PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Balbus Michael (ranked 1917 p4p, 214 weight class) and Minoru Nakano (ranked 3419 p4p, 332 weight class). Nakano has chosen Great Muta Concerto as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Minoru Nakano has the eye of the tiger tonight.

Michael
vs
Nakano

178 cm
27
150 lbs
13 - 7 - 0

169 cm
27
159 lbs
7 - 7 - 0

Good wrestling
Dangerous knees
Insanely flexible

Excellent grappler
World class boxer
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 13 - 7 - 0, fighting out of New York, Balbus Michael!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Minoru Nakano!
The judges for this bout are Frank Antenori, and Don Winkell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nakano takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Michael lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
The fighters circle momentarily. Michael darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Nakano tries to close the distance and clinch but Michael swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Michael fires out a quick counter leg kick but Nakano just manages to avoid it.
Nakano takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Michael misses with a right hand
and Michael takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Balbus Michael seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Michael closes the distance and pushes Nakano back into the cage.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Nakano.
Nakano throws a punch but it's blocked by Michael.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Michael.
Michael misses with a hook to the ribs.
A short right from Michael.
Michael working aggressively here.
Nakano swings wildly with an uppercut but Michael uses good head movement to avoid it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nakano on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
A short right from Michael.
Nakano working some nice short punches in the clinch.
We've been informed that Nakano has been sparring a lot of Muay Thai in the buildup to this fight so let's see if that has an impact on the result.
Michael slows down the pace here.
Nakano misses with a punch on the inside.
Michael throws a punch but it's blocked by Nakano.
Michael leaning against his opponent.
Nakano blocks a body shot from Michael.
Nakano tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Michael just leaning against Nakano, taking a breather.
Michael dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Michael blocking some punches.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Michael.
Nakano blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Michael lands a hook that snaps the head of Nakano backwards.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Nakano takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Michael is pushing Nakano up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.

Nakano breaks the clinch.
Nakano tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Michael throws a hook but Nakano blocks it.
Michael throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Nakano counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Michael tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nakano slips a straight right by Michael.
It seemed like Nakano was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Nakano bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Michael's head backwards.
Michael misses with a hook. Nakano ducked under it nicely.
Nakano looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Nakano stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Michael.
Michael throws a hook to the side of Nakano's head but Nakano sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Michael scores with a crisp jab that stopped Nakano in his tracks.
Nakano takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Michael throws a right hand that Nakano ducks under and follows up with a left that Nakano also avoids with ease.
Michael throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Michael throws a body punch but Nakano moves out of range.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nakano walks into a jab.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Michael lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Nakano throws a lazy uppercut
and Michael connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Michael throws a body shot but no joy.
Michael throws a right hand that Nakano ducks under and follows up with a left that Nakano also avoids with ease.
Michael changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Good work by Nakano as he checks the leg kick.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Nakano! But no joy.
Nakano takes one to the side of the head.
Nakano moves out of range of the leg kick from Michael.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Michael throws a body shot but no joy.
Nakano swings away with a body shot that misses
letting Michael counter with a right hand.
Michael is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Nice sprawl there from Michael as Nakano shoots in.
Michael throwing a counter right hand but Nakano manages to avoid it.
Nakano tries to score a power double leg takedown but Michael sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Nakano somewhat.
Michael clobbers Nakano with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Michael misses with a jab, cross combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Michael finds nothing but air with that leg kick attempt.
Balbus Michael is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Michael throws a combination. Nakano tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Michael jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Michael darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
A big left from Nakano misses.
Michael misses with a body shot
and Nakano counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Michael misses with a right hand
and Nakano counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Nakano bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Nakano! But no joy.
Michael throws a leg kick
and Nakano counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nakano takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Nakano staying out of range there.
Michael throws a nice looking combination but Nakano bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Nakano fails with an attempt to clinch.
Nakano waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Michael.
Michael swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
Michael throws a leg kick that is checked
and Nakano counters with a stiff right hand.
Nakano scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Michael throws a front kick aimed at Nakano's knee but Nakano avoids it well.
Michael connects with a nice looking jab.
Nakano avoids the body shot from Michael.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Michael cracks Nakano with a right hand to the side of the head.
Michael with a jab.
Michael throws a body punch but Nakano moves out of range.
Nakano drops his hands momentarily and Michael takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Michael turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Michael scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
The fighters circling - Michael throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Balbus Michael is winning the standup battle so far.
Nakano tries to close the distance and clinch but Michael swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Nakano shoots in for a takedown but Michael shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Balbus Michael has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Minoru Nakano.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Michael connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Michael misses with a leg kick
and Nakano counters with a nice uppercut.
Michael throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Michael keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Michael lands a leg kick that knocks Nakano off balance momentarily.
Michael uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Nakano.
A jab from Nakano finds it's way through Michael's defenses.
A right-left combo lands from Michael.
Nakano keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Michael.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Balbus Michael dominated that second round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Michael avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Michael pivots, looking for a leg kick but Nakano is out of range and Michael settles back down.
Nakano throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Nakano ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Michael is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Nakano can do to turn this around?
Michael throws a combination. Nakano tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Nakano checks the leg kick.
Michael is looking to chop away at Nakano's legs.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Michael getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Michael misses with a low kick.
Nice takedown defense from Michael. No joy for Nakano on that attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Michael closes the distance and clinches.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Nakano.
Nakano misses with a punch on the inside.
A nice right hand lands inside from Michael.
Nakano taking a breather.

Nakano pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Nakano on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Michael misses with a body shot.
Michael misses with a straight right.
Nakano looks like he wants to counter punch here.

Nakano closes the distance and clinches.
Minoru Nakano has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Michael misses with a hook from the clinch.
Michael landing knees to the body.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Nakano takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Balbus Michael has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Michael working aggressively here.
Michael is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Nakano misses with a hook from the clinch.
Michael blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Nakano misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Nakano blocking some punches.
Michael stalls.
Michael misses with a hook to the ribs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nakano swings wildly with an uppercut but Michael uses good head movement to avoid it.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.

Nakano jumps guard and drags Michael to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Nakano is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Michael is refusing to be controlled, as Nakano sits in half guard.
Michael trying to control here.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Nakano in particular looking to stall.
Balbus Michael is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Michael is in a tricky position but he's been working on his transitions down at Fight Club FC, so we'll see if he gets out of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nakano sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Michael defending well though.
Nakano is taking a breather. Michael says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.

Nakano is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Michael sees it coming and defends easily.
Nakano with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

Nakano is working for a kimura here but Michael manages to reverse the position and he's now in Nakano's guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Nakano trying to strike off his back.

And that's the end of the fight!
Balbus Michael showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Michael, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Frank Antenori scores the fight 30:27
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 30:27
Judge Don Winkell scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Balbus Michael!
Balbus Michael decided to go for the less than humble approach in his post fight interview, telling everyone how he is going to conquer the world. The crowd seemed to like it when really that sort of approach could have gone either way.