PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between rorouni kenshin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mashiba Akira (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

kenshin
vs
Akira

181 cm
22
170 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

180 cm
22
164 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

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 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, rorouni kenshin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Mashiba Akira!
The judges for this bout are Hirohito Nitta, Tatsuya Matsuyama and Yukihiro Yamamoto.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Akira is looking to clinch.
Akira wants to clinch.
Akira tries to close the distance and clinch but kenshin swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Akira tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Akira darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
kenshin is looking to control Akira's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can kenshin avoid being mounted?
Akira with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Akira wants to lay and pray for a moment but kenshin keeps working.

That's one minute gone in the round.
kenshin wants to get back to full guard.
kenshin is working hard here to advance position.
Akira looks gassed!
Akira is keen to just control but kenshin is a slippery customer.
kenshin is looking for a sweep. Akira is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
kenshin lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
kenshin bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Akira's head.

kenshin shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Akira manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
kenshin trying to control but Akira is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
kenshin is really struggling to control Akira but he's trying to hold on to the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Akira is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
kenshin trying to control but Akira is working from the bottom.
kenshin in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
kenshin is looking to stand up but Akira won't let him.
Akira keeping full guard, as kenshin tries to pass.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
kenshin trying to control but Akira is working from the bottom.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
kenshin tries to score a power double leg takedown but Akira sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten kenshin somewhat.

kenshin feints and as Akira raises his hands in defense, kenshin changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
kenshin controls from within his opponent's guard.
kenshin trying to control but Akira is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
kenshin pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Akira is keeping the position for now.
kenshin postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
kenshin throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
kenshin stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Akira swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Akira looking to control.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.

kenshin shoots in and bounces Akira off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

rorouni kenshin dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

A left and a right from kenshin both land. Nice combination.
Akira shoots and misses

and kenshin counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Akira!
kenshin looking to control but Akira is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
kenshin is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Akira is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
kenshin thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Akira tries to control the position but kenshin now has his back.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
kenshin is not going to allow Akira to sit and survive in this position.
kenshin throwing sloppy strikes.
kenshin gets his hands free as Akira looks to control.
The crowd hopeful of a finish here - kenshin's supporters are on their feet, screaming for him to go for the rear naked choke.
Akira is very frustrated here, being controlled quite effectively by kenshin.
kenshin lands a couple of good shots to his opponent's body and a final shot to the head. Good little attack there by kenshin.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
kenshin scores with punches from the back.
Akira trying to control the action but kenshin just sinks the hooks in.
The crowd hopeful of a finish here - kenshin's supporters are on their feet, screaming for him to go for the rear naked choke.
Akira looks to control his opponent's hands but he's not mananging it at the moment.
kenshin is looking to finish with some ground and pound!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
kenshin connects with a series of strikes and the referee is calling for Akira to escape the position.
Akira just trying to survive but kenshin is wriggling into a better position, looking to finish.

Akira defends a rear naked choke attempt by controlling one of kenshin's arms.
Akira covering up well under a series of strikes from kenshin.
kenshin controls the position.
Akira trying to control the hands but kenshin won't let him.

That's four 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.
kenshin is looking to control Akira but Akira is wriggling around and keeping busy.

kenshin is persistently looking for the submission but Akira is defending it well.
Akira looking to stop the rear naked choke attempt by controlling the hands.
Akira is keeping busy.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

rorouni kenshin dominated that second round.
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!

kenshin decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Akira desperately trying to maintain half guard.
kenshin prevents Akira from improving his position.
kenshin sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Akira defending well though.
kenshin is figuring out what he wants to do next.

kenshin postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for Akira to stand up.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Akira looks to clinch

and kenshin counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
kenshin wants to control from the top but Akira keeps moving.
Akira is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Akira is trying to control the position from the bottom.
kenshin trying to control but Akira is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Akira avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
kenshin trying to control but Akira is working from the bottom.

Akira looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Akira tries to clinch but fails miserably
and kenshin counters with a nice kick to the body.
kenshin scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
kenshin shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Akira but Akira pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Akira tries to clinch
and kenshin counters with a body kick.
A right-left combo lands from kenshin.
Akira darts in trying to clinch
and kenshin connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from kenshin is defended easily by Akira.
Akira clinches but kenshin breaks the clinch

and kenshin counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by kenshin.
Akira has his hands on kenshin's head, controlling the position.
kenshin throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Akira works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

Akira throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
kenshin pushes down on Akira's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Akira tries to roll over but kenshin keeps him under control.
Akira is trying to maintain the position but kenshin is very close to passing his half guard.
kenshin not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Mashiba Akira has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
rorouni kenshin is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Akira looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

And that's the end of the fight!
rorouni kenshin showed his dominance in that final round.
Well kenshin has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 30:27
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... rorouni kenshin!