PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Fenando Poe Jr (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kumina Sato (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Poe Jr
vs
Sato

178 cm
22
153 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

167 cm
26
153 lbs
13 - 8 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
World class MT
Granite chin

Good takedowns
Good kicks
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Fenando Poe Jr!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Kumina Sato!
The judges for this bout are Igor Prikhodko, Vladimir Khabensky and Illya Tyunina.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sato fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Poe Jr manages to avoid it.
Poe Jr shoots in and drives through. Sato sprawls well.
Poe Jr tries to close the distance and clinch but Sato swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
A looping hook to the body misses from Poe Jr. Sato does a little dance to reset his feet.
Sato slaps away a takedown attempt from Poe Jr, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Poe Jr lands a high kick!
Poe Jr fails to land the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Fenando Poe Jr. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Sato fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Poe Jr tries to close the distance and clinch up but Sato swats him away and circles back towards the center.

Sato pushes Poe Jr up against the cage in a clinch.
Poe Jr wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Poe Jr is trying to stall.
Poe Jr wants a takedown but no success here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Poe Jr has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Sato is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Sato is looking to break free of the clinch but Poe Jr has double underhooks.
Sato lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Sato.
Sato scores with an uppercut up the middle.
A right hook to the body lands for Sato.

Poe Jr pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Sato stuffs the takedown attempt from Poe Jr. Poe Jr gets slowly back to his feet.
Poe Jr tries to clinch but Sato moves out of range.
Poe Jr shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Poe Jr throws a head kick but Sato moves out of range.
Poe Jr shoots and misses
and Sato counters with a slapping leg kick.

Sato scores a takedown into full mount!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Sato tries to control but Poe Jr wriggling away.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sato misses with a head shot.
Sato cracks Poe Jr with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Sato has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Poe Jr's face.
Poe Jr is trying to get to the cage to help him get back to his feet.
Sato has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Sato landing strikes from the mount and Poe Jr is in trouble!
Sato looking to control and managing it successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sato working away from the top, dropping strikes.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Sato landing punches.
Sato cracks Poe Jr with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Sato thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Sato has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Poe Jr's face.
Sato is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Poe Jr can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Sato looking to control but Poe Jr is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Sato tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Poe Jr is trying to get to the cage to help him get back to his feet.
Sato cracks Poe Jr with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Poe Jr wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Sato controlling from the full mount.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Poe Jr is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kumina Sato dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Poe Jr takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Sato goes for a high kick. It partially lands.
Sato with a nice cross.
Poe Jr doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Sato counters with a slapping leg kick.
Sato throws a lazy right hand but Poe Jr sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Sato lands a right hook to the body.
Sato keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Kumina Sato seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Poe Jr tries to clinch up but Sato circles away and keeps his distance.
Poe Jr tries to clinch but Sato moves away

and Sato moves into the clinch.
Sato working aggressively here.
Sato lands a body shot in the clinch.
Sato lands a body shot in the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Poe Jr breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Sato lands a jab to the head.
Sato dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Poe Jr. That did some damage!
Poe Jr looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Fenando Poe Jr. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Sato keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Sato misses with a wild combination.
Poe Jr fails with a takedown attempt.
Poe Jr is looking to clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Poe Jr misses with a takedown attempt

and Sato counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Poe Jr is not content to let Sato control the position.
Sato moves nicely into side control.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Sato trying to control the position but Poe Jr is working away.
Sato throwing strikes but missing, from side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sato landing a few strikes.
Sato lands a few punches from side control.
Sato postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Sato in side control lands a decent elbow.
Sato trying to control the position but Poe Jr is working away.
Poe Jr is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Sato asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Sato cracks Poe Jr with a big right hand but Poe Jr just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sato trying to control the position but Poe Jr is working away.
Sato tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Sato misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Poe Jr is not content to let Sato control the position.
Sato lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Poe Jr down.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sato trying to control the position but Poe Jr is working away.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kumina Sato 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. And we move into the final round!

Sato throws a low kick, looking for Poe Jr's leg but Poe Jr calmly moves out of range.
A slapping body kick lands there for Sato.
Sato will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.

Sato rushes Poe Jr and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Poe Jr wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Poe Jr's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Poe Jr's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Sato working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Poe Jr tries for a takedown. No joy.
Poe Jr stalling in the clinch but Sato improves position.
Sato lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Sato prevents Poe Jr from breaking the clinch.
Sato wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Poe Jr has him pressed against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sato swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Nice body punch from Sato - that landed with a thud.

Sato breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Sato misses with a low kick.
Sato keeps the fight on the outside.
Poe Jr misses with a takedown attempt
and Sato makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Sato misses with a low kick as Poe Jr jumps back.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Sato lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Poe Jr has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Poe Jr and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Sato thows a body shot but no joy.
Sato scores with the left hand. Poe Jr knows he should have avoided that one.
Sato misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Poe Jr.
Poe Jr tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Sato swivels and escapes.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Fenando Poe Jr. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A jab from Sato finds it's way through Poe Jr's defenses.
Poe Jr tries to move into range but Sato moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Poe Jr ducks under a wild hook from Sato.
Sato tries a head kick but it misses.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Sato lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Poe Jr has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Poe Jr and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Sato circles away from the clinch attempt
and Sato counters with a slapping leg kick.
Kumina Sato is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Poe Jr tries to close the distance and clinch but Sato swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Poe Jr moves out of range of the leg kick from Sato.
Sato swings away with a leg kick that misses.
Kumina Sato seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Sato lands a jab to the nose.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Sato is looking to score with low kicks.
Poe Jr looks to clinch

and Sato counters with a nice double leg into side control. Poe Jr won't be happy with that.
Poe Jr is letting Sato control him for a moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Poe Jr is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Sato slows the pace down.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Kumina Sato wasn't active enough on the ground.
Sato lands a front kick.
Sato throws a half hearted mid kick.
Poe Jr throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Fenando Poe Jr has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Poe Jr tries to clinch but Sato is having none of it.
Poe Jr tries to score a power double leg takedown but Sato sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Poe Jr somewhat.

Sato closes the distance and clinches.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sato lands with a right to the head.
Poe Jr wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Sato has him pressed against the cage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Kumina Sato comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Sato 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 Igor Prikhodko scores the fight 27:30
Judge Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 27:30
Judge Illya Tyunina scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kumina Sato!