PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between nate towles (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kenji Okabe (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

towles
vs
Okabe

180 cm
23
172 lbs
6 - 5 - 0

177 cm
20
181 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

Good takedowns
Counter striker
Good chin

Powerful takedowns
Counter striker
Granite chin

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 6 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, nate towles!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Kenji Okabe!
The judges for this bout are George Francis, Daniel Franklin and Cecil Peabody.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Okabe shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. towles is trying to defend but Okabe finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.

Okabe is looking for a kimura but towles is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Okabe to get the leverage.
towles is trying to maintain the position but Okabe is very close to passing his half guard.
Okabe is pressing down on towles's thigh, looking to free his foot. towles is holding on for now.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Okabe wants to take a breather but towles is having none of it.

Okabe is sneakily working for an arm triangle but towles sees it coming and defends easily.

Okabe is working for a kimura but towles is defending it quite comfortably.

Okabe is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
towles is trying to get back to full guard.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
towles misses with a takedown attempt

and Okabe counters with a takedown into side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
towles gives up the full mount - oops, sloppy defensive grappling there!

Okabe has hold of towles's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and towles manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Okabe looks gassed!
towles regains half guard.
towles trying to control but Okabe postures up.

Okabe is sneakily working for an arm triangle but towles sees it coming and defends easily.
towles trying to control here.

Okabe seems to be working for a kimura but towles defends the submission attempt.
towles tries to roll over but Okabe keeps him under control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

towles looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Okabe tries to pass to full mount but towles defends it.

Okabe is looking for a kimura but towles is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Okabe to get the leverage.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
towles with a poor takedown

and Okabe counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Okabe.
Okabe passes into half guard.

Okabe postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for towles to stand up.

Okabe closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Okabe lands in his opponent's guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Okabe trying to control but towles is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
towles utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
towles looking to hit a scissor sweep but Okabe is one step ahead there.
towles bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Okabe's guard.
towles won't allow Okabe to sweep him here.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Okabe is on top in guard.

towles looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Okabe postures up.
Okabe pushing down on towles's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
towles is trying to get back to full guard.
Okabe thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed towles's head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Okabe works his way into side control.

Okabe is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. towles knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.

Okabe stands up and we're back to a striking position.
Okabe throws a sloppy head kick and towles moves out of range easily.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Okabe clinches.
towles has Okabe pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Okabe manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kenji Okabe dominated that round.
That's time! towles's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Okabe darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.

Okabe seems to be working for a kimura but towles defends the submission attempt.

towles actively working from the bottom here.

towles looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Okabe escapes and gets back to his feet.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Okabe closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Okabe lands in his opponent's guard.
Okabe trying to control but towles is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Okabe is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
towles can't keep his opponent in guard - Okabe advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
towles is trying to maintain the position but Okabe is very close to passing his half guard.

Okabe is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

Okabe is working for a submission of some sort.
Okabe trying to mount his opponent but towles defends it.
Kenji Okabe has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
towles is trying to get back to full guard.
Okabe passes to side control.
towles tries to get back to half guard but can't.

Okabe wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by towles, who protects the arm well.

Okabe has worked his way into a potential kimura here. towles is trying to get out of the position but his squirming has just got him deeper into trouble. Okabe yanks on the arm and towles is forced to tap due to a very painful looking submission! Nice work by Okabe.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:05 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Kenji Okabe!