PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Funaki Fujiwara (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Sam Maniche (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Fujiwara might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to T.N.T. by Tonedeff. Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Fujiwara
vs
Maniche

175 cm
20
160 lbs
6 - 6 - 0

176 cm
19
157 lbs
3 - 5 - 1

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Knockout power

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 6 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Funaki Fujiwara!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 5 - 1, fighting out of Sydney, Sam Maniche!
The judges for this bout are John Mangel, Hugh Johnson and Donatello Bradman.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Fujiwara looks for a takedown but Maniche sprawls well.

Maniche shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Maniche was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!

Maniche working for a guillotine from mount but Fujiwara is in no mood to give up.

Maniche is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Fujiwara can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Maniche working Fujiwara over with strikes here.
Fujiwara regains half guard.

Maniche decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.

Fujiwara shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Maniche manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Maniche utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Maniche throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
Fujiwara pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Maniche is keeping the position for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Fujiwara thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Fujiwara postures up.

Maniche working for a triangle but Fujiwara defends it easily.

Maniche looking for a guillotine here but Fujiwara defends easily.
Maniche preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Fujiwara lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Maniche circles away quickly and effectively.
Fujiwara with a lazy takedown attempt
and Maniche counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.

Maniche shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Maniche showed some decent athleticism there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maniche wants to lay and pray for a moment but Fujiwara keeps working.
Fujiwara keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

Fujiwara has one foot on Maniche's thigh - he pushes off and manages to get back to his feet.
Fujiwara throws a right and a left that both miss.
Fujiwara is breathing heavily.

Maniche looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Fujiwara!
Maniche working the ground and pound effectively.
Fujiwara taking shots to the head.
Fujiwara working to try and regain half guard.
Maniche is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Fujiwara can't stay in a position like this for much longer.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Fujiwara is wriggling around trying to escape.
Maniche scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Fujiwara keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Maniche cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Fujiwara tries to reverse the position but Maniche maintains control.

Maniche is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Fujiwara has managed to escape the submission attempt.

Maniche has control of Fujiwara's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Fujiwara regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Fujiwara throwing hammer fists to the chest of Maniche. What's that going to do exactly?
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Maniche cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fujiwara is bucking up trying to escape but Maniche cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Fujiwara is trying to escape the mount.
Maniche fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Fujiwara tries to reverse the position but Maniche maintains control.
Fujiwara wants to improve position but instead he's given up his back.
Fujiwara grimaces as he takes a shot to the body.
Maniche connects with a series of strikes and the referee is calling for Fujiwara to escape the position.

Fujiwara preventing the rear naked choke attempt from Maniche.
Fujiwara rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Maniche working the head and body with strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sam Maniche dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Fujiwara gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Maniche counters with a shoot takedown. Fujiwara fights it but they end up in guard.
Maniche pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Fujiwara is keeping the position for now.

Fujiwara looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Fujiwara has momentary wrist control but Maniche slips an elbow through the middle.
Fujiwara punching from the bottom - just letting Maniche know he's still in a fight.
Maniche wants to control from the top but Fujiwara keeps moving.
Fujiwara is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

Maniche drops back looking for a leg! Fujiwara is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Fujiwara manages to kick Maniche off! Maniche jumps back into Fujiwara's guard.
Maniche wants to get up but he can't break Fujiwara's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Fujiwara working a defensive guard here.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Maniche is looking to stand up but Fujiwara won't let him.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Maniche instigates a clinch.
Maniche makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Maniche gets underhooks to prevent Fujiwara's takedown attempt.
Maniche lands a body punch.
Maniche wants to break free but Fujiwara has control.

Maniche breaks from the clinch.
Maniche will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Fujiwara keeps the fight on the outside.
Fujiwara throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Maniche counters with a nice uppercut.

Maniche pushes Fujiwara up against the cage in a clinch.

Maniche breaks the clinch.
Maniche throws a combination that misses
and Fujiwara counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Some wild striking there from Maniche.
A combination from Maniche does no damage.
The fight stays on the outside here - Maniche looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Maniche uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Fujiwara.

