PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Pablo Escobar (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rila Kuma (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Pablo Escobar could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Rila Kuma's chin.

Escobar
vs
Kuma

175 cm
25
160 lbs
5 - 0 - 0

172 cm
21
148 lbs
6 - 2 - 0

Good takedowns
Counter striker
KO power

Powerful takedowns
Excellent boxer
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the lightweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Pablo Escobar!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Rila Kuma!
The judges for this bout are Tatsuya Matsuyama, Shirou Masuda and Sosuke Kotani.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kuma shoots and misses

and Escobar counters with a single leg into guard. Kuma didn't expect that.

Escobar drops back, looking for a kneebar! Kuma looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Kuma looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Kuma!
Kuma landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Kuma landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Kuma tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
Escobar tries to bench press Kuma off him but Kuma keeps the position.
Kuma landing a few strikes.
Escobar is not in a great position here, taking some shots.

Kuma is trying to get an arm triangle but Escobar is defending well.
Escobar gets back to half guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Kuma working over Escobar with some ground and pound. Escobar looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Kuma lands a nice short elbow.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Escobar actively working from the bottom here.
Escobar is trying to control but can't.
Kuma missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Kuma takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Escobar looking for submissions off his back.

Escobar looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Kuma is looking to take a break and control but Escobar is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Kuma scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Kuma takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Kuma trying to control from half guard but Escobar is working away.
Kuma tries to pass the half guard into mount. Escobar knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kuma is keen to just control but Escobar is a slippery customer.
Escobar gets back to full guard.
Kuma with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Kuma working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Kuma is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Kuma working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

Escobar looking for a guillotine here but Kuma defends easily.
Kuma with a nice head shot there.

Kuma drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Kuma jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Escobar has momentary wrist control but Kuma slips an elbow through the middle.
Kuma content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Escobar had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Kuma defends it easily.
Kuma works over Escobar with some ground and pound from guard.
Kuma throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Escobar works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

Escobar throws his legs up looking to secure a triangle. Oh, that looks pretty tight, I gotta say! Kuma escapes and throws Escobar's legs to the side, diving into side control!
Kuma taking a breather here.
Kuma trying to control the position but Escobar is working away.
Escobar is looking to reverse the position.
Escobar is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Kuma off and has taken his back!
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Escobar is trying to stick to Kuma's back but Kuma is turning into Escobar. He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in Escobar's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by Kuma.
Kuma postures up and lands a big shot to Escobar's brow.

Escobar is looking for a triangle but Kuma pushes his legs off easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kuma lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Escobar keeping moving, preventing Kuma from controlling successfully.
Kuma missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Kuma makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Kuma is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Escobar preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Kuma trying to control the position from guard on top but Escobar is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Kuma working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Escobar's head.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Escobar escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Kuma gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Kuma scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Escobar keeping moving, preventing Kuma from controlling successfully.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rila Kuma dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Kuma throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Kuma throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Escobar sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Kuma misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
A head kick misses from Kuma.
Kuma throws a sloppy head kick and Escobar moves out of range easily.
Escobar tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Kuma swivels and escapes.
Kuma throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Escobar sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Escobar misses with a double jab

and Kuma counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Escobar!
Kuma has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Escobar's face.
Kuma scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Escobar?
Kuma prevents Escobar from getting the reversal.
Kuma working away from the top, dropping strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kuma unloading with bombs!
Kuma working the ground and pound effectively.
The step up in weight doesn't seem to be a problem for Kuma. He's performing admirably here against the bigger man.
Kuma lands a big shot there that rocks Escobar but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Kuma scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Escobar?
Kuma lands a big elbow.
Kuma scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Escobar?
Escobar is wriggling around trying to escape.
Escobar regains half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Escobar looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Escobar taking some punishment here, with Kuma in his half guard.
Escobar on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Kuma is nestled in close to Escobar, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Escobar tries to get to full guard but Kuma has control of the leg.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kuma is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.

Escobar looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Kuma is controlling the pace.

Kuma looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

Escobar is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Kuma pulls his head out easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kuma looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Escobar with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

Escobar actively working from the bottom here.
Kuma lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Kuma not landing any meaningful shots this time.

Escobar looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Kuma wants to lay and pray for a moment but Escobar keeps working.
Kuma drops an elbow to the side of Escobar's head.
Kuma scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Kuma landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Escobar is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Kuma scores with a couple of nice shots.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kuma controlling the action here.
Escobar taking some punishment here, with Kuma in his half guard.

