PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Nick Dunsmore (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mike Black (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Dunsmore comes to the cage accompanied by Rock Superstar. Black is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Elton John - Rocket Man. I don't know about you partner, but I'm pumped for this one!

Dunsmore
vs
Black

170 cm
24
155 lbs
10 - 1 - 0

165 cm
26
157 lbs
16 - 9 - 1

Powerful takedowns
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Decent wrestler
Decent boxing
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the featherweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 10 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Nick Dunsmore!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 9 - 1, fighting out of Tokyo, Mike Black!
The judges for this bout are Kenichi Hosakawa, Yasuomi Hirokawa and Tatsuya Matsuyama.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Dunsmore closes the distance and clinches up with Black, looking for a takedown. Dunsmore pushes Black against the cage but Black circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Dunsmore shoots in for a takedown but Black shows good takedown defense.
Black thows a body shot but no joy.
Black scores with a nice strike.
A big right from Black misses.
Dunsmore fails in his attempt to clinch.
Black throws a hook to the side of Dunsmore's head but Dunsmore sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Dunsmore dives in and grabs Black's left leg, looking for a takedown. Black pushes down on Dunsmore's head and hops out.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Nick Dunsmore. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Black just misses with a punch to the body.
Dunsmore shoots in for a double leg but Black sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Dunsmore is defended easily by Black.
The fighters circle momentarily. Black darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Black stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Dunsmore.
Dunsmore takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Black connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Dunsmore takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Dunsmore uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Black.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Black lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Dunsmore circles away quickly and effectively.
Black connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Black scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
A looping hook to the body misses from Black. Dunsmore does a little dance to reset his feet.
Black scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
A slow jab from Black misses its intended target.
Black tries to bum rush Dunsmore with a series of wild strikes but Dunsmore uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
A slow jab from Black misses its intended target.
Black misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Black throws the left hand but Dunsmore avoids the punch easily.
Dunsmore misses with a series of wild punches.

Dunsmore clinches.
Black has a couple of punches blocked by Dunsmore.

Dunsmore breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Dunsmore tries to clinch but Black is having none of it.
Dunsmore staying out of range there.

Dunsmore has managed to clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Dunsmore takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Dunsmore tries to score a body lock takedown but Black shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Dunsmore fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Dunsmore creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Black's defenses.
A left hand lands to the body for Black.

Black breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Dunsmore wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Dunsmore keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Black.
Dunsmore keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Black throws a left and a right that both miss

and Dunsmore counters with a single leg into guard. Black didn't expect that.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Black has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Black wants to sweep but no luck.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Black can do anything to dispel that myth.
Dunsmore tries to free his leg and advance position but Black is retaining full guard.

Black pushes Dunsmore off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Black thows a body shot but no joy.
Black fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Mike Black seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Dunsmore tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Black paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Black scores with a hook.
A slow jab from Black misses its intended target.
Dunsmore keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

Dunsmore looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Black controlling the position well.
Dunsmore is thwarting Black's attempts to control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Black is looking for a sweep. Dunsmore is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

Dunsmore is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Black trying to control here but he's found himself mounted! Oh no!
Black working to try and regain half guard.
Dunsmore wants to control the pace but Black is squirming around nicely.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Nick Dunsmore will probably get the nod.
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.

Dunsmore has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Black misses with a wild body shot.
Dunsmore fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
A looping hook to the body misses from Black. Dunsmore does a little dance to reset his feet.
Black misses with a body shot

so Dunsmore counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Dunsmore forces his way into half guard.
Dunsmore stalling.
Black trying to control but Dunsmore postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dunsmore is trying to control. Black wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Black trying to control here.
Dunsmore not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Dunsmore is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Dunsmore's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Black flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Black thows a left - swing and a miss!
Dunsmore tries to clinch but Black is having none of it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Dunsmore is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
A looping hook to the body misses from Black. Dunsmore does a little dance to reset his feet.
Dunsmore keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Dunsmore needs to keep his hands up - Black had a free shot at his head there.
Black throws out a loose jab but Dunsmore uses good head movement to avoid it.
Dunsmore defending well as Black loads up on a big left hand.
Black lunges at Dunsmore with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Dunsmore's hand.
Dunsmore is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

Dunsmore shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Dunsmore showed some decent athleticism there.

Dunsmore is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Black wants to improve his position but Dunsmore is controlling well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Black is refusing to be controlled, as Dunsmore sits in half guard.
Black is looking for a sweep. Dunsmore is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Dunsmore not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Black wants to control but Dunsmore is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Black wants to get back to full guard.
Black trying to hold on to Dunsmore's head to control him but Dunsmore postures up.

That's four 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.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Dunsmore has taken the fight to the clinch.
Black is trying to force a seperation but Dunsmore has the dominant position.
Black tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
A hook to the body from Black.
Black is trying to break the clinch but Dunsmore has him pressed against the cage.
Dunsmore content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Dunsmore wants a takedown.
Dunsmore has Black pressed against the cage, preventing Black from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Dunsmore is trying to drag Black to the mat but Black just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Nick Dunsmore. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Black misses with a short punch on the inside.
Black throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.

Black breaks the clinch.
Black misses with a body shot.
Black lands a nice hook to Dunsmore's body. Dunsmore takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Dunsmore takes a jab right on the kisser.
Dunsmore throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Black's waist but Black gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Dunsmore off to one side.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nick Dunsmore dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Dunsmore on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Dunsmore fails with an attempt to clinch.
Black fails to land with a series of punches.
Black ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Dunsmore walks into a straight right hand from Black.
Dunsmore keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Black paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
A lazy left from Black finds it's target.
Black misses with an uppercut.
Dunsmore throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Black's waist but Black gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Dunsmore off to one side.

