PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Immanuel Tarves (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Niko Kurtz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Kurtz has chosen Dont fear the reaper as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Both fighters look pumped up here. Let's hope this is a good fight!

Tarves
vs
Kurtz

180 cm
24
240 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

210 cm
21
260 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
KO power

Decent wrestler
Counter striker
Granite chin

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 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Immanuel Tarves!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Niko Kurtz!
The judges for this bout are Taro Takaoka, Yasuomi Hirokawa and Shigeki Fujiwara.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Tarves is looking to clinch but Kurtz is avoiding it.
Kurtz tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Tarves swivels and escapes.
Tarves lands a nice looking body shot.
Niko Kurtz seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Tarves tries to close the distance and clinch up but Kurtz swats him away and circles back towards the center.

Kurtz shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Tarves manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Kurtz pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Tarves is keeping the position for now.
Kurtz won't allow Tarves to get back to his feet.
Kurtz is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

That's one minute gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Niko Kurtz was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Tarves is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Tarves moves in looking to clinch but Kurtz pushes him off.
Kurtz shoots in but Tarves avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Tarves fails with an attempt to clinch.
Tarves tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Tarves rushes Kurtz and presses him up against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tarves looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Kurtz throws an elbow but it misses.
Kurtz is looking to break free of the clinch but Tarves has double underhooks.

Tarves escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Tarves tries to clinch up but Kurtz circles away and keeps his distance.

Tarves closes the distance and pushes Kurtz back into the cage.
Kurtz misses with a hook to the ribs.
The referee calls for Tarves to work.

Kurtz breaks from the clinch.

Tarves tries to keep at a distance but Kurtz has taken the fight into the clinch.
Tarves is working Kurtz over against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tarves on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
A short left from Tarves.
Kurtz jumps guard but Tarves turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Immanuel Tarves has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Niko Kurtz.
Kurtz is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Tarves is defending well.
Nice body punch from Tarves - that landed with a thud.
Kurtz looks winded!
Tarves lands a body punch in the clinch.
Tarves is trying to break the clinch but Kurtz is controlling him.
Tarves scores with a nice hook to the head.
Come on Tarves - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Tarves is looking to break free of the clinch but Kurtz has double underhooks.
Tarves lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A hook to the body from Tarves.
Kurtz tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Kurtz misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Tarves.
Tarves has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Tarves tries to break the clinch but Kurtz is controlling the position.
Kurtz jumps guard but Tarves stands there with Kurtz around his waist. Kurtz gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Tarves is stalling here.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Tarves lands a left hand.
Kurtz pressing his opponent against the cage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Immanuel Tarves dominated that round.
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.

Tarves gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Tarves gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Kurtz.
Kurtz tries to pull guard but Tarves forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
A frustrated look appears on Kurtz's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Kurtz stalling the fight.

Tarves escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Tarves scores with a takedown into Kurtz's guard.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Kurtz can do anything to dispel that myth.
Tarves wants to stand but Kurtz is controlling his posture from full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kurtz is trying to control the position but Tarves postures up.
Tarves wants to stand but Kurtz has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Kurtz is on top in guard.
Kurtz content to stall in guard here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Immanuel Tarves just wasn't active enough.
Tarves blocks a head kick by Kurtz.
Kurtz takes a swing at Tarves's ribcage but misses.
Immanuel Tarves is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Tarves tries to clinch up but Kurtz circles away and keeps his distance.
Tarves throws a series of punches but Kurtz avoids them all with ease.
Tarves lands with a right hand.
Kurtz fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Immanuel Tarves has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Niko Kurtz.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kurtz wants to clinch up but Tarves keeps it at a distance.
Kurtz tries to move into range but Tarves moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Tarves is looking to clinch.
Tarves stuffs the takedown attempt from Kurtz. Kurtz gets slowly back to his feet.

Tarves shoots in and gets a takedown into Kurtz's guard.
Kurtz has a closed guard, preventing Tarves from standing up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kurtz manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Tarves manages to get himself to full guard.

Kurtz stands and steps away. Tarves gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Kurtz fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Tarves avoids it really well and circles away.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Kurtz shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Tarves as he avoids it easily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Immanuel Tarves 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. This is the final round!

Tarves tries to clinch but Kurtz is having none of it.
Kurtz walks into a left hand.
Tarves wants to clinch up but Kurtz keeps it at a distance.
Kurtz throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Tarves's waist but Tarves gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Kurtz off to one side.
Kurtz misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.

Tarves takes the fight into the clinch.
Kurtz keeps control of Tarves as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Tarves wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Kurtz has him pressed against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kurtz wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Kurtz takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Come on Kurtz - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.

Tarves breaks the clinch.
Tarves tries to close the distance and clinch up but Kurtz swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Kurtz shoots for a takedown but Tarves saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Immanuel Tarves has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Niko Kurtz.
Tarves wants to clinch.
Kurtz is looking to clinch but Tarves is avoiding it.

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

and Tarves counters by moving into the clinch.
A right hand to the body from Tarves.

Tarves escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Kurtz tries to keep at a distance but Tarves has taken the fight into the clinch.
Tarves lands a body punch.
Tarves wants to get back to striking at distance but Kurtz won't allow it.
Tarves can't break the clinch.
Tarves wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Kurtz has him pressed against the cage.
Kurtz trying to control the position but instead, Tarves has worked for underhooks and has pushed Kurtz into the cage.
A right hook to the body lands for Tarves.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tarves taking a breather.
Kurtz tries to break free but Tarves pushes him back against the cage.
Tarves gets through Kurtz's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Tarves is looking to break free of the clinch but Kurtz has double underhooks.

Tarves breaks the clinch.
Kurtz closes this distance looking for a takedown but Tarves circles away.

Tarves closes the distance and pushes Kurtz back into the cage.
Immanuel Tarves has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Tarves displaying some good clinch control by pressing Kurtz up against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kurtz wants a takedown.
Tarves wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Tarves wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Kurtz has him pressed against the cage.
A short body shot lands from Tarves as the two fighters clinch.
Kurtz jumps guard but Tarves turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Tarves is trying to break the clinch but Kurtz is controlling him.
A frustrated look appears on Kurtz's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Niko Kurtz has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Immanuel Tarves is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Tarves wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

And that's the end of the fight!
Immanuel Tarves showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Tarves, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Taro Takaoka scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 30:27
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Immanuel Tarves!