PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Hajime Saito (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rufus Lee (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Lee has chosen Kick out the Jams by The MC5s as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. I'm sure you'll be fascinated to know that I was talking to some pointless Z list celebrity before the fight and he thought that Rufus Lee was going to win. Let's see if he was right.

Saito
vs
Lee

185 cm
24
193 lbs
7 - 3 - 1

185 cm
26
200 lbs
15 - 7 - 0

Good takedowns
Brawler
Experienced

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

:: Happy Pills ::

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 3 - 1, fighting out of Tokyo, Hajime Saito!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Rufus Lee!
The judges for this bout are Sosuke Kotani, Shirou Masuda and Yukihiro Yamamoto.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Lee lands a head shot.

It looks like Hajime Saito has been cut.
Lee scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Saito throws a big shot that misses.
Lee lands with an uppercut that bounces Saito off the ropes and back into rage.
Lee scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Saito dodges the punch combination from Lee.
Saito looks for a takedown but Lee sprawls well.
Saito shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Lee drops Saito with a left and a right! Oh, Saito is hurt - Lee dives into side control looking to finish!

Saito is rocked!
Saito is trying to escape the position but Lee is controlling the position.
Oh Saito is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Saito seems to have got his legs back now.
Lee misses with the ground and pound.
Lee is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Saito's shoulder. That is not cool.
Lee's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Saito tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Lee wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Saito stops Lee from passing to mount.
Lee wants to lay and pray for a moment but Saito keeps working.
Saito takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.

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.
Lee looking to control but instead Saito has slipped a leg in, to regain half guard.
Lee looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Saito with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Lee passes to full mount!
Saito sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Saito wants to get back to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Saito slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Lee trying to control the position from guard on top but Saito is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Saito working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Lee doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Lee manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Lee wants to get up but he can't break Saito's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Saito wants to hit a switch here but Lee passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Saito there!

That's four 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.
Lee controlling the pace for now.
Lee tries to control but Saito wriggling away.
Lee tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Despite being in the dominant position, Rufus Lee just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
No luck for Saito with that takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Hajime Saito. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Saito misses with a takedown attempt - Lee sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rufus Lee dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Hajime Saito's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Saito misses with a straight right.
Hajime Saito seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Saito just misses with a punch to the body.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Lee scores with a hook to the body. Saito takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Saito swings and misses with a hook to the body.

Saito drives through with a takedown into guard.

Saito drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Lee manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Saito has Lee in his guard.
Lee is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lee must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Saito looking to hit a scissor sweep but Lee is one step ahead there.
Lee trying to control but Saito is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.

Saito looking for a guillotine here but Lee defends easily.
Saito looking for a sweep. Not yet Saito, not yet.

Lee is posturing up here but Saito has hold of an arm and he's gone for an armbar! Lee tries to roll out but it's too tight and Lee has to tap! Slick submission there by Saito!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:18 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Hajime Saito!