Dunsmore looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Black!
Black is working to get back to half guard.
Dunsmore tries to control but Black wriggling away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Black tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Black is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Black is squirming around, avoiding Dunsmore's attempts to control the action.
Black can't escape the position.
Dunsmore controlling from the full mount.
Dunsmore putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!

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.
Black is desperately trying to get back to half guard.

Dunsmore wants to finish this one by submission but Black is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Dunsmore.
Dunsmore looking to ground and pound but Black is blocking nicely.
Nick Dunsmore overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Black tries to reverse the position but Dunsmore maintains control.
Dunsmore misses with a head shot.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Dunsmore cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Black regains half guard.
Black wants to get back to full guard.
Black takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Dunsmore is thwarting Black's attempts to control the position.
Dunsmore seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Black wants to improve his position but Dunsmore is controlling well.
Dunsmore is looking to take a break and control but Black is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Black is defending against the submission attempts here by Dunsmore.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Black regains full guard. Nicely done.
Dunsmore wants to stand but Black is controlling his posture from full guard.
Black working a defensive guard here.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Dunsmore slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nick Dunsmore clearly takes that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Dunsmore shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Black sprawls well. Black wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Dunsmore gets slowly back to his feet.
Nick Dunsmore is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Ooooh, nice body kick lands from Dunsmore. Black shrugs it off though.
Black digs a good body shot into Dunsmore's ribs.
Black misses the body punch

and Dunsmore counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Dunsmore is looking to stand up but Black won't let him.
Black keeping full guard, as Dunsmore tries to pass.
Black is trying to control the position but Dunsmore postures up.
Dunsmore pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Black is keeping the position for now.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Dunsmore trying to control the position from guard on top but Black is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dunsmore missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Black keeping moving, preventing Dunsmore from controlling successfully.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
The fighters circling - Black throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Dunsmore tries to close the distance and clinch but Black swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Black sizes up Dunsmore with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Black thows a body shot but no joy.
Black stalks Dunsmore and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Dunsmore's face. Dunsmore staggers backwards, shaken.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Black's corner calls for a 1,2 combination and Black duly obliges.
Black looks to land a combination but Dunsmore avoids it well.
Black throws a jab when Dunsmore was well out of range.
Dunsmore fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Black avoids it really well and circles away.
Dunsmore scores with a head kick.
Black fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Dunsmore on the side of the head.
Black throws out a powerful jab.
Nice takedown defense from Black. No joy for Dunsmore on that attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Nick Dunsmore. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Dunsmore fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Black avoids it really well and circles away.
It's got to the stage where if one of these guys blows hard enough, the other might fall over.
Black scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
A big left from Black misses.
Black lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Black swats away the attempt to clinch by Dunsmore.
Black tries to bum rush Dunsmore with a series of wild strikes but Dunsmore uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Dunsmore shoots in and drives through. Black sprawls well.
Dunsmore looks to land a combination but Black avoids it well.
Dunsmore looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Black is fending him off so far but Dunsmore persists. Nope, Black circles away and we're back to standing.
Black takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Black will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Dunsmore displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Black throws out the jab.
Black lands a head shot.
Mike Black is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Dunsmore looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Black!
Black is desperately trying to get back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dunsmore can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Black is looking to escape.
Dunsmore tries to push Black's head away but Black is holding on tight.
Black slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Dunsmore stalling.
Black is not content to let Dunsmore control the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nick Dunsmore had his way with Mike Black in that round.
That's time! Dunsmore's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Dunsmore fails with an attempt to clinch.
Dunsmore shoots in looking for a takedown. Black tries to sprawl out of it but Dunsmore keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Black manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Black is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Dunsmore.
Black uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Dunsmore has time to react.
Black lands with a good body shot.
Dunsmore thuds a left hand into Black's body.

Dunsmore shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Black slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.

Dunsmore stands, ready to strike. The ref makes him back up and allows Black to get to his feet.
Both of our modern day gladiators look out of it here - an gruelling 5 rounds of action taking it's toll on them, no doubt.
Black throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Dunsmore walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Black pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Dunsmore slips a jab from Black.

Dunsmore shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Dunsmore is looking to advance position but Black won't allow it.
Dunsmore looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Dunsmore is thwarting Black's attempts to control the position.
Mike Black has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Black is looking to improve his position.
Dunsmore tries to pass the half guard into mount. Black knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Black lands with a straight right. Dunsmore didn't see that one coming.
Black throws a hook but Dunsmore blocks it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Black looks to throw the jab but Dunsmore is out of range.
Dunsmore looks like he's developed a pretty tasty lump over his left eye. He'll need to avoid taking much more damage to that.
Black throws a left and a right that both miss
and Dunsmore counters with a good low kick that Black was not able to check.
Dunsmore moves in looking to clinch but Black pushes him off.
Black throws a right and a left that Dunsmore avoids nicely.
Black thows a body shot but no joy.
Black swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Dunsmore wants to clinch up but Black keeps it at a distance.
Nick Dunsmore is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Black gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Black is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Dunsmore looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Dunsmore postures up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dunsmore trying to control but Black is working from the bottom.

Dunsmore stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Black stuffs the takedown attempt from Dunsmore. Dunsmore gets slowly back to his feet.
Dunsmore moves out of range of the strikes.
Dunsmore fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Nick Dunsmore. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Black fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

And that's the end of the fight!
Nick Dunsmore showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Dunsmore, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 5 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 50:45
Judge Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 50:45
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 50:45

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Nick Dunsmore!
Nick Dunsmore retains his featherweight title!