PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Paulo Mendes (ranked 1247 p4p, 1999 weight class) and Hideo Tokoro (ranked 180 p4p, 272 weight class). Mendes comes to the cage accompanied by Future - Last Breath. Tokoro comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Blksmiith - Gore-Tex Covers my Soul kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! There are an array of beautiful celebrities at ringside tonight! I wonder if any of them paid for their tickets.

Mendes
vs
Tokoro

180 cm
26
181
9 - 6 - 0

176 cm
24
170
10 - 9 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Granite chin

30th Century Beer Store

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 9 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Paulo Mendes!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Hideo Tokoro!
The judges for this bout are Hirohito Nitta, Tatsuya Matsuyama and Yasuomi Hirokawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Mendes misses with a looping left.
Mendes dives in for a single leg takedown but Tokoro sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
As Mendes backs off Tokoro throws a huge counter combo but Mendes manages to avoid it all.
We've been hearing reports that Mendes has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.
Tokoro has a couple of punches blocked by Mendes.
Mendes fails to pull guard.
Mendes prevents a body shot from Tokoro.
Tokoro misses with a hook to the ribs.
Mendes jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Tokoro walks away with a smile on his face. Mendes gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Paulo Mendes. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Tokoro misses with an uppercut. Mendes saw that one coming.
Mendes moves out of range of the strikes.
Mendes tries to counter with a takedown but Tokoro is quick to defend against it.

Mendes shoots in and gets a takedown into Tokoro's guard.
Tokoro not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Tokoro looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Tokoro is trying to keep Mendes in close.
Tokoro is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mendes throwing strikes from guard but Tokoro blocks nicely.
Mendes looking to pass the guard.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Mendes preventing the sweep.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Mendes accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Mendes is stalling in the full guard.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Mendes ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Tokoro swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Tokoro throws a jab when Mendes was well out of range.
Mendes takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Mendes throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Tokoro sees it coming and avoids it easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tokoro throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Mendes on the side of the head.
Mendes lands a jab to the nose.
Tokoro lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Tokoro throws out a loose jab but Mendes uses good head movement to avoid it.
Tokoro throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Tokoro fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Mendes manages to avoid it.
Mendes swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.

Mendes gets a takedown into half guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Mendes wants to control but Tokoro is keeping him busy.
Tokoro really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Mendes. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Tokoro is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Mendes scores with a couple of nice shots.
Tokoro has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Mendes is working away from the top position though.

Mendes looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

Mendes is trying to work for a kimura but Tokoro is defending well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Mendes is working for a submission of some sort.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Tokoro trying to control here.
Mendes wants to pass the guard but Tokoro is defending well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Tokoro is looking to improve his position.
Tokoro keeps trying to improve his position.
Tokoro is still trying to improve position.
Mendes is thwarting Tokoro's attempts to control the position.
Mendes wants to lay and pray for a moment but Tokoro keeps working.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Tokoro wants to get back to full guard.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Hideo Tokoro will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Tokoro missing with a left hand there. Mendes was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
It looked like Mendes was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.
Tokoro throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Tokoro throws the left hand but Mendes avoids the punch easily.
No joy there for Tokoro, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Tokoro circles away from the clinch attempt.
Mendes looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Tokoro lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Mendes circles away quickly and effectively.
Mendes scores with a hook.
Hideo Tokoro seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Tokoro throws a poor cross that misses
and Mendes counters with a straight right hand.
Mendes fails to land with a series of punches.
Nice cross by Tokoro.
Nice defenses there by Tokoro.
Tokoro changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Tokoro clobbers Mendes with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Tokoro throws a predictable looking body shot
and Mendes connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Mendes tries to clinch but Tokoro moves out of range.
Tokoro tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Mendes was well out of range. Poor timing from Tokoro.
Mendes fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Tokoro avoids it really well and circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tokoro dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Tokoro looks to land a left hand but Mendes moved out of range nicely.
Hideo Tokoro seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Mendes closes the distance and clinches.
A head punch on the inside from Tokoro fails to land.

Mendes gets control of Tokoro's arms and successfully pulls guard. Mendes will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
Tokoro sitting in guard here, content to control.
Tokoro wants to stand but Mendes has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

Mendes working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Tokoro doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Oh but Mendes is tightening it up a little... Tokoro has to be careful here... He's got his foot tucked under now, this looks tight! Tokoro reacted too slowly and this one could be over in a matter of seconds! YES! Tokoro taps out! Nice BJJ there by Mendes!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:55 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle Choke). Paulo Mendes!
Paulo Mendes decided to go for the less than humble approach in his post fight interview, telling everyone how he is going to conquer the world. The crowd seemed to like it when really that sort of approach could have gone either way.