PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Kurtis Couturier (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Shintaro Nomo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Couturier comes into the arena with Forever Angel blaring out of the sound system. Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Couturier
vs
Nomo

176 cm
36
186 lbs
22 - 11 - 4

180 cm
33
180 lbs
27 - 12 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin

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 22 - 11 - 4, fighting out of New York, Kurtis Couturier!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 27 - 12 - 0, fighting out of London, Shintaro Nomo!
The judges for this bout are Don Winkell, Timothy Bukovac and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nomo just misses with a punch to the body.
Couturier looks to land a body kick but Nomo moved away.

Nomo tries to keep at a distance but Couturier has taken the fight into the clinch.

Nomo breaks from the clinch.
Nomo bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Kurtis Couturier seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Nomo looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Nomo accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Nomo postures up in Couturier's guard and throws a big left but Couturier blocks it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Couturier pulls Nomo in close to prevent any damage.
Nomo wants to control from the top but Couturier keeps moving.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Couturier pulls Nomo in close to his closed guard and prevents Nomo from doing any damage or advancing position.
Nomo's corner is telling him to maintain position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Couturier has Nomo pulled in close to control his posture.
Couturier keeping moving, preventing Nomo from controlling successfully.
Couturier avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Couturier trying to keep a closed guard but Nomo is proving a slippery customer.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Couturier takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.

Couturier moves into range and clinches up with Nomo.
Couturier scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Couturier scores with a shot to the side of Nomo's head.
Couturier has a couple of punches blocked by Nomo.
Nomo blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Nomo looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Nomo pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Couturier misses with the head strike.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Couturier goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Nomo tries to throw a body punch but Couturier avoids it by throwing Nomo back against the cage.
Couturier works on Nomo's body with a couple of short punches.
Nomo with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Couturier misses with a hook to the ribs.

Nomo gets double underhooks and manages to take the fight to the ground.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Nomo controlling from the top position.
Couturier is adopting a defensive guard.
Nomo is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
It looks like Nomo might be adopting somewhat of a lay and pray gameplan here, which I'm sure won't go down too well with the paying fans in attendance... Or the ring announcers come to think of it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Couturier working a defensive guard here.
Nomo stays in close to Couturier's body and controls the position.
Couturier is trying to control the position but Nomo postures up.
Nomo trying to control the position from guard on top but Couturier is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Nomo keeps the fight on the outside.
Nomo misses the jab.
Nomo shoots in looking for a takedown. Couturier tries to sprawl out of it but Nomo keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Couturier manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Couturier tries to close the distance and clinch but Nomo swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Nomo tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Couturier swivels and escapes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Nomo swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Couturier is looking to counter punch.
Couturier shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Decent striking displayed by Nomo there.
Couturier walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Couturier takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Nomo is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Couturier.
Nomo lands with a cross.
Nomo throws out a token jab with nothing on it.

Couturier has closed the distance and engaged Nomo in a clinch.
Couturier misses with the head strike.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Nomo.
Nomo is leaning against Couturier and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Couturier lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Nomo backwards.
Nomo blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Couturier is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Kurtis Couturier has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Shintaro Nomo.

Nomo breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Nomo fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Couturier looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Couturier jabbing away but nothing is landing.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Shintaro Nomo will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Couturier misses with a two punch combination.
Nomo scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Couturier tries to move into range but Nomo moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Nomo stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
An inside leg kick from Couturier misses.
Nomo fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Couturier manages to avoid it.
Couturier looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Couturier connects with a leg kick. Nomo looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Couturier with a hook.
Kurtis Couturier is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Couturier throws a jab but it's blocked by Nomo.
Couturier throws a poor cross that misses
and Nomo connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Nomo pulls out of a head kick attempt.
As Nomo tries to get set, Couturier tries to push him back and clinch up but Nomo manages to avoid the attempt.
Couturier is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
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!
Nomo is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Couturier.
Couturier tries to close the distance and clinch but Nomo swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Nomo looks to throw the jab but Couturier is out of range.
Couturier fails in his attempt to clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nomo staying out of range there.
Nomo tries to bum rush Couturier with a series of wild strikes but Couturier uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Couturier throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Couturier fails with an attempt to clinch.
Couturier doesn't manage to clinch there - Nomo circles away.
Nomo swings for the body but Couturier moves out of range.
Couturier seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
Couturier moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Couturier fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Nomo has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Nomo misses with a hook. Couturier ducked under it nicely.
Nomo misses with an uppercut.
Couturier fails in his attempt to clinch.
A little jabbing left from Nomo on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Nomo might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.
Nomo tests Couturier's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Nomo scores with a sloppy right hand. Couturier should have avoided that one.
Nomo shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Couturier pinned against the cage. Couturier gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Couturier takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Couturier defending well as Nomo loads up on a big left hand.
Couturier misses with a combination
and Nomo cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Nice straight punches there by Couturier. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Couturier.
Couturier swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Couturier wants to clinch.
Nomo with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Couturier to score with a decent uppercut.
Nomo fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Couturier closes the distance looking to clinch
and Nomo counters with a good low kick that Couturier was not able to check.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nomo defending well as Couturier loads up on a big left hand.
Nice defenses there by Nomo.
Shintaro Nomo seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Nomo is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Nomo uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Couturier.
Couturier tries to clinch but Nomo moves away
and Nomo counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Couturier moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.

