Easterly misses with a few strikes there.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Adesanya blocks a head kick by Easterly .

Adesanya moves into range and clinches up with Easterly .

Adesanya manages to break the clinch.
Sloppy strikes from Adesanya. Those never looked like landing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Easterly throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Adesanya keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
As Easterly backs away, Adesanya returns fire with a leg kick that just misses.
Adesanya gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Easterly .
Easterly has been spending a lot of time sparring his boxing in the run up to the fight, trying to sharpen up those hands and look for a knockout.
Easterly tries to clinch but Adesanya is having none of it.
Holden Easterly seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Easterly misses with a head kick.
Easterly checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Easterly uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Adesanya.
Easterly tries to clinch up against the ropes, rushing in to close the distance. Adesanya manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Adesanya takes a head kick and keeps coming.
Easterly wants to clinch.
Easterly lands the left hand.
We've been told by Adesanya's head coaches at Hawaii Gym that he's been working on his takedown defense in preparation for this fight.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Adesanya blocks a head kick by Easterly .
Easterly lands a nice shot to the body.
Easterly tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Adesanya throws a low kick but Easterly moves out of range easily.
Easterly unleashes a big counter combination but Adesanya bobs and weaves and avoids any damage.
Easterly wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Adesanya fails to land with a series of punches.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Adesanya is looking to score with low kicks.
Easterly lands a head shot.
Adesanya blocks a jab.
Adesanya swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
Easterly misses with a right hand
and Adesanya counters with a one-two to the body.
Adesanya is looking to chop away at Easterly 's legs.
Easterly misses with a looping left.
Adesanya appeared to be looking to counter that last move with a leg kick.
Easterly will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

Easterly darts in and clinches Adesanya up against the ropes.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Holden Easterly dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the ring so we can get back down to business.

Easterly throws a nice looking combination but Adesanya bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Adesanya throws a quick counter kick to the body but Easterly avoids it.
Adesanya on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Easterly throws a head kick but Adesanya moves out of range.
Israel Adesanya is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Easterly looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Easterly throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Adesanya.
An attempted straight right counter from Adesanya misses the target.

Easterly closes the distance and pushes Adesanya back into the ropes.
Easterly tries to throw a body punch but Adesanya avoids it by throwing Easterly back against the ropes.
Adesanya keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Easterly 's efforts to push away.
Easterly misses with a short punch on the inside.
Adesanya wants to break the clinch but can't.

Easterly breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Adesanya tries to keep at a distance but Easterly has taken the fight into the clinch.

Easterly breaks the clinch.

Easterly closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the ropes.

Adesanya manages to break the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Easterly closes the distance and clinches.
Easterly lands a body shot in the clinch.

Adesanya pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Easterly tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Easterly lands with an uppercut that bounces Adesanya off the ropes and back into range.
Easterly tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Easterly swats away the attempt to clinch by Adesanya.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Adesanya lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Easterly has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Easterly and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Easterly looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
A punch combination from Easterly misses.
Easterly tries to clinch up but Adesanya circles away and keeps his distance.
Easterly misses with a few strikes there.
Easterly misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Adesanya lifts his leg as if looking to counter with a high kick.
Adesanya avoids the head kick by Easterly .
As Easterly backs away, Adesanya returns fire with a leg kick that just misses.
Easterly misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Easterly misses with a head kick.
Adesanya misses with a jab, cross combination.
Easterly tries to clinch but Adesanya is having none of it.
Adesanya thinks about countering with a head kick.
Adesanya tries to clinch up.
Easterly tries to clinch up against the ropes, rushing in to close the distance. Adesanya manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Easterly lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Adesanya moves out of range of the strikes.
Easterly tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Adesanya fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Easterly .
Adesanya misses the jab.
Easterly misses with a double jab
and Adesanya counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Easterly pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Easterly tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Adesanya connects with a nice looking jab.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Holden Easterly showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. This is the final round!

Adesanya tries to bum rush Easterly with a series of wild strikes but Easterly uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Easterly tries to counter by closing the distance.
Holden Easterly seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Adesanya avoids the body shot from Easterly .
Adesanya uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Easterly .
Easterly swinging wildly here.
Easterly lands a head kick. Adesanya smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
Easterly throws a sloppy head kick and Adesanya moves out of range easily.
Easterly tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Easterly scores with a head kick. Adesanya tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.
Easterly misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Adesanya fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Adesanya just misses with a punch to the body.
Easterly throws a big counter head kick but Adesanya avoids it with no problem.
A looping hook to the body misses from Easterly . Adesanya does a little dance to reset his feet.
It looked like Adesanya wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Easterly wants to clinch up but Adesanya keeps it at a distance.
Easterly throws a right and a left that both miss.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Easterly misses with a two punch combination.
Easterly throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Adesanya.
A head kick by Easterly misses
and Adesanya cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Adesanya blocks a head kick by Easterly .
It looked like Adesanya was trying to counter with a body shot coming off that last attack from Easterly .
Easterly throws a head kick but Adesanya moves out of range.
Adesanya looked to counter that last move with a leg kick but didn't pull the trigger.
Adesanya throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Adesanya throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Israel Adesanya has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Easterly throws a head kick that misses
and Adesanya counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Easterly is looking to clinch.
Adesanya keeps the fight on the outside.
Easterly tries to clinch there but Adesanya circles away.
Adesanya rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Easterly moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Easterly misses with a double jab.
Easterly tries to close the distance and clinch up against the ropes but Adesanya paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Adesanya looked to counter that last move with a leg kick but didn't pull the trigger.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Adesanya misses with a head kick.
Easterly uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Adesanya.
Easterly takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Easterly wants to clinch up but Adesanya keeps it at a distance.
A little feinted left hand from Adesanya on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
Easterly throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
An attempted straight right counter from Adesanya misses the target.
Easterly has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Easterly throws a jab but it's blocked by Adesanya.
Adesanya misses with a right hand
and Easterly counters with a stiff right hand.
Adesanya takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Easterly displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Easterly throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Easterly circles away from the clinch attempt.
Easterly pulls out of a head kick attempt.
As Easterly looks to move away, Adesanya throws a big counter combo but Easterly just gets out of the way.
The crowd cheers as Adesanya lands an impressive looking overhand right. Easterly doesn't seem phased though.
Easterly connects with a good right hand that stumbles Adesanya. Adesanya circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Adesanya tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and Easterly is able to avoid easily.

And that's the end of the fight!
Holden Easterly comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Easterly has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Leandro Rodrigues scores the fight 27:30
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight 27:30
Judge Edson Gomes scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Holden Easterly !
The defeated Israel Adesanya had this to say: 'Ya me conoces mantengo la misma energía. Estoy agradecido y orgulloso, pero sabes que la mierda pasa. Es una gran historia para él, pero no ha terminado, esto sigue siendo una guerra. Felicidades a él y a su equipo. Gracias a todos por venir, nos vemos la próxima vez, adiós.'.