PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Bruce Babcock (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hidetoshi Nakata (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Babcock
vs
Nakata

180 cm
20
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

178 cm
21
175 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Intelligent

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

Combat Pro Design

Fight For Real MMA Nutrition

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Bruce Babcock!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Hidetoshi Nakata!
The judges for this bout are Tatsuya Matsuyama, Yukihiro Shimada and Shigeki Sano.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nakata throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Babcock's waist but Babcock gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Nakata off to one side.
Some wild striking there from Babcock.
Babcock lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Nakata fails with a takedown attempt.

Babcock drives through and clinches with Nakata against the ropes.
Nakata taking a breather.

Babcock breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Babcock gets caught flat footed, as Nakata shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.

Nakata avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Babcock utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Babcock is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Babcock can't keep his opponent in guard - Nakata advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Babcock wants to control but Nakata is keeping busy.
Babcock keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Nakata thows a huge punch but Babcock dodges it nicely.

Babcock is looking to sinch up a gullotine here but Nakata pulls his head out easily.
Nakata seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Babcock looks like he's trying to stand up.
Nakata controlling the action here.

Nakata postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for Babcock to stand up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nakata misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Bruce Babcock has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Hidetoshi Nakata.
Babcock throws a good cross that connects.
Nakata misses the shot to the body.
Nakata buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Babcock looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Babcock checks the leg kick nicely there.
Nakata shoots in looking for a takedown. Babcock tries to sprawl out of it but Nakata keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the ropes. Babcock manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
The fight stays on the outside here - Babcock looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Nakata motions for Babcock to come forward. Nakata throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Nakata darts in trying to clinch
and Babcock cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nakata tries to clinch up
and Babcock makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Nakata moves in looking to clinch but Babcock pushes him off.
Nakata wants to clinch but Babcock slips to the side
and Babcock counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.

Nakata shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Nakata was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
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.
Babcock is trying to stand but he's just given Nakata his back.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Nakata somehow managing to miss with a strike from the back.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Hidetoshi Nakata will probably get the nod.
That's time! Babcock's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Nakata tries to clinch up
and Babcock makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
No joy there for Babcock, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

Nakata drives through with a takedown into guard.

Nakata stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Nakata avoids a punch combination nicely.
Nakata defending well as Babcock loads up on a big left hand.
Bruce Babcock is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Babcock fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Nakata has his takedown stuffed
and Babcock counters with a three punch combo that has Nakata backing up. Nakata nods at Babcock to acknowledge the strikes.
Babcock misses with a few strikes there.
Babcock swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Babcock throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Nakata darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Babcock looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Nakata throws a series of punches but Babcock avoids them all with ease.
Babcock throws a left and a right that both miss

and Nakata counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Babcock wants to control but Nakata is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Nakata passes to full mount!
Nakata putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Nakata tries to control but Babcock wriggling away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nakata is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Nakata looking to control and managing it successfully.
Babcock is squirming around, avoiding Nakata's attempts to control the action.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nakata wants to control the action but instead Babcock gets a body lock and reverses into Nakata's guard! Nice work!

Despite being in the dominant position, Hidetoshi Nakata just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
No luck for Nakata with that takedown attempt.
Ooooh, nice body kick lands from Babcock. Nakata shrugs it off though.
Bruce Babcock seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's four 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.
Nakata tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Babcock counters with a right hand to the body.
Babcock throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Nakata misses with a body kick.
Babcock displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.

Babcock pushes Nakata up against the ropes in a clinch.
Nice body punch from Babcock - that landed with a thud.

Babcock pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Babcock scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Babcock misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Nakata.
Babcock is looking to clinch but Nakata is avoiding it.
Babcock misses with a combination

and Nakata counters with a single leg into guard. Babcock didn't expect that.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Nakata looking to sit in guard and control but Babcock gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Nakata has a closed guard, preventing Babcock from standing up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hidetoshi Nakata showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Babcock's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Babcock lands a jab-cross combination.
Nakata wants to clinch
and Babcock counters with a body kick that brings a smile to the face of both fighters.

Nakata rushes Babcock and pushes him back against the ropes in a clinch.
Nakata fails to pull guard.

Babcock breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Babcock lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Nakata circles away quickly and effectively.
Nakata shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Babcock counters by clinching up.

Babcock pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Babcock tries to close the distance and clinch but Nakata swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Babcock scores with a kick to the midsection.
Babcock is looking to score with low kicks.
Nakata throws a series of punches but Babcock avoids them all with ease.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Babcock missing with a left hand there. Nakata was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Nakata takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Babcock checks a low kick from Nakata.

Babcock gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Nakata tries to pull guard but Babcock won't allow it.
Bruce Babcock has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Hidetoshi Nakata.

Babcock pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Babcock swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

Nakata gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.

Babcock escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Bruce Babcock is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Nakata doesn't succeed with the takedown
letting Babcock counter with a right hand.

Babcock has Nakata up against the ropes in a clinch.

Nakata breaks the clinch.
Babcock closes the distance and lands a one-two.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nakata shoots and misses
and Babcock counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Nakata avoids a punch combination nicely.
Nakata tries to clinch but Babcock moves away
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Babcock moves in looking to clinch but Nakata pushes him off.
Babcock misses with a double jab.
A nice combination there by Babcock.
Babcock looks to throw the jab but Nakata is out of range.
Nakata tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Nakata takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Nakata gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Babcock counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Babcock throws a quick inside leg kick.
Babcock throws a combination that misses

and Nakata counters with a takedown into side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Nakata is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Babcock has escaped the position, nice work there.

Nakata swings around for an armbar but Babcock sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Nakata's guard.
Nakata tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Babcock looking to pass the guard.
Nakata bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Babcock's guard.

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.
Nakata pushing down on Babcock's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Nakata controlling the action here.
Nakata is looking to take a break and control but Babcock is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Babcock makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!

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 Bruce Babcock.
I think Nakata 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 Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 28:29
Judge Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight 28:29
Judge Shigeki Sano scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Hidetoshi Nakata!