It looks like Shintaro Nomo has been cut.
Couturier misses with a few strikes there.
Nomo feints the counter takedown.
Nomo scores with the left hand. Couturier knows he should have avoided that one.

Nomo gets tackled into the cage by Couturier. Couturier maintains the clinch.
Couturier blocks an elbow strike from Nomo.

Nomo escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Couturier slips under a jab.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Couturier tries to clinch but Nomo is having none of it.
Nomo throws a jab but it's blocked by Couturier.
Couturier tries to counter by moving into the clinch but Nomo manages to circle out of the way.
Couturier is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Couturier looks to score with a jab to the body but Nomo is just out of range.
Kurtis Couturier is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Couturier takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Nomo takes one to the side of the head.
Couturier tries to clinch but Nomo moves out of range.
Couturier ducks under a wild hook from Nomo.
Couturier walks into a left hand.
Couturier tries to move into range but Nomo moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Couturier takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Couturier misses with a hook. Nomo ducked under it nicely.
Couturier tries to clinch but Nomo moves out of range.
Nomo lands a right hook to the body.
Nomo blocks a leg kick.
A nice side step and Nomo releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.
Couturier uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Nomo.
Couturier swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Couturier tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Nomo manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Nomo takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Nomo looks to throw the jab but Couturier is out of range.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shintaro Nomo showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Shintaro Nomo's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Nomo misses with an uppercut.
Couturier takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Couturier lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Couturier is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Couturier slips under a jab.
Couturier staying out of range there.
Couturier takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
Nomo pushing out the jab but it's not landing.

Couturier closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Couturier managing to block the knees to the body from Nomo.
Nomo has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
A shot in the inside from Couturier.
Couturier looks like he's developed a pretty tasty lump over his left eye. He'll need to avoid taking much more damage to that.
Nice body punch from Couturier.
Couturier tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Couturier avoids the elbow strike from Nomo, against the cage.
Couturier lands with a short head shot on the inside.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Couturier lands with a left to the head.
Couturier swings wildly with an uppercut but Nomo uses good head movement to avoid it.
Nomo is trying to break the clinch but Couturier is controlling him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Couturier throws a head punch that misses.
Nomo prevents a body shot from Couturier.
Couturier tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Kurtis Couturier has scored more points in the clinch so far.
A short uppercut from Nomo.
Nomo is trying to force a seperation but Couturier has the dominant position.
Couturier lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Couturier misses with some punches.
Nomo throws an elbow but it misses.
A short uppercut from Nomo.
Couturier misses with the head strike.
Nomo blocking some punches.
Couturier tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Nomo's elbow.

Nomo breaks the clinch.
Nomo cracks Couturier with a good jab.
Nomo avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Nomo keeps the fight on the outside.
Nomo drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Couturier defends it well.
Nomo lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Couturier at a distance.
Couturier moves forwards but Nomo connects with a nice, crisp jab.
Nomo fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Couturier has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Nomo fails in his attempt to clinch.
Couturier uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Nomo.
Couturier throws a body shot but no joy.
Nomo is loading up here, looking for a big counter of his own.
Couturier keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Nomo.
Nomo looks to score with a jab to the body but Couturier is just out of range.
Couturier tries to close the distance and clinch but Nomo swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Nomo lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Nomo wants to clinch up but Couturier keeps it at a distance.
Nomo shoots in looking for a takedown. Couturier tries to sprawl out of it but Nomo keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Couturier manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Some wild striking there from Couturier.
Nomo throws out a counter right but Couturier avoids it with no problem.
Couturier tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Nomo pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Nomo misses the jab.
Nomo throws a jab but it's blocked by Couturier.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Couturier just misses with a punch to the body.
Couturier lands with a cross.
Couturier tries to clinch up.
Couturier connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Nomo circles away from the clinch attempt.

Couturier drives through and clinches with Nomo against the cage.
Couturier misses with a body punch.
Couturier fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Nomo tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Couturier just stands there and leans against the cage.
Shintaro Nomo is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

Nomo manages to break the clinch.
Couturier fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Couturier scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Nomo ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Couturier moves away.
Couturier takes one to the chin there.

Couturier gets a clinch.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
A short body shot lands from Couturier as the two fighters clinch.
Couturier lands a nice uppercut.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Couturier blocks an uppercut.
Nomo fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Kurtis Couturier has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Shintaro Nomo.
Couturier gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Nomo.
Couturier working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Nomo slowing the pace effectively.

Nomo pulls guard effortlessly.
Nomo not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Couturier controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Couturier throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Couturier with a flurry of punches that miss.
Couturier throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Couturier missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Nomo keeping moving, preventing Couturier from controlling successfully.
Kurtis Couturier has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Couturier throws a big right hand that misses.

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 Kurtis Couturier.
I think Nomo 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 Don Winkell scores the fight 28:29
Judge Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 27:30
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 28:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Shintaro Nomo!
Shintaro Nomo got down on his knees post fight and begged the management for a title shot. 'Please, I want that title shot so bad! Give it to me!'