PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Masaaki Yamaguchi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jeff Ko (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Yamaguchi
vs
Ko

185 cm
26
205 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

200 cm
26
272 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Good knees
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
World class boxer
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Masaaki Yamaguchi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Jeff Ko!
The judges for this bout are Hirohito Nitta, Yukihiro Yamamoto and Shigeki Fujiwara.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Yamaguchi closes the distance and pushes Ko back into the cage.
Ko taking a breather.
Yamaguchi lands a nice knee to the body.
Yamaguchi can't find room to land a body shot as Ko controls the action.

Yamaguchi decides to pull guard.
Yamaguchi pulls Ko in close to prevent any damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Yamaguchi manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Yamaguchi controlling from mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Yamaguchi seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Ko for as long as he can get away with.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Ko tries to lock up and control but Yamaguchi gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Ko can't escape the position.
Yamaguchi sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Ko keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Yamaguchi controlling his opponent.
Ko is looking to get to half guard.

We're going to have a standup here because Masaaki Yamaguchi wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Yamaguchi throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.

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.
Yamaguchi swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
enabling Ko to counter with a crisp jab.

Yamaguchi closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Ko did well to prevent Yamaguchi getting side control.
Yamaguchi looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Ko moves into full guard.

Ko is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Yamaguchi defends well.
Yamaguchi is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Yamaguchi misses with a jab, cross combination.

Yamaguchi shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Ko is trying to control but can't.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Yamaguchi prevents Ko from improving his position.
Yamaguchi trying to control the pace.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Yamaguchi passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Ko!
Ko tries to lock up and control but Yamaguchi gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Ko is trying to avoid being dragged into an even worse position than he's already in but Yamaguchi is staying active.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Yamaguchi sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Ko can't escape the position.
Yamaguchi avoids the attempt from Ko to control.
Yamaguchi takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Yamaguchi'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.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Yamaguchi throws a right and a left that Ko avoids nicely.
Yamaguchi throws a right and a left that Ko avoids nicely.
Yamaguchi misses with a double jab.
Yamaguchi misses with a jab, cross combination.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Yamaguchi looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Masaaki Yamaguchi seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Yamaguchi throws out a leg kick but Ko moves out of range and Yamaguchi only half commits.
Yamaguchi throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Yamaguchi scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Jeff Ko is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Ko gets off balance looking for a body kick

and Yamaguchi counters with a takedown into side control.
Ko is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Ko wants to control but Yamaguchi postures up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Masaaki Yamaguchi dominated that second round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. And we move into the final round!

Ko throws a body kick the misses
and Yamaguchi counters with a low kick, right behind Ko 's knee.
Yamaguchi misses with the combination.
Ko misses with the body kick
and Yamaguchi finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.
Ko throws a body kick despite being completely out of range

and Yamaguchi counters with a takedown into side control.
Yamaguchi controlling the position from side mount.
Yamaguchi tries to move into full mount but can't pass Ko's legs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
You can see the frustration on Ko's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
You can see the frustration on Ko's face as Yamaguchi controls the position.
Ko tries to control but Yamaguchi manages to take his back.
Ko trying to control the hands but Yamaguchi breaks the grip.

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.
Yamaguchi keeps control of the position as Ko tries to break free.
Yamaguchi biding his time, looking for the opening.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ko is really stuck here.
Ko wants to control his opponent's hands but Yamaguchi gets his hands free.
It really doesn't seem like the step up in weight is hurting Yamaguchi here at all. He's more than holding his own against the bigger man.
I would not like to be Ko right now.
Yamaguchi avoiding Ko 's attempts to control his hands.

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.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Yamaguchi misses with a shot to the body
and Ko counters with a nice body kick.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Yamaguchi blocks the body kick.
Ko goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Ko throws the kick towards the body but Yamaguchi avoids it.
Yamaguchi falls off balance throwing a combination
and Ko counters with a body kick that stops Yamaguchi in his tracks momentarily.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Yamaguchi takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Jeff Ko has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Masaaki Yamaguchi is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Ko looking to land some kicks to the body here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jeff Ko comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Yamaguchi has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 29:28
Judge Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 29:28
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Masaaki Yamaguchi!