PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Akiro Sata (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Incheol Wonha (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sata's entrance music is Onward to Victory!. A fine choice. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Sata
vs
Wonha

171 cm
29
143 lbs
16 - 18 - 0

161 cm
28
142 lbs
11 - 5 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

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 16 - 18 - 0, fighting out of New York, Akiro Sata!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 5 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Incheol Wonha!
The judges for this bout are Aafke Stam, Wagner Zegers and Paul Aken.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sata misses with a hook.
Wonha misses with a body shot.
Wonha fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Sata is out of range.
Wonha walks into a straight right hand from Sata.
Akiro Sata seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Sata displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Sata lands with a hook. Wonha tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.

Sata clinches with his opponent.
Wonha tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Sata takes an elbow to the forehead.
Wonha pushes off an throws an elbow but Sata leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the ropes.
Sata has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Wonha avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Wonha lands a damaging elbow.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Sata goes for a takedown attempt but Wonha pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.

Sata closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the ropes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wonha lands a damaging elbow.
Wonha lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Wonha lands a nice knee to the body.
Sata lands with a short shot to the head.
Sata is trying to pull guard but Wonha turns him against the ropes and we stay in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Akiro Sata. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Sata blocks an elbow strike from Wonha.
Sata blocks an elbow strike.
Wonha tries to land knees in the clinch but Sata avoids the damage to the body.
Wonha lands an elbow inside that Sata shrugs off.
Wonha lands an elbow inside.
Sata blocks an elbow strike from Wonha.
Wonha prevents the takedown attempt.
Sata tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Sata lands on the inside with an uppercut.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Sata fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Knees to the body from Wonha.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sata is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Wonha is defending well for now.
Wonha throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Wonha lands a knee to the body.
Wonha missing with knees to the body.
Wonha with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Sata tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Wonha misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Sata.
Sata is trying to drag Wonha to the mat but Wonha just about manages to keep his footing. He used the ropes to his advantage there.
Wonha creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Wonha lands a good knee to the midsection. Sata won't want to take too many of those.
Wonha throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Wonha tries a body shot but Sata blocks it.
Sata misses with a short punch on the inside.
Sata is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Wonha is keeping busy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sata doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
A short uppercut from Sata.
Sata tries for a takedown but Wonha manages to get underhooks.
Wonha digs a right hand underneath Sata's ribcage. Sata let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Wonha blocking some punches.
Sata takes an elbow to the temple.
Sata makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Sata misses with the head strike.
Wonha putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Sata in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Sata lands with a light punch inside.
I was talking to Sata's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Wonha connects with a nasty looking knee right to Sata's face.

Sata breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Sata misses the body punch

and Wonha counters by clinching up.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Wonha throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Sata lands a left hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sata is trying to push Wonha away but Wonha has him pressed against the ropes, so he's going nowhere.
Wonha blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Sata tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Wonha just stands there and leans against the ropes.
A head punch on the inside from Sata fails to land.
Sata misses with a hook to the ribs.
Wonha lands an elbow inside that Sata shrugs off.
Sata tries for a takedown. No joy.
Wonha comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Wonha trying to land knees to the body.
Sata makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Wonha using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Sata has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Wonha lands a damaging elbow.
Wonha missing with knees to the body.

Sata escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Sata misses the shot to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Incheol Wonha dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Wonha scores with a hook to the body. Sata takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Sata fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Wonha looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Wonha throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Wonha throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Wonha lands a slapping body shot.
Wonha connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Sata's hands.
Wonha's jab looks to have found its range, popping Sata under the eye.
Sata displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Wonha stuffs the takedown attempt from Sata. Sata gets slowly back to his feet.
Wonha misses with a body shot.
Sata appears to be looking for a big counter.
Sata swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Wonha tries to counter by closing the distance.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Wonha moves in looking to clinch but Sata pushes him off.
Sata blocks a head kick by Wonha.
Sata misses the shot to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wonha looks to score with a jab to the body but Sata is just out of range.
Akiro Sata is winning the standup battle so far.
Wonha connects with a body shot that sends Sata's belly button to the back.
Sata lands a body shot.
Sata throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Wonha ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Sata moves away.
Sata bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

Sata drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Wonha avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Sata.
Wonha tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Sata wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Wonha prevents Sata from improving position.
Wonha gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sata seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Wonha does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Wonha controlling the position well.
Wonha makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Wonha.
Sata looking to sit in guard and control but Wonha gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wonha stopping the sweep attempt from Sata.

Wonha avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Wonha controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

Sata working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Wonha doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Wonha manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Sata looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Sata is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Wonha trying to control but Sata is working from the bottom.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Sata misses with a straight right.
Wonha throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Sata.

Sata is rocked!
Sata scores with a jab.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Wonha.
Sata lands a right hook to the body.
Sata lands a nice looking body shot.
Sata throws a body shot but no joy.
Wonha scores with a body shot.
Sata is looking to wear down Wonha with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Sata chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Wonha can pounce on him.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Incheol Wonha will probably get the nod - 10:9.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the ring so we can get back down to business. And we move into the final round!

Ouch! a nice leg kick from Wonha, right into the meat.
Sata punishes Wonha's body with a nice straight punch.
Sata just misses with a punch to the body.
Wonha is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Sata.
Sata lands a slapping body shot.
Wonha throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Wonha takes one to the chin there.
Sata missing with a left hand there. Wonha was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Sata lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.

Sata closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Sata lands in his opponent's guard.
Wonha keeping moving, preventing Sata from controlling successfully.
Sata looking to sit in guard and control but Wonha gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Sata is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Wonha wants to control from the top but Sata keeps moving.

Sata has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Wonha can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Wonha trying to control but Sata is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Wonha slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Wonha takes a little break here. Sata wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.
You can see the frustration on Sata's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Sata is looking for a sweep.
Sata is not content to let Wonha control the position.
Sata struggling a bit here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here.
Wonha working away.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Sata moves out of range of the strikes.
Wonha lunges at Sata with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Sata's hand.
Incheol Wonha is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Wonha misses the jab.
The fight stays on the outside here - Wonha looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wonha throws a body shot but no joy.
Sata misses with a hook.

Wonha drives through and clinches with Sata against the ropes.
Akiro Sata has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Wonha throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Sata misses with the head strike.
Sata lands a right hand.
Wonha throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Sata drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Wonha gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Sata tries to stall but Wonha uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Wonha pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the ropes.
Incheol Wonha is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Wonha prevents a body shot from Sata.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Akiro Sata.
I think Wonha 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 Aafke Stam scores the fight 28:29
Judge Wagner Zegers scores the fight 29:28
Judge Paul Aken scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Incheol Wonha!