PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Kenny Mason (ranked 4084 p4p, 3723 weight class) and Leandro Hernandez (ranked 0 p4p, 293 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Mason
vs
Hernandez

178 cm
22
155
0 - 0 - 0

178 cm
25
146
1 - 0 - 0

Decent wrestler
Brawler
Self confident

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Kenny Mason!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Leandro Hernandez!
The judges for this bout are Kenichi Hosakawa, Yuuki Gou and Shigeki Sano.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hernandez closes the distance and lands a one-two.

Mason pushes Hernandez up against the cage in a clinch.
Hernandez is working for takedown but Mason is calmly controlling the position for now.
Mason is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.

Mason breaks the clinch.
Hernandez shoots for a takedown but Mason saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
The fight stays on the outside here - Mason looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
The fight stays on the outside here - Mason looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Hernandez has managed to clinch.
Hernandez is stalling here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.

Mason escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Mason slaps away a takedown attempt from Hernandez, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Kenny Mason has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Leandro Hernandez.

Mason closes the distance and clinches.
Hernandez is trying to break free.
Hernandez fails to pull guard.
Hernandez blocks a body shot from Mason.

Mason jumps guard and drags Hernandez to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Mason wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Mason is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mason keeping moving, preventing Hernandez from controlling successfully.
Mason is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Mason misses with a head shot. Hernandez uses the momentum to regain guard.
Mason lands a couple of digs.

Mason drops back, looking for a kneebar! Hernandez looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Hernandez looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Hernandez!

Mason has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mason tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Hernandez wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.

Hernandez stands up.
Mason stuffs the takedown attempt from Hernandez. Hernandez gets slowly back to his feet.
Mason displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Hernandez.
Hernandez pivots, looking for a leg kick but Mason is out of range and Hernandez settles back down.
Hernandez is looking to clinch.
Mason lifts his leg as if looking to counter with a high kick.
Hernandez doesn't manage to clinch there - Mason circles away.
Mason takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Mason gets a takedown into half guard.
Mason wants to take a breather but Hernandez is having none of it.
Hernandez looks like he's trying to stand up.
Mason perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Hernandez is trying to maintain the position but Mason is very close to passing his half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Hernandez tries to roll over but Mason keeps him under control.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Kenny Mason will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Hernandez tries to clinch up.
Hernandez shoots in looking for a takedown. Mason tries to sprawl out of it but Hernandez keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Mason manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Hernandez avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Mason fails with an attempt to clinch.

Hernandez gets caught flat footed, as Mason shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Hernandez working a defensive guard but Mason passes into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Mason wants to lay and pray for a moment but Hernandez keeps working.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Mason wants to stand but Hernandez has hold of a leg and an arm, so he's trapped for now.
Mason is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Hernandez can do to turn this around?

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mason is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Hernandez pushes Mason off but Mason dives into side control.
Mason controls the position.
Mason is looking to take a break and control but Hernandez is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
A bit of a lull in the action. I'm sure it will pick up again soon... even if the ref has to physically pick them up and put them back on their feet.
Hernandez wants to get back to his feet.
Hernandez tries to get back to half guard but can't.

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.

Mason is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Hernandez is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Mason landing a few strikes.
The ground and pound from Mason seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Mason scores with punches from side control.
Hernandez is trying to control Mason's posture but Mason avoids it.
What's Hernandez going to do here then? He's in a bit of a pickle.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hernandez regains half guard.
Mason trying to mount his opponent but Hernandez defends it.

Mason is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

Mason shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Hernandez manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Hernandez is wriggling around but Mason manages to pass to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Mason trying to control the action but Hernandez is working from the bottom.
Mason sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Hernandez tries to get to full guard but Mason has control of the leg.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Mason working Hernandez over with strikes.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Kenny Mason dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

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

Hernandez looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Mason wants to stand up but Hernandez is controlling the position.
Mason wants to control but Hernandez is keeping him busy.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Mason is thwarting Hernandez's attempts to control the position.
Mason prevents Hernandez from standing back up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mason is thwarting Hernandez's attempts to control the position.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Mason works his way into side control.
Mason tries to stand but Hernandez is controlling his head.
Hernandez wants to control but Mason postures up.
Hernandez wants to get back to his feet.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Mason tries to bum rush Hernandez with a series of wild strikes but Hernandez uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
A nice side step and Hernandez releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.
Kenny Mason is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Hernandez tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Mason defends well and Hernandez ends up having to push Mason into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Mason appears to be looking for a counter takedown.

Mason drives through with a takedown into Hernandez's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Mason sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Hernandez's guard.
Hernandez takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Mason is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Mason missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Hernandez tries to kick Mason off but Mason keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Mason wants to control but Hernandez is keeping him busy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hernandez tries to roll over but Mason keeps him under control.
Mason wants to stand but Hernandez has hold of a leg and an arm, so he's trapped for now.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Mason wants to pass the guard but Hernandez is defending well.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Hernandez pulls out of a head kick attempt.
It looked like Mason was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.
Hernandez will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Mason closes this distance looking for a takedown but Hernandez circles away.
Hernandez feints the counter takedown.
Hernandez scores with a jab. Mason acknowledges it with a nod of the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Mason dives in and scores a takedown into Hernandez's guard.
Hernandez is looking to stand back up... there's a bit of a scramble and Mason dives into side control.

Mason wants to stand but Hernandez has his arm trapped.
Hernandez gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Hernandez is looking for a sweep. Mason is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Mason slows the pace down in half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Kenny Mason showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Mason, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yuuki Gou scores the fight 30:27
Judge Shigeki Sano scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kenny Mason!