PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight kickboxing rules bout between Kai Rossiter (ranked 4239 p4p, 1223 weight class) and Jacob Hopson (ranked 432 p4p, 51 weight class). Hopson has chosen Down Under as his entrance music. Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Rossiter
vs
Hopson

176 cm
42
174
28 - 25 - 0

190 cm
25
185
10 - 3 - 0

Excellent boxer
Experienced

Excellent MT
Fast

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 28 - 25 - 0, fighting out of London, Kai Rossiter!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Jacob Hopson!
The judges for this bout are Yasuomi Hirokawa, Tatsuya Matsuyama and Taro Takaoka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rossiter with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Rossiter throws a head kick that misses.
Hopson connects with a leg kick.
Rossiter throws a wild body kick that Hopson sees coming a mile off.

Hopson darts in and clinches Rossiter up against the ropes.
Hopson blocks an elbow strike from Rossiter.
Rossiter misses with a shot to the kidneys.

Hopson breaks the clinch.
Rossiter lands a nice shot to the body.
Rossiter misses with a kick to the body.

Hopson moves into the clinch.
Hopson looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Rossiter tries to land a knee to the head but Hopson blocks with his arms.
Rossiter blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Hopson lands a body shot.
Hopson scores with a nice hook to the head.
Hopson pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the ropes.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Rossiter misses with a punch on the inside.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Hopson.
Hopson has a couple of punches blocked by Rossiter.
Rossiter with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hopson fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Hopson misses with a short punch on the inside.
Hopson avoiding damage as Rossiter throws knees to the body.
Rossiter working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Hopson misses with some punches.
Rossiter has a couple of punches blocked by Hopson.
Hopson makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Rossiter looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Hopson working aggressively here.
Rossiter prevents a body shot from Hopson.
A nice left hand lands by Hopson.
Rossiter is working Hopson over against the ropes.
Hopson blocking some punches.
Rossiter is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Hopson is defending well for now.
Rossiter swings wildly with an uppercut but Hopson uses good head movement to avoid it.
Hopson swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Rossiter misses with some punches.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hopson lands with a short head shot on the inside.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Rossiter.
Hopson lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Rossiter backwards.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Rossiter tries a body shot but Hopson blocks it.
Rossiter blocking some punches.
Rossiter throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Rossiter fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Hopson avoiding damage as Rossiter throws knees to the body.
Rossiter misses with a knee strike.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Hopson.
Hopson scores with a nice hook to the head.
Rossiter blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Hopson working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Hopson scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Hopson throws a head punch that misses.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Rossiter throws a punch but it's blocked by Hopson.
Good body shot from Rossiter.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Jacob Hopson dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

An inside leg kick from Hopson misses.
Hopson connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Rossiter tries to clinch but Hopson moves out of range.
Hopson is loading up here, looking for a big counter of his own.

Hopson lands a head kick that bluckles Rossiter and drops him to the canvas. He's still conscious but it looks like it's going to take him the full 10 seconds to get back his senses! He's up on 9 and seems to be just about OK to continue.... the referee agrees and we're back to the action with Hopson no doubt looking to push for a finish!

It looks like Kai Rossiter has been cut.
Jacob Hopson seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Hopson takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Rossiter throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.

Hopson clinches.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!

Hopson breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Rossiter swings and misses with a hook to the body.
The fighters circling - Hopson throws out the jab but it was never going to land.

Hopson closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the ropes.
Rossiter lands a left hand that snaps the head of Hopson backwards.
Hopson working aggressively here.
Jacob Hopson seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Hopson pushes Rossiter back against the ropes and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Rossiter with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Hopson lands a hook to the side of the head.
Hopson throws a head punch that misses.
Hopson lands with a short head shot on the inside.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hopson tries to work over Rossiter's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Rossiter misses with a hook to the ribs.
Rossiter misses with a body punch.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Rossiter.
Hopson throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Rossiters head.
Hopson fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Rossiter lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Rossiter tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Rossiter throws a punch but it's blocked by Hopson.
Hopson lands a right hand.
Hopson blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Rossiter is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Hopson is defending well for now.

Hopson breaks from the clinch.
A jab from Hopson misses.
Hopson dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Rossiter. That did some damage!
Hopson tries to work over Rossiter's front leg with a kick but Rossiter checks it.
Hopson tries to clinch there but Rossiter circles away.
Jacob Hopson seems to be getting the better of the standup.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Hopson pushes Rossiter up against the ropes in a clinch.
Hopson scores with an uppercut up the middle.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
A head punch blocked on the inside by Hopson.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Rossiter working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Rossiter misses with a body punch.
Our sources have told us that Rossiter has been working on his knees in the buildup to the fight.
Hopson lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Hopson makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Rossiter has a couple of punches blocked by Hopson.
Rossiter is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Hopson is defending well for now.
Hopson misses with a short punch on the inside.
Still in the clinch, Hopson scores with a nice short uppercut.
Hopson can't find room to land a body shot as Rossiter controls the action.
Hopson throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
A right hook to the body lands for Rossiter.
Hopson scores with a hook to the body.

Hopson escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Hopson misses with a series of wild punches.
Rossiter appears to be looking for a counter punch to the body.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Jacob Hopson takes that one, thanks to the knockdown.
The cut man is working on Kai Rossiter's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Hopson throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Rossiter ducks under a wild hook from Hopson.
Nice straight punches there by Hopson. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Hopson.
Rossiter throws a leg kick
and Hopson cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Hopson throws a leg kick that is checked

and Rossiter counters by moving into the clinch.
Hopson fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Hopson misses with a punch on the inside.
Hopson prevents a body shot from Rossiter.

Hopson pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Jacob Hopson is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Rossiter ducks under a wild hook from Hopson.
Rossiter was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Hopson tried to score with a low kick but Rossiter checks it.
Rossiter appears to be looking for a counter punch to the body.
Rossiter tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rossiter scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Hopson doesn't seem bothered though.
Hopson swats away the attempt to clinch by Rossiter.
The fighters circling - Hopson throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Hopson does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Kai Rossiter has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's one minute gone in the round.
A head kick misses from Hopson.
A quick step to the side and Rossiter tries to counter with a shot to the body but it doesn't connect.
Rossiter bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Hopson's head backwards.
Rossiter has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Rossiter there as he acknowledges the shot.
Rossiter throws a leg kick but Hopson checks it.
Rossiter checks a low kick from Hopson.
Hopson throws a front kick that sends Rossiter stumbling back into the ropes.
Hopson circles away from the clinch attempt.
Hopson lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.
Jacob Hopson is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Hopson on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.

Hopson gets a clinch.
Rossiter with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Rossiter.
Hopson swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Nice elbow from Rossiter.
Hopson throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Rossiters head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Hopson working aggressively here.
Hopson blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Rossiter blocking some punches.
Hopson works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Rossiter is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Hopson is defending well for now.
Hopson blocks an elbow strike from Rossiter.
Rossiter misses with the head strike.
Rossiter is leaning against Hopson and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Rossiter throws a head punch that misses.
Rossiter misses with some punches.
Rossiter fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Hopson throws a head punch that misses.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jacob Hopson comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Hopson 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 Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 26:30
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 26:30
Judge Taro Takaoka scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jacob Hopson!
A very excited looking Jacob Hopson made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.