PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Yuki Kondo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Thiago Alves (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Thiago Alves is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Kondo
vs
Alves

180 cm
21
174 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

175 cm
21
180 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Very quick

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Yuki Kondo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Thiago Alves!
The judges for this bout are Paulsen Ambrosius, Radbod Blank and Patrick Alders.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The fight stays on the outside here - Alves looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Kondo half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Kondo ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Alves moves away.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Alves.
Kondo throws a hook but Alves avoids it easily.
Kondo looks to score with a jab to the body but Alves is just out of range.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Kondo, as that shot connected.
We've been hearing reports that Kondo has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Alves moves in looking to clinch but Kondo pushes him off.
Alves takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Kondo connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Kondo avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Kondo throwing a counter right hand but Alves manages to avoid it.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Kondo drives through with a takedown into guard.
Kondo is stalling in the full guard.
Alves is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Alves is trying to keep Kondo in close.
Alves really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Kondo. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Alves being controlled here, momentarily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kondo in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Alves can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Kondo controls the pace.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Alves throws a leg kick but Kondo sees it coming and moves out of range.

Kondo shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Kondo was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
You can see the frustration on Alves's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Alves tries to get back to half guard but can't.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kondo throws an elbow but Alves slips to the side and avoids it well.
Alves can't do much from the bottom here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Kondo happy to just control the position for now.
Kondo's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Kondo has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Alves wants to control but Kondo postures up.
Kondo postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Kondo tries to score with some ground and pound. Alves controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
An elbow from Kondo crashes against the mat.
Alves is trying to improve his position.
Kondo controls the position.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Further stalling from Kondo.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Kondo 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.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Alves takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Yuki Kondo dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Kondo chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Alves can pounce on him.
Alves tries to close the distance and clinch but Kondo swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Kondo connects with a crisp jab.
Kondo throws a good cross that connects.
Alves tries to clinch up
and Kondo counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Alves moves out of range of the strikes.
Alves tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Kondo manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Thiago Alves seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Alves throws a head kick that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Alves is looking to clinch but Kondo is avoiding it.
It looked like Kondo wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Alves tries to clinch there but Kondo circles away.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Kondo checks a leg kick.
Alves is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Alves doesn't manage to clinch there - Kondo circles away.
Kondo missing with a left hand there. Alves was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Kondo misses with a straight left.
Alves tries to clinch but Kondo is having none of it.
Alves tries to clinch up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kondo shoots in for a double leg but Alves sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Alves is looking to clinch but Kondo is avoiding it.
Kondo pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Alves shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Alves jabs Kondo to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Kondo checks the leg kick.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Kondo stalling the fight.
Kondo can't get the takedown.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kondo is trying to force a seperation but Alves has the dominant position.
Alves gets underhooks to prevent Kondo's takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Yuki Kondo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Alves looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Alves is pushing Kondo up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.

Kondo manages to break the clinch.
Kondo loads up on a big right hand but Alves slips the punch.
Alves feints a counter leg kick.
Alves moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Alves ducks under a wild hook from Kondo.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Kondo is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Alves tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alves tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Kondo avoids it.
Kondo is trying to break free.
Alves throws an elbow but it misses.
Alves gets underhooks to prevent Kondo's takedown attempt.
Kondo can't break the clinch.
Kondo avoids a wild elbow strike from Alves.
Alves can't find room to land a body shot as Kondo controls the action.
Alves tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Kondo's elbow.
Kondo wants a takedown but no success here.
Kondo goes for a takedown in the clinch but Alves prevents it.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Kondo misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Alves crunches a lovely knee into Kondo's ribcage.
Alves has a couple of punches blocked by Kondo.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Thiago Alves will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Alves moves into the clinch.
Kondo wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Kondo drops down looking for an ankle pick but Alves pulls his leg out and moves away.
Alves fails in his attempt to clinch.
Alves fails with an attempt to clinch.
The fight stays on the outside here - Alves looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
A little feinted left hand from Kondo on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Kondo breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Kondo moves out of range of the body kick from Alves.
Kondo is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kondo swats away the attempt to clinch by Alves.
Alves fails in his attempt to clinch.
Alves lands a head kick. Kondo smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
Alves tries to clinch up but Kondo circles away and keeps his distance.
Kondo swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
Kondo circles away from the clinch attempt
and Kondo counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Alves misses with a leg kick

and Kondo counters with a single leg into guard. Alves didn't expect that.
Yuki Kondo overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kondo passes into half guard.
Kondo is controlling the pace.
If it seems like I'm not saying a lot, it's just because Kondo is stinking the place up with his stalling.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Alves wants to get back to full guard.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Kondo in particular looking to stall.
Kondo not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Kondo is figuring out what he wants to do next.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Alves is looking to clinch.
The fight stays on the outside here - Alves looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Kondo throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
A bone on bone clash there as Kondo blocks the leg kick.
A counter left hand to the body from Kondo misses its target.
Kondo avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Kondo swung with a counter punch to the body but it didn't connect.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Kondo blocks a low kick nicely.
Kondo was looking to counter that last move with a shot to the body but he didn't commit.
Alves walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.

And that's the end of the fight!
Yuki Kondo showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Kondo has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Paulsen Ambrosius scores the fight 29:28
Judge Radbod Blank scores the fight 29:28
Judge Patrick Alders scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Yuki Kondo!