PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Hiro Protagonist (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Akio Takada (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd seem to be enjoying Takada's choice of entrance music: Metallica - All Nightmare Long. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Protagonist
vs
Takada

183 cm
26
195 lbs
10 - 2 - 0

182 cm
26
192 lbs
9 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Very strong

Powerful takedowns
Good low kicks
Heavy handed

Hell's Balls Recovery

Blitzkrieg Formula 5000
Blitzkrieg Formula 5000

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 10 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Hiro Protagonist!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Akio Takada!
The judges for this bout are , and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Takada staying out of range there.
Takada fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Protagonist scoring well with a low kick there.
Protagonist keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Protagonist checks a leg kick.
Takada walks into a left hand.
Protagonist lands a slapping body shot.
Takada fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Protagonist cracks Takada with a right hand to the side of the head.
Takada tries to score with a low kick but Protagonist moves his leg out of the way.
Takada lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Takada throws a quick inside leg kick.
Protagonist thuds a left hand into Takada's body.
Protagonist throws a series of punches but Takada moves out of range.
Takada throws a chopping leg kick but Protagonist manages to avoid taking any serious damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Takada slips a straight right by Protagonist.
Takada misses with a double jab
and Protagonist counters with a right hand to the body.
Takada looks to land a left hand but Protagonist moved out of range nicely.
Takada uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Protagonist.
Protagonist dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Protagonist swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Takada.
Protagonist throws a hook to the side of Takada's head but Takada sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Protagonist throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Takada looks gassed!
Protagonist slips a straight right by Takada.
Protagonist is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Protagonist cracks a nice hook into Takada's ribs.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Protagonist blocks a leg kick.
Takada takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Protagonist falls off balance throwing a combination
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Protagonist swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Protagonist lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Takada circles away quickly and effectively.
Takada moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Protagonist misses with a shot to the body
and Takada counters with a three punch combo that has Protagonist backing up. Protagonist nods at Takada to acknowledge the strikes.
Nice shot by Protagonist.
Hiro Protagonist is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Takada has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Takada there as he acknowledges the shot.
Protagonist throws a body punch but Takada moves out of range.
Takada fails to land the takedown.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Protagonist chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Takada can pounce on him.
Takada throws a leg kick
and Protagonist counters with a straight right hand.
Takada throws a body kick that misses.
Takada misses with a shot to the body
and Protagonist counters with a straight right hand.
Takada tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Protagonist was well out of range. Poor timing from Takada.
Protagonist fails to land with a series of punches.
Protagonist avoids the body shot from Takada.
Protagonist throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Takada cracks the inside of Protagonist's front leg.
Protagonist throws a jab when Takada was well out of range.
Nice cross by Protagonist.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Protagonist throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
An inside leg kick from Takada misses.
Protagonist falls off balance throwing a combination
and Takada counters with a nice leg kick.
Takada throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Protagonist misses with a looping left.
Takada cracks Protagonist with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Protagonist lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Protagonist.
Takada with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Protagonist to score with a decent uppercut.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Takada pivots, looking for a leg kick but Protagonist is out of range and Takada settles back down.
Takada takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Protagonist throws a lazy right hand but Takada sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hiro Protagonist dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Takada changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Hiro Protagonist is winning the standup battle so far.
Thud! ouch! good body kick from Takada - that will leave a mark!
A jab from Protagonist finds it's way through Takada's defenses.
Takada lands a nice leg kick that just misses Protagonist's sensitive parts.
Protagonist misses with a body punch
and Takada counters with a good low kick that Protagonist was not able to check.
Protagonist misses with a hook. Takada ducked under it nicely.
Protagonist is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
A big left from Protagonist misses.
Protagonist falls off balance throwing a combination
and Takada counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Takada fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Protagonist checks it well.
Takada misses with a wild body shot.
Takada gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Takada throws a low kick but Protagonist avoids it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Takada lands a high kick!
Protagonist fails to land with a series of punches.
Protagonist misses the shot to the body.
Protagonist missing with a left hand there. Takada was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Some bone on bone action there as Protagonist checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Takada lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
A solid leg kick lands there for Takada.
Takada lands with a nice body punch.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Takada, as that shot connected.
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!
Protagonist on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Takada. Takada obviously looking to wear him down.
Protagonist blocks a jab.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Protagonist swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Protagonist takes a head kick and keeps coming.
Takada throws a head kick that misses.
Takada throws a leg kick that is checked
and Protagonist cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Takada lands with an uppercut that bounces Protagonist off the cage and back into rage.
A swing and a miss from Protagonist.
Takada throws a quick inside leg kick.
Protagonist goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Takada scores with a leg kick.
Protagonist misses with an uppercut.
Takada slips a straight right by Protagonist.
Takada looks to land a left hand but Protagonist moved out of range nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Takada looks to score with a jab to the body but Protagonist is just out of range.
Takada stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Takada thumps Protagonist with a low kick.
Nice body kick there by Takada.
A thudding body kick lands there by Takada!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Protagonist chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Takada can pounce on him.
Takada connects with a solid leg kick.
Takada lands a head kick!
Takada lands with an uppercut that bounces Protagonist off the cage and back into rage.
Takada fakes the leg kick and cracks Protagonist in the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Takada delivers a nice body kick.
Takada thumps Protagonist with a low kick.
Takada shoots in but no luck this time.
Takada shoots in looking for a takedown. Protagonist tries to sprawl out of it but Takada keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Protagonist manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
No joy there for Takada, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Takada scores with a push kick.
Protagonist moves out of range as Takada strikes.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
A good leg kick by Takada.
Good work by Protagonist as he checks the leg kick.
Takada dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Protagonist. That did some damage!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Akio Takada showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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!

Takada ducks under a wild hook from Protagonist.
Some wild striking there from Takada.
A nice inside leg kick there by Takada. That's going to slow Protagonist down.
Takada is looking to slow Protagonist down with leg kicks.
Takada on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.

Takada shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Takada throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Takada is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Protagonist sees it coming and defends easily.
Takada not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Protagonist is looking for a sweep. Takada is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Protagonist is trying to stand.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Takada sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Protagonist defending well though.
Takada is trying to control the action in half guard but Protagonist is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Takada is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Takada tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Protagonist thuds a left hand into Takada's body.
Takada missing with a left hand there. Protagonist was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Protagonist throws a combination that misses
and Takada counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Protagonist thinking.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Protagonist scores with a body shot.
Protagonist throws a hook but Takada avoids it easily.
Takada blocks a jab.
Takada pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Protagonist avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
A looping hook to the body misses from Protagonist. Takada does a little dance to reset his feet.

Takada closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Takada wants to pass to mount but Protagonist is defending the position.
Protagonist regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Takada.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Takada prevents Protagonist from getting back to his feet.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Protagonist is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Takada tries to roll over but Protagonist keeps him under control.
Protagonist stalling.
Takada tries to roll over but Protagonist keeps him under control.

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.

Protagonist stands up and beckons Takada to join him on the feet.
Takada chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Protagonist pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Protagonist throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Protagonist takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Takada misses with an attempted mid kick.

And that's the end of the fight!
Akio Takada comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Takada has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Andi Peters scores the fight 27:29
Judge Gordon Ramsey scores the fight 27:29
Judge Frank Skinner scores the fight 27:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Akio Takada!