PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Prince Nakamura (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Newton Guthrie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Nakamura
vs
Guthrie

182 cm
25
220 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

211 cm
21
215 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Prince Nakamura!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Newton Guthrie!
The judges for this bout are Wesley Smith, Daniel Franklin and George Francis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Guthrie has a takedown stuffed.
Nakamura connects with a crisp jab.
Nakamura misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Nakamura swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Guthrie ducks under a wild hook from Nakamura.
Nakamura throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.

Guthrie fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Nakamura sprawls well initially but Guthrie persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Nakamura wants to get back to full guard.
Guthrie takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Guthrie winds up and cracks Nakamura with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Guthrie trying to pass the guard but Nakamura defending well.
Nakamura could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Guthrie tries to stand but can't do so whilst Nakamura controls his leg.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Guthrie is keen to just control but Nakamura is a slippery customer.
Guthrie not doing much here.
Nakamura is looking for a sweep. Guthrie is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Guthrie looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Newton Guthrie hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Nakamura jabbing away but nothing is landing.

Guthrie clinches up with Nakamura and pushes him back against the cage.
Guthrie tries to land knees in the clinch but Nakamura avoids the damage to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Guthrie.

Guthrie escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Guthrie dives in and grabs Nakamura's left leg, looking for a takedown. Nakamura pushes down on Guthrie's head and hops out.
Nakamura ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Guthrie shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Nakamura but Nakamura pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Prince Nakamura has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Newton Guthrie.
Guthrie looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Nakamura is fending him off so far but Guthrie persists. Nope, Nakamura circles away and we're back to standing.
Guthrie looks winded!
Nakamura lands with a hook. Guthrie tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Guthrie has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Nakamura finds it's way round the side to connect with Guthrie's head.
Nakamura with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Nakamura will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Nakamura moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Guthrie ducks under a wild hook from Nakamura.

Guthrie feints and as Nakamura raises his hands in defense, Guthrie changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Nakamura is trying to keep Guthrie in close.
Guthrie slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Guthrie missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Guthrie trying to control the position from guard on top but Nakamura is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Nakamura pulls Guthrie in close to prevent any damage.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Newton Guthrie.

Guthrie drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Nakamura keeping moving, preventing Guthrie from controlling successfully.
Guthrie is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Nakamura pulls Guthrie in close to his closed guard and prevents Guthrie from doing any damage or advancing position.
Guthrie throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Newton Guthrie 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.

No luck with that takedown attempt from Guthrie.
Nakamura shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Guthrie but Guthrie pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Nakamura scores with a body shot.
Nakamura lands a jab to the head.
Nakamura stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Nakamura swings for the body but Guthrie moves out of range.
Guthrie shoots in looking for a takedown. Nakamura tries to sprawl out of it but Guthrie keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Nakamura manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.

Guthrie decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Guthrie wants to take a breather but Nakamura is having none of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nakamura trying to control here.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Newton Guthrie hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Nakamura cracks Guthrie with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Guthrie displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Nakamura throws out the jab.
Nakamura throws a big shot that misses.
Guthrie takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Nakamura scores with the left hand. Guthrie knows he should have avoided that one.
Guthrie takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Guthrie uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Nakamura.
Guthrie shoots in looking for a takedown. Nakamura tries to sprawl out of it but Guthrie keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Nakamura manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Prince Nakamura has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Newton Guthrie.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Guthrie shoots in and drives through. Nakamura sprawls well.
Guthrie is breathing heavily.
Guthrie shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Nakamura scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
A telegraphed right hand from Nakamura misses the target.
Guthrie takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
Guthrie takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Prince Nakamura seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Guthrie moves out of range of the strikes.
Nakamura throws an overhand right that lands on Guthrie's shoulder, as Guthrie tries to avoid the shot.
Guthrie looks for a takedown but Nakamura sprawls well.
Guthrie moves away from the strike by Nakamura.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nice takedown defense from Nakamura. No joy for Guthrie on that attempt.
Nakamura lands a nice looking body shot.
Nakamura's corner calls for a 1-2. Nakamura obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Nakamura changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Guthrie.
Guthrie drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
A cross from Nakamura lands.
Nakamura fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Guthrie takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Guthrie takes a shot right to the bread basket.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Guthrie is defended easily by Nakamura.
Nakamura getting the better of the striking in that exchange.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nakamura scores with a jab.
Guthrie fails with a takedown attempt.
Nakamura lands a nice looking body shot.
Nakamura lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Prince Nakamura is winning the standup battle so far.
Nakamura thuds a left hand into Guthrie's body.
Guthrie takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
A punch lands to the side of Guthrie 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Nakamura connects with the punch.
Newton Guthrie is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Nakamura bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Guthrie's head backwards.
Nakamura shoots in for a double leg but Guthrie sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Prince Nakamura dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Nakamura misses with a takedown attempt - Guthrie sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Guthrie tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Nakamura swivels and escapes.
Nakamura connects with a jab.
Nakamura misses with a straight left.

Guthrie darts in and clinches Nakamura up against the cage.
Guthrie is struggling to control the position.

Guthrie breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Nakamura swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Guthrie displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Nakamura throws out the jab.
Nakamura connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nakamura scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
A swing and a miss from Nakamura.
Guthrie has a pretty nasty looking mouse under his right eye.
Nakamura keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Guthrie takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Nakamura connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Guthrie closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.

Guthrie feints and as Nakamura raises his hands in defense, Guthrie changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Guthrie scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Guthrie throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Guthrie stands and throws Nakamura's legs to the side, diving into side control.
You can see the frustration on Nakamura's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Guthrie scoring with punches from side control.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
The referee asks Guthrie politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Guthrie prefers to stall for the moment though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nakamura is trying to improve his position.

Guthrie is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Nakamura has escaped the position, nice work there.
Guthrie is looking to take a break and control but Nakamura is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Nakamura is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nakamura trying to remain calm as Guthrie controls from the top position.
Nakamura is not content to let Guthrie control the position.

Newton Guthrie has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Nakamura.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Nakamura feints and as Guthrie raises his hands in defense, Nakamura changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.

Nakamura is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! Guthrie is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! Guthrie has escaped and now he's on top!

And that's the end of the fight!
Newton Guthrie comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Guthrie 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 Wesley Smith scores the fight 28:29
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 28:29
Judge George Francis scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Newton Guthrie!
Newton Guthrie seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.