PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Simon Baker (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Beginner Winner (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Beginner Winner has the eye of the tiger tonight.

Baker
vs
Winner

185 cm
20
175 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

225 cm
25
178 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Basic striking
Very strong

Good takedowns
Brawler
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Simon Baker!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Beginner Winner!
The judges for this bout are Yasuomi Hirokawa, Shigeki Fujiwara and Kenichi Hosakawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Winner fails with an attempt to clinch.
Baker checks a leg kick.

Baker closes the distance and clinches.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Baker.
Winner's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Baker is looking to break free of the clinch but Winner has double underhooks.
Baker leaning against his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Baker swings wildly with an uppercut but Winner uses good head movement to avoid it.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.

Baker wants the takedown. Winner is fighting it off but Baker persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Winner's guard against the cage.
Winner is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Winner wants to get back to his feet but Baker is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Baker showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Baker shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Winner defends it nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Winner clinches up with Baker and pushes him back against the cage.
Winner is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Winner receives a warning from the referee for stalling.
Baker dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Baker letting Winner take a breather here.

Baker breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Simon Baker dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Winner misses with a low kick.
Baker avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

Baker bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Baker wants to lay and pray for a moment but Winner keeps working.
Baker 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.
Winner is trying to get back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Winner being controlled for a moment.

We're going to have a standup here because Simon Baker wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.

Baker fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Winner sprawls well initially but Baker persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Winner wants to get back to his feet.
Baker trying to mount his opponent but Winner defends it.
Baker wants to control but Winner is keeping him busy.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Baker closes the distance and clinches up with Winner, looking for a takedown. Baker pushes Winner against the cage but Winner circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Winner wants to slow Baker down by chopping away at his legs.

Winner moves into the clinch.
Winner blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Winner's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Baker wants to get back to striking at distance but Winner won't allow it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Baker manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Baker is looking to break free of the clinch but Winner has double underhooks.

Baker gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Winner regains guard.
Baker trying to control the position from guard on top but Winner is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Winner is looking to stand up but Baker isn't so interested in that idea.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Baker lands with a right hand.
Winner is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Winner throws a chopping leg kick but Baker manages to avoid taking any serious damage.

Baker has Winner up against the cage in a clinch.
We are yet to see a takedown attempt from Winner in the fight. On paper you would think he is the more dominant ground fighter so let's see if these unusual tactics pay off.

Baker breaks from the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Simon Baker dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Winner moves into the clinch successfully.
Winner blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Winner content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Baker goes for a takedown in the clinch but Winner prevents it.
Come on Winner - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Beginner Winner.

Baker fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Winner, pushing him back against the cage.

That's two 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.
Baker stalling in the clinch.
Winner content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Winner looking to slow down the pace here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Beginner Winner.

Baker gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Baker has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Baker goes for a takedown in the clinch but Winner prevents it.
Stalling in the clinch from Winner.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Baker slowing the pace effectively.
Baker is looking for a takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Simon Baker. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Baker's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

Winner tries to keep at a distance but Baker has taken the fight into the clinch.
Winner stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Beginner Winner.
Well Baker has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 29:28
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 29:28
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Simon Baker!
A very excited looking Simon Baker made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.