PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Shim Changmin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Saku Katsumoto (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.

Changmin
vs
Katsumoto

189 cm
30
197 lbs
12 - 12 - 0

180 cm
25
190 lbs
13 - 10 - 0

Decent wrestler
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 12 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Shim Changmin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Saku Katsumoto!
The judges for this bout are Hirohito Nitta, Yukihiro Shimada and Taro Takaoka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Katsumoto throws an off balance right hand
and Changmin counters with a straight right hand.
A looping hook to the body misses from Katsumoto. Changmin does a little dance to reset his feet.
Katsumoto moves away from the strike by Changmin.
Changmin avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Katsumoto ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Changmin moves away.
Katsumoto tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Changmin manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Changmin slips a jab and a cross from Katsumoto.
Katsumoto is looking to clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Katsumoto ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Katsumoto changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Changmin tries to avoid it but Katsumoto manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Changmin to the ground. Changmin escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Katsumoto uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Changmin.
Changmin moves out of range as Katsumoto strikes.
Katsumoto tries to clinch but Changmin moves away
and Changmin counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Katsumoto tries to clinch up.
Katsumoto scores with a decent looking hook.
Katsumoto connects with a nice looking jab.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Katsumoto waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Changmin.
Katsumoto looks to clinch
and Changmin counters with a nice body shot.
Katsumoto dives in and grabs Changmin's left leg, looking for a takedown. Changmin pushes down on Katsumoto's head and hops out.
A combination from Changmin does no damage.
Katsumoto shoots for a takedown but Changmin saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Shim Changmin has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Saku Katsumoto.
Katsumoto just misses with a punch to the body.
Katsumoto tries to close the distance and clinch up but Changmin swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Katsumoto closes the distance and clinches up with Changmin, looking for a takedown. Katsumoto pushes Changmin against the cage but Changmin circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Changmin lands a jab to the head.
Saku Katsumoto seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Katsumoto throws a combination that misses
and Changmin counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Katsumoto thinking.
Katsumoto dives in and grabs Changmin's left leg, looking for a takedown. Changmin pushes down on Katsumoto's head and hops out.
A combination from Katsumoto does no damage.
Katsumoto looks to clinch
enabling Changmin to counter with a crisp jab.
Katsumoto shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Changmin showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Katsumoto.
Shim Changmin is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Changmin moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Changmin throws a hook but Katsumoto blocks it.
Changmin throws a right and a left that Katsumoto avoids nicely.
Changmin showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Katsumoto.
Katsumoto throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Changmin counters with a nice uppercut.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Katsumoto throws a lazy body kick
and Changmin counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Katsumoto misses with a head kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Shim Changmin will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Katsumoto throws a nice looking combination but Changmin bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Changmin connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Katsumoto momentarily.
Katsumoto tries to clinch there but Changmin circles away.
Katsumoto lands with a kick to the temple. Changmin shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
Katsumoto is looking to slow Changmin down with leg kicks.
Some wild striking there from Katsumoto.
Katsumoto slips under a jab.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Katsumoto wants to clinch
and Changmin counters with a left and a right that stings Katsumoto.
Shim Changmin is winning the standup battle so far.
Changmin wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Katsumoto throws a body punch but Changmin moves out of range.
Katsumoto tries for a takedown but Changmin sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Changmin.
Katsumoto is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Katsumoto shoots in for a takedown but Changmin shows good takedown defense.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Katsumoto slips a jab from Changmin.
Katsumoto tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Changmin was well out of range. Poor timing from Katsumoto.
Katsumoto shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Shim Changmin has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Saku Katsumoto.
Katsumoto misses with a hook. Changmin ducked under it nicely.
Changmin moves away from the strike by Katsumoto.
Katsumoto's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Changmin connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Katsumoto scrambles back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Katsumoto feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Changmins jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Katsumoto digs a good body shot into Changmin's ribs.
Changmin slaps away a takedown attempt from Katsumoto, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Katsumoto tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Katsumoto misses with a takedown
and Changmin makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Katsumoto misses with the combination.
Katsumoto tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Changmin paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Katsumoto looks to land a combination but Changmin avoids it well.
Katsumoto fails in his attempt to clinch.
Katsumoto misses with a shot to the body
and Changmin connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Katsumoto shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Changmin pinned against the cage. Changmin gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Changmin scores with a nice right hand.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Saku Katsumoto will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Changmin takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Changmin throws a big shot that misses.
Katsumoto will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Katsumoto moves out of range of the strikes.
A jab from Katsumoto misses.

Katsumoto shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Changmin manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Katsumoto looking to pass the guard.
Changmin knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Katsumoto on the ground.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Katsumoto is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.

Katsumoto is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.

Katsumoto drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Katsumoto jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Changmin is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
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.
Katsumoto looking to pass the guard.

Changmin kicks Katsumoto off and gets to his feet.
Changmin cracks Katsumoto with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Changmin is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Katsumoto uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Changmin.
Changmin scores with a crisp jab that stopped Katsumoto in his tracks.
Katsumoto throws a left and a right that both miss
and Changmin counters with a lovely straight right hand!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Katsumoto dives in and grabs Changmin's left leg, looking for a takedown. Changmin pushes down on Katsumoto's head and hops out.
Katsumoto tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Changmin paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Katsumoto misses with a series of wild punches.
Katsumoto misses with an attempted mid kick.
Katsumoto defending well as Changmin loads up on a big left hand.
Katsumoto tries for a takedown but Changmin circles away easily
and Changmin counters with a one-two to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Katsumoto shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Shim Changmin has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Saku Katsumoto.
Katsumoto misses with a hook to the body
and Changmin counters with a nice body shot.
Changmin misses with a double jab.
Katsumoto misses with a two punch combination.
Katsumoto throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Changmin throws a series of punches but Katsumoto avoids them all with ease.
A combination from Katsumoto does no damage.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Saku Katsumoto.
I think Katsumoto 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 Hirohito Nitta scores the fight for Saku Katsumoto!
Judge Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight for Saku Katsumoto!
Judge Taro Takaoka scores the fight as a draw!

Saku Katsumoto wins by majority decision!
A very excited looking Saku Katsumoto 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.