PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Nobuyuki Kawakita (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tokahuro Nagabushi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Kawakita
vs
Nagabushi

180 cm
25
164 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

177 cm
23
162 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Knockout power

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Nobuyuki Kawakita!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Tokahuro Nagabushi!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Sano, Hirohito Nitta and Kenichi Hosakawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kawakita shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Nagabushi as he avoids it easily.
A combination from Nagabushi does no damage.
Kawakita thows a body shot but no joy.

Kawakita gets a clinch.

Kawakita jumps guard and drags Nagabushi to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Nagabushi won't allow Kawakita to get back to his feet.
Kawakita has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Nagabushi has passed into side control.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Nagabushi tries to stand but Kawakita is controlling his head.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Nagabushi decides to take the fight back to the feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nagabushi looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Tokahuro Nagabushi is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Kawakita tries for a takedown but Nagabushi sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Kawakita tries to clinch up.
Nagabushi swinging wildly here.
Kawakita throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Nagabushi throws a right and a left that both miss.
Nagabushi throws a nice looking combination but Kawakita bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Nagabushi throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Kawakita.
No joy there for Nagabushi, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Kawakita is defended easily by Nagabushi.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Nobuyuki Kawakita. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Nagabushi will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Kawakita showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Nagabushi.
Nice takedown defense from Nagabushi. No joy for Kawakita on that attempt.

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.
Nagabushi throws a combination. Kawakita tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Nagabushi misses with a double jab.
A combination from Nagabushi does no damage.
Kawakita lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Nagabushi misses with the combination.
Nagabushi goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.

Kawakita darts in and clinches Nagabushi up against the ropes.
Nagabushi is looking to break free of the clinch but Kawakita has double underhooks.
Nagabushi can't break the clinch.
Kawakita drops down looking for an ankle pick but Nagabushi pulls his leg out and moves away.
Kawakita will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
No joy there for Nagabushi, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Kawakita is looking to clinch.
Nagabushi throws a right and a left that both miss.
Kawakita tries to clinch but Nagabushi is having none of it.
Nagabushi misses with a few strikes there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nagabushi scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Nagabushi fails to land with a series of punches.

Kawakita clinches up against the ropes.
Nagabushi wants to break free but Kawakita has control.
Nagabushi tries to break the clinch but Kawakita is controlling the position.
Nagabushi has had enough of the clinch but Kawakita keeps him there for the moment.

Kawakita escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Kawakita closes the distance and clinches up with Nagabushi, looking for a takedown. Kawakita pushes Nagabushi against the ropes but Nagabushi circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Kawakita slips under a jab from Nagabushi.

Kawakita pushes Nagabushi up against the ropes in a clinch.
Kawakita keeps control of Nagabushi as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.

Kawakita is working on a single leg takedown against the ropes. Nagabushi can't fight it off and eventually Kawakita manages to take the fight to the floor. Nagabushi looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Kawakita in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kawakita pushes down on Nagabushi's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Nagabushi is not content to let Kawakita control the position.
Kawakita prevents Nagabushi from standing back up.
Kawakita seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Nagabushi does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Kawakita trying to control from Nagabushi's half guard. Nagabushi has other ideas though and has regained full guard.
Kawakita trying to control the position from guard on top but Nagabushi is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Tokahuro Nagabushi 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.

Kawakita shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Kawakita showed some decent athleticism there.
Kawakita not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Kawakita throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Kawakita thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Nagabushi's head.
Nagabushi regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Kawakita.
Kawakita postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Kawakita wants to stand and escape but instead Nagabushi has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kawakita 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.
Kawakita is trying to keep Nagabushi in close.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Kawakita wants to clinch.
Kawakita tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Nagabushi misses with a wild combination.

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.
Nagabushi swinging wildly here.
The fight stays on the outside here - Kawakita looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Nagabushi blocks a head kick by Kawakita.

Kawakita scores a takedown into full mount!

Kawakita goes for an armbar but he's fallen flat on his backside there and now Nagabushi is on top in guard.
Nagabushi wants to get up but he can't break Kawakita's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kawakita wants to get back to his feet but he's too absorbed in his own little project and Nagabushi manages to pass to side control.
Nagabushi tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Kawakita.
Kawakita makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Kawakita.
Kawakita throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Kawakita 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.
Nagabushi has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Kawakita is proving hard to escape from.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Kawakita pushes Nagabushi off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nobuyuki Kawakita dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Kawakita lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
Kawakita is looking to clinch.
Nobuyuki Kawakita is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Nagabushi looks to land a combination but Kawakita avoids it well.
Kawakita moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
A left and a right from Nagabushi both land. Nice combination.
Nagabushi misses with a jab, cross combination.
Nagabushi throws a nice looking combination but Kawakita bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Nagabushi throws a right and a left that Kawakita avoids nicely.
Nagabushi rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Kawakita moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Nagabushi misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Nagabushi lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Nagabushi.
Kawakita avoids a punch combination nicely.
Nagabushi with a nice cross.

Kawakita looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Nagabushi avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Kawakita.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kawakita wants to control but Nagabushi is keeping him busy.

Kawakita is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Nagabushi sees it coming and defends easily.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Kawakita stops Nagabushi from getting back to his feet.
Kawakita working Nagabushi over with strikes.
Kawakita stalling away here and it's allowed Nagabushi to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
Nagabushi wants to get back to his feet but Kawakita is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

That's two 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.
Nagabushi keeping moving, preventing Kawakita from controlling successfully.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Kawakita accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Kawakita seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Kawakita postures up in Nagabushi's guard and throws a big left but Nagabushi blocks it.

Kawakita drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Nagabushi dives on top into guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kawakita looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Nagabushi puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Kawakita is trying to control but can't.
Nagabushi tries to stand but his arm is trapped.

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.
Kawakita tries to strike from the bottom but it doesn't land.
Nagabushi passes into side control, despite Kawakita's attempt to control the position.
Kawakita is looking for a sweep.
Kawakita wants to get back to his feet but Nagabushi drags him back down.

And that's the end of the fight!
Tokahuro Nagabushi comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Nagabushi has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Shigeki Sano scores the fight 28:29
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 28:29
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Tokahuro Nagabushi!