Escobar looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Kuma controlling the action here.

Escobar is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Kuma pulls his head out easily.
Kuma sitting and controlling from the half guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Kuma working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Kuma is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rila Kuma showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Escobar's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Kuma misses with a looping left.

Escobar shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Kuma's guard.

Kuma has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Escobar off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Rila Kuma seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Escobar avoids the body shot from Kuma.
Kuma loads up on a big right hand but Escobar slips the punch.
Kuma throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Escobar.
Kuma lands a slapping body shot.
Escobar gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Kuma throws a jab when Escobar was well out of range.
A punch combination from Escobar misses.
Escobar misses with a takedown

and Kuma decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Escobar's guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kuma lands a couple of digs.
Kuma has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

Escobar working for a triangle but Kuma defends it easily.

Escobar is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Kuma is aware though and is defending well.
Kuma lands a couple of elbows.
Rila Kuma has got the better of the ground game so far.
Escobar looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Kuma puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.

Kuma seems to be working for a kimura but Escobar defends the submission attempt.
Kuma scoring with strikes to the body and head.

Escobar actively working from the bottom here.
Kuma looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Escobar with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kuma working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Kuma is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Kuma landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Kuma trying to control the pace.

Escobar looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Escobar actively working from the bottom here.
Escobar taking some punishment here, with Kuma in his half guard.
Escobar has hold of Kuma's hands but Kuma slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Kuma passes to full mount!
Kuma raining down shots from the mount!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kuma looking to finish Escobar with some ground and pound. This is bad for Escobar!
Kuma working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Escobar is looking to get to half guard.
Kuma is landing with some decent strikes but Escobar is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Kuma trying to control but he's not successful this time.

Kuma looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Escobar is in a horrible position here. Kuma smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Kuma in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Kuma landing strikes from the mount.
Kuma landing strikes from the mount and Escobar is in trouble!
Escobar is in all sorts of trouble here.
Kuma is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Escobar can't stay in a position like this for much longer.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Kuma swings around for an armbar but it's a sloppy attempt and Escobar is now in Kuma's guard. A big mistake from Kuma there, giving up the dominant position!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Kuma is edging up against the cage. He's using the cage to get back to his feet. Nice work there - the fighters are clinched.

Kuma lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Escobar trying to hold on to Kuma's head to control him but Kuma postures up.
Kuma trying to control the action but Escobar is working from the bottom.

Kuma wants to work for an arm triangle but Escobar is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Kuma is taking a breather. Escobar says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Escobar looking for submissions off his back.
Escobar taking some punishment here, with Kuma in his half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rila Kuma really dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Escobar uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Kuma.
Kuma gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Escobar counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Kuma's guard now.

Escobar drops back looking for a leg! Kuma is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Kuma manages to kick Escobar off! Escobar jumps back into Kuma's guard.

Escobar is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Kuma pulls his head out easily.
It's got to the stage where if one of these guys blows hard enough, the other might fall over.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kuma winds up and cracks Escobar with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Kuma landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Kuma works his way into side control.
Kuma remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
Kuma prevents Escobar from escaping the position.
Escobar on the wrong end of some ground and pound.

Kuma tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Kuma has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Escobar is looking to reverse the position.
Kuma connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Escobar some visible discomfort.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kuma in side control lands a decent elbow.
Kuma moves into full mount!
Escobar is working to get back to half guard.
Kuma content just to control the position here.
Escobar is squirming around, avoiding Kuma's attempts to control the action.
Kuma punishing his opponent with strikes.
Kuma is landing with some decent strikes but Escobar is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Kuma lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Escobar hang on?
Kuma in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Kuma lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Kuma landing punches.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kuma landing strikes from the mount.

Escobar is rocked!
Kuma connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Oh Escobar is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Kuma in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Escobar is working to get back to half guard.
Escobar takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Kuma punishing his opponent with strikes.
Escobar seems to have got his legs back now.
Escobar working to try and regain half guard.
BOOM! Kuma connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Kuma lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Kuma with the ground and pound from mount.
Escobar is bucking up trying to escape but Kuma cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Kuma looking to finish Escobar with some ground and pound. This is bad for Escobar!
Kuma unloads with some vicious shots from mount and Escobar wants out - he looks towards the referee who steps in to save him! Kuma celebrates on the cage and the crowd goes wild!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:01 of round 4, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Rila Kuma!
Rila Kuma is the new lightweight champion!