PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Dick Hickman (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kazushi Rakusaba (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rakusaba comes into a darkened arena with his song building. David Bowie - Suffragette City kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Dick Hickman is staring across the ring at his opponent, tweaking his nipples... Tweaking his own nipples that is.

Hickman
vs
Rakusaba

183 cm
23
171 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

183 cm
23
181 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Great low kicks
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Granite chin

Knock Out Artistry

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 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Dick Hickman!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Kazushi Rakusaba!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Sano, Yukihiro Shimada and Yuuki Gou.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hickman fakes the leg kick and cracks Rakusaba in the body.
Hickman throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Hickman looks to score with a jab to the body but Rakusaba is just out of range.
Rakusaba throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Rakusaba tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Hickman swivels and escapes.
Rakusaba throws a shot from downtown. Hickman moves away and avoids it.
Hickman throws the left hand but Rakusaba avoids the punch easily.
Dick Hickman seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Rakusaba takes a swing at Hickman's ribcage but misses.
Rakusaba moves out of range as Hickman strikes.
Hickman misses with a series of wild punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rakusaba slips under a jab.
Hickman misses with a looping right.
Rakusaba moves away from the strike by Hickman.
Rakusaba shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Rakusaba looks to score with a jab to the body but Hickman is just out of range.
Rakusaba throws a jab but it's blocked by Hickman.
A jab from Hickman misses.

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.
Hickman will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Hickman dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Rakusaba. That did some damage!
Hickman plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!

It looks like Kazushi Rakusaba has been cut.
Hickman takes a swing at Rakusaba's ribcage but misses.
Rakusaba closes this distance looking for a takedown but Hickman circles away.
Dick Hickman has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Kazushi Rakusaba.
Rakusaba ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Rakusaba misses with a wild body shot.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rakusaba lands a jab.
Hickman lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Rakusaba scores with the left hand. Hickman knows he should have avoided that one.
Dick Hickman is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Hickman misses with a looping right.
Hickman throws a series of punches but Rakusaba moves out of range.
Rakusaba ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Hickman throws a hook to the side of Rakusaba's head but Rakusaba sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hickman slips under a jab from Rakusaba.
Hickman keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Ooooh, nice body kick lands from Hickman. Rakusaba shrugs it off though.
Rakusaba looks gassed!
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!
Hickman swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Rakusaba.
Hickman just misses with a punch to the body.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Rakusaba scores with a hook to the body. Hickman takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Rakusaba pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dick Hickman dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Kazushi Rakusaba's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Hickman throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Rakusaba tries to score a power double leg takedown but Hickman sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Rakusaba somewhat.
Hickman punishes Rakusaba's body with a nice straight punch.
Rakusaba drops his hands momentarily and Hickman takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Both these guys seem content to just stand up and trade with eachother but Rakusaba might want to think about changing up his gameplan a bit because over the course of the fight, Hickman has got the better of the exchanges.
A jab from Hickman finds it's way through Rakusaba's defenses.

That has opened up Kazushi Rakusaba's cut even more.
Hickman misses with a looping left.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rakusaba showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Hickman.
Hickman buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.

Rakusaba drives through with a takedown into guard.

Hickman kicks Rakusaba off and gets to his feet.
Hickman lands a nice looking body kick.
Rakusaba is breathing heavily.
A swing and a miss from Hickman.
Hickman dips to his left and cracks Rakusaba with an uppercut!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Hickman will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Hickman throws a series of punches but Rakusaba avoids them all with ease.
Rakusaba keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Hickman.
Rakusaba uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Hickman.
Hickman looks to land a right hand but Rakusaba moved out of range.
Rakusaba swings away with a body shot that misses
and Hickman connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

The cut above Kazushi Rakusaba's eye is starting to cause him problems now.
A shot to the body from Hickman misses

and Rakusaba counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Hickman's guard now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rakusaba prevents Hickman from getting back to his feet.
Hickman is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Rakusaba can do to turn this around?
Rakusaba content to stall in guard here.
Rakusaba wants to pass the guard but Hickman is keeping the position.

That's four 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.
Rakusaba missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Rakusaba is in close to Hickman's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Rakusaba trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Rakusaba throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Hickman works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Rakusaba has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Rakusaba trying to control but Hickman is working from the bottom.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Rakusaba stands and throws Hickman's legs to the side, diving into side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dick Hickman dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Kazushi Rakusaba's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Hickman throws a hook but Rakusaba blocks it.
Hickman throws a head kick that misses.
Hickman lands with a shot to the body.
Hickman misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hickman throws a hook but Rakusaba blocks it.
Rakusaba misses with a takedown
and Hickman cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rakusaba steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Hickman.
Nice defenses there by Rakusaba.
A slow jab from Rakusaba misses its intended target.
Hickman falls off balance throwing a combination

and Rakusaba counters with a nice double leg into side control. Hickman won't be happy with that.
Hickman is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Rakusaba asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Rakusaba wants to control but Hickman is keeping him busy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rakusaba lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Hickman down.
Rakusaba prevents Hickman from escaping the position.
Hickman knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Rakusaba on the ground.
Rakusaba trying to control the action but Hickman is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rakusaba throws an elbow but Hickman slips to the side and avoids it well.
Rakusaba sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Hickman is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Hickman pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Hickman pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Dick Hickman is winning the standup battle so far.
Rakusaba ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Hickman moves away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Hickman fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Rakusaba throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Kazushi Rakusaba has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Hickman ducks under a wild hook from Rakusaba.
Rakusaba throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Rakusaba throws the left hand but Hickman avoids the punch easily.
A big left from Hickman misses.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Hickman lands a left and a right that send Rakusaba crashing to the mat, dazed. Hickman thinks about following him to the mat but decides to wave him back up to his feet!
Dick Hickman is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Kazushi Rakusaba's cut is absolute horrible now. This looks like something out of a horror film with blood covering both fighters.

The referee calls the doctor in to look at Kazushi Rakusaba's cut. Oh no, the doctor has called an end to the bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:55 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Cut). Dick Hickman!