PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Keiji Hashimoto (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Xiao Long Li (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Hashimoto comes to the cage accompanied by Holding Out For A Hero (Japanese Version). The crowd seem to be enjoying Li's choice of entrance music: Dragon Punch!. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Hashimoto
vs
Long Li

172 cm
40
151 lbs
41 - 18 - 4

172 cm
39
150 lbs
29 - 20 - 0

Great wrestler
Lethal high kicks
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Lethal high kicks
Good gas tank

Hellbent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the featherweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 41 - 18 - 4, fighting out of Los Angeles, Keiji Hashimoto!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 29 - 20 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Xiao Long Li!
The judges for this bout are Timothy Bukovac, Don Winkell and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hashimoto blocks a leg kick.
Hashimoto goes for a high kick. It partially lands.

It looks like Xiao Long Li has been cut.
Hashimoto throws a head kick that misses.
Hashimoto has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.
A jab from Hashimoto misses.
A solid leg kick lands there for Hashimoto.
Li throws a leg kick but Hashimoto sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Good leg kick by Li there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Li throws a poor cross that misses

so Hashimoto counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Li working a defensive guard here.
Hashimoto missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Hashimoto distracts Li with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Hashimoto wants to control from the top but Li keeps moving.
Hashimoto throws a big elbow that misses.
Hashimoto landing with the ground and pound.
Hashimoto looking to sit in guard and control but Li gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Hashimoto has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hashimoto is trying to control the position but Li postures up.
Hashimoto utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

Li got a little sloppy there for a moment and Hashimoto has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Li has managed to get both his arms back between Hashimoto's legs - danger averted.
Hashimoto looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Li landing with the ground and pound.
Li wants to control from the top but Hashimoto keeps moving.
Li throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Hashimoto is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Li keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Hashimoto's head.
Li works over Hashimoto with some ground and pound from guard.
Li preventing the sweep.
Hashimoto keeping moving, preventing Li from controlling successfully.
Li must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Hashimoto has his hands on Li's head, controlling the position.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Li not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hashimoto is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Hashimoto manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Li manages to get himself to full guard.
Hashimoto working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Hashimoto stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Li swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Li has his hands on Hashimoto's head, controlling the position.
Hashimoto tries to free his leg and advance position but Li is retaining full guard.
Hashimoto is working hard here to advance position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hashimoto controlling from the top position.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Li throws a push kick but Hashimoto slaps the foot to one side.
Li avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Nice shot by Hashimoto.
Hashimoto checks a leg kick.
Li with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Hashimoto to score with a decent uppercut.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Hashimoto turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Li buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Li dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Hashimoto. That did some damage!
Hashimoto rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Li moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Li takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Li keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Hashimoto throws a lazy right hand but Li sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Hashimoto misses with a hook. Li ducked under it nicely.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Keiji Hashimoto dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Xiao Long Li's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Hashimoto throws out a loose jab but Li uses good head movement to avoid it.
Li tries a low kick but Hashimoto avoids it.
Hashimoto uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Li bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Li misses with a low kick.
Hashimoto lands a leg kick that knocks Li off balance momentarily.
Hashimoto scores with a jab. Li acknowledges it with a nod of the head.

Li is rocked!
Li gets caught by a big overhand right and goes down! Hashimoto gets on top of him and starts throwing some serious punches until the ref intervenes and stops the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:29 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Keiji Hashimoto!
Keiji Hashimoto retains his featherweight title!
Keiji Hashimoto seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.