PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Itsuki Takenaka (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jay Wolfram (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Wolfram has chosen Rakim- Guess Who's Back as his entrance music. Both fighters look pumped up here. Let's hope this is a good fight!

Takenaka
vs
Wolfram

178 cm
18
135 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

170 cm
22
142 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Intelligent

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Itsuki Takenaka!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Jay Wolfram!
The judges for this bout are Yves DeLean, Robert Douchet and Trevor Gratis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Takenaka tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Wolfram counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Wolfram.
Takenaka tries to land knees in the clinch but Wolfram avoids the damage to the body.
Takenaka has Wolfram pressed against the cage, preventing Wolfram from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Takenaka fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Wolfram can't break the clinch.
Takenaka has Wolfram pressed against the cage, preventing Wolfram from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Wolfram is trying to pull guard but Takenaka turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Takenaka lands a knee to the body.

Wolfram escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Takenaka ducks under a wild hook from Wolfram.
A punch combination from Wolfram misses.
Wolfram misses with a leg kick.
Takenaka wants to clinch.

Takenaka gets tackled into the cage by Wolfram. Wolfram maintains the clinch.
Wolfram wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Wolfram is trying to break the clinch but Takenaka is controlling him.
Wolfram managing to block the knees to the body from Takenaka.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Takenaka trying to land knees to the body.
Takenaka avoiding damage.
Takenaka tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Wolfram avoids it.
A frustrated look appears on Wolfram's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Wolfram avoids the elbow strike from Takenaka, against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wolfram is trying to break the clinch but Takenaka has him pressed against the cage.
Wolfram has had enough of the clinch but Takenaka keeps him there for the moment.
Takenaka is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Wolfram is defending well for now.
Takenaka unloads a knee to the mid-section.

Wolfram breaks the clinch.
Takenaka uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Wolfram.
Takenaka tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Takenaka tries to clinch but Wolfram moves out of range.
Wolfram circles away from the clinch attempt.
Takenaka wants to clinch but Wolfram slips to the side

and Wolfram counters by clinching up.
Takenaka keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Wolfram's efforts to push away.
Takenaka really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Takenaka scores a nice knee to the body.
Takenaka using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Wolfram is trying to force a seperation but Takenaka has the dominant position.

Wolfram breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Jay Wolfram will probably get the nod.
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.

Wolfram shoots in for a double leg but Takenaka sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Takenaka tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Wolfram counters with a left to the body.

Wolfram moves into the clinch.
Wolfram blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Takenaka trying to land knees to the body.
Wolfram is looking to break free of the clinch but Takenaka has double underhooks.
Takenaka tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Wolfram avoids it.
Wolfram pressing his opponent against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wolfram blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Wolfram slowing the pace effectively.
Wolfram is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Takenaka is looking to break free of the clinch but Wolfram has double underhooks.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Wolfram blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Wolfram is trying to push Takenaka away but Takenaka has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Wolfram is trying to push Takenaka away but Takenaka has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Wolfram working hard to break the clinch.
Wolfram avoiding damage as Takenaka throws knees to the body.
Wolfram avoiding damage as Takenaka throws knees to the body.
Wolfram is trying to break free.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Takenaka tries to land knees in the clinch but Wolfram avoids the damage to the body.
Takenaka tries to land knees in the clinch but Wolfram avoids the damage to the body.
Takenaka trying to land knees to the body.
Wolfram is trying to force a seperation but Takenaka has the dominant position.

Wolfram pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Takenaka takes a jab right on the kisser.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Takenaka tries to close the distance and clinch but Wolfram swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Wolfram fails with the takedown.
Wolfram loads up on a big right hand but Takenaka slips the punch.
We've been told by Takenaka's head coaches at Werewolf's cave that he's been working on his takedown defense in preparation for this fight.
Takenaka has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!

Wolfram gets a takedown into half guard.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Takenaka wants to get back to his feet.
Wolfram passes to full mount!
Takenaka manages to regain half guard. Good work.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jay Wolfram showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. And we move into the final round!

Wolfram will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Takenaka moves in looking to clinch but Wolfram pushes him off.
Takenaka darts in trying to clinch
and Wolfram counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Itsuki Takenaka is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Wolfram circles away from the clinch attempt.
Wolfram fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Takenaka is out of range.
Itsuki Takenaka seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Wolfram avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Takenaka tries to clinch up.
Wolfram keeps the fight on the outside.
Wolfram looks to land a left hand but Takenaka moved out of range nicely.
Takenaka tries to clinch but Wolfram is having none of it.
Wolfram throws a jab when Takenaka was well out of range.
Wolfram avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Wolfram throws an off balance right hand
and Takenaka counters with a nice low kick that buckles Wolfram's knee momentarily.
Takenaka closes the distance but Wolfram moves to the side
and Wolfram counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Wolfram fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Takenaka tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Wolfram paws at him with a jab and circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Takenaka keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Wolfram.
Takenaka tries to close the distance and clinch but Wolfram swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Takenaka moves in looking to clinch but Wolfram pushes him off.
Takenaka slips a straight right by Wolfram.
Takenaka doesn't manage to clinch there - Wolfram circles away.
Takenaka is looking to clinch.
Takenaka with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Wolfram to score with a decent uppercut.
Takenaka avoids a punch combination nicely.
Takenaka fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Takenaka tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Takenaka gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Wolfram loads up on a big right hand but Takenaka slips the punch.
Wolfram looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Takenaka moves in looking to clinch but Wolfram pushes him off.

Takenaka moves into the clinch successfully.
Takenaka prevents Wolfram from breaking the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wolfram stalling in the clinch.
Takenaka goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Wolfram has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Wolfram avoiding damage as Takenaka throws knees to the body.
Wolfram has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Takenaka is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Wolfram is defending well for now.
Takenaka utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Wolfram managing to block the knees to the body from Takenaka.
Takenaka is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Wolfram is defending well.
Takenaka lands an elbow inside.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Wolfram tries to break the clinch but Takenaka is controlling the position.
Itsuki Takenaka has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Takenaka missing with knees to the body.
Takenaka landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Wolfram is trying to break the clinch but Takenaka is controlling him.
Wolfram blocks a body shot from Takenaka.
Jay Wolfram is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Wolfram on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
Itsuki Takenaka showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Wolfram 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 Yves DeLean scores the fight 28:29
Judge Robert Douchet scores the fight 28:29
Judge Trevor Gratis scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jay Wolfram!
Jay Wolfram got down on his knees post fight and begged the management for a title shot. 'Please, I want that title shot so bad! Give it to me!'