Maniche clinches up with Fujiwara and pushes him back against the cage.

Maniche breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Fujiwara jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Maniche lands a lovely overhand right.
Fujiwara keeps the fight on the outside.
Maniche uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Fujiwara.
A swing and a miss from Fujiwara.
Funaki Fujiwara is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Maniche 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.
Fujiwara keeping moving, preventing Maniche from controlling successfully.

Fujiwara 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.

Fujiwara looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.

Fujiwara is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Maniche wants to control from the top but Fujiwara keeps moving.

Fujiwara looking for subs off his back but Maniche has passed one foot through into half guard.
Maniche working Fujiwara over with strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Maniche not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

Fujiwara is defending against the submission attempts here by Maniche.
Fujiwara is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Maniche's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Maniche's back!
Maniche turns into Fujiwara and is now in his guard.

Maniche drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Maniche jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Maniche's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

Fujiwara has an active guard here but Maniche has managed to pass into half guard.
Fujiwara is looking to improve his position.
Maniche slips a nice elbow through Fujiwara's hands, connecting with Fujiwara's forehead.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sam Maniche 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!

Maniche closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Maniche lands an uppercut.

Maniche breaks the clinch.
Maniche shoots in for a takedown but Fujiwara shows good takedown defense.

Fujiwara shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Maniche can't escape the position.
Fujiwara blocks Maniche's feeble attempts to strike from the bottom.
Maniche is trying desperately to improve position.
Fujiwara dominating with strikes here.
Maniche is in all sorts of trouble here.
BOOM! Fujiwara connects with a massive shot to the dome!

Fujiwara jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Maniche manages to avoid the submission attempt.
You can see the frustration on Maniche's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maniche is trying to buck Fujiwara off.

Fujiwara wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Maniche, who protects the arm well.
Maniche wants to control but Fujiwara postures up.

Fujiwara looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Maniche is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Fujiwara off and has taken his back!
Fujiwara grimaces as he takes a shot to the body.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Maniche loading up with punches from the back mount - how long can Fujiwara hold on?
Maniche has his opponent trapped and is landing shots. Not a good position for Fujiwara.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maniche is hanging on to Fujiwara's back as he tries to escape.

Fujiwara defending nicely against the rear naked choke attempt.
Fujiwara wants to escape the position.
Can Fujiwara hold on?! Maniche is landing more strikes to his hapless foe.
Fujiwara rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.
Fujiwara is looking to control Maniche's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Fujiwara avoid being mounted?

Fujiwara is looking to sinch up a gullotine here but Maniche pulls his head out easily.
Fujiwara has hold of Maniche's hands but Maniche slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Fujiwara tries to get to full guard but Maniche has control of the leg.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maniche lands strikes from half guard.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Maniche lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Funaki Fujiwara seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Maniche lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
Fujiwara avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

Maniche closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Maniche lands in his opponent's guard.
Maniche controls from within his opponent's guard.
Fujiwara wants to sweep but no luck.
Maniche with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

Fujiwara has his foot on Maniche's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Maniche works his way back into a safe position though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Maniche postures up and lands a big shot to Fujiwara's brow.

Fujiwara is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Maniche is aware though and is defending well.
Maniche stopping the sweep attempt from Fujiwara.

Maniche got a little sloppy there for a moment and Fujiwara has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Maniche has managed to get both his arms back between Fujiwara's legs - danger averted.

Maniche is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Fujiwara falls off balance throwing a combination

and Maniche counters with a takedown into side control.
Fujiwara is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Maniche's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Maniche connects with a nice short shot to Fujiwara's temple.
Funaki Fujiwara has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Sam Maniche is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Maniche is trying to work for a kimura but Fujiwara is defending well.

And that's the end of the fight!
Sam Maniche comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Maniche 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 John Mangel scores the fight 27:30
Judge Hugh Johnson scores the fight 27:30
Judge Donatello Bradman scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Sam Maniche!