PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Hrvoje Palmotic (ranked 883 p4p, 832 weight class) and Masa Saitoh (ranked 120 p4p, 113 weight class). Palmotic comes into the arena with One day I'll be king blaring out of the sound system. Masa Saitoh acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Palmotic
vs
Saitoh

189 cm
32
205
22 - 15 - 0

182 cm
28
205
16 - 7 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
KO power

Excellent grappler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

30th Century Beer Store

Shadow Realm Apparel

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 22 - 15 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Hrvoje Palmotic!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 7 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Masa Saitoh!
The judges for this bout are Ren Mimura, Yasuomi Hirokawa and Yukihiro Shimada.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Saitoh checks a low kick from Palmotic.
Saitoh moves away from the strike by Palmotic.
Saitoh connects with a nice looking jab.
Palmotic throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Saitoh sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Palmotic scores with a sloppy right hand. Saitoh should have avoided that one.
A lazy body kick from Palmotic
and Saitoh counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Saitoh takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Saitoh swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Palmotic counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Saitoh thinking.
Saitoh bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
A nice side step and Saitoh releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.
Palmotic throws a head kick that misses.
Saitoh throws out a counter right but Palmotic avoids it with no problem.
A slow jab from Palmotic misses its intended target.
Saitoh looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Palmotic takes a body punch but keeps moving.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Saitoh uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Palmotic.
A left lands for Palmotic.

It looks like Masa Saitoh has been cut.
Saitoh is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Palmotic.
A decent looking cross lands there for Saitoh.
Saitoh swings and misses with a hook to the body.
It looked like Palmotic wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Palmotic throws a head kick that misses.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Saitoh! But no joy.
Saitoh throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Palmotic throws a looping overhand right but Saitoh ducks down to avoid it.
Saitoh misses with an uppercut.
Palmotic misses with an uppercut

and Saitoh counters with a nice double leg into side control. Palmotic won't be happy with that.
Palmotic is being controlled here.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Saitoh lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Saitoh advances to mount.
Saitoh is landing with some decent strikes but Palmotic is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Saitoh throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Palmotic knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Saitoh on the ground.
Saitoh lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Palmotic tries to hold on but Saitoh postures up.
Saitoh throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Saitoh controlling from the full mount.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Palmotic tries to hold on but Saitoh postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Saitoh misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Palmotic is squirming around, avoiding Saitoh's attempts to control the action.
Saitoh has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Palmotic's face.
Saitoh working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Saitoh punishing his opponent with strikes.
Saitoh raining down shots from the mount!

Palmotic is rocked!
Saitoh lands a big shot to the head and Palmotic winces in pain. He's tapped out due to strikes!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:56 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Strikes). Masa Saitoh!
Our winner, Masa Saitoh, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.