PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Steph Curry (ranked 8205 p4p, 624 weight class) and Hokuto Akira (ranked 6654 p4p, 565 weight class). Akira has chosen Luis Miguel - Oro De Ley as his entrance music. Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Curry
vs
Akira

178 cm
18
162 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

176 cm
18
165 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Great elbows
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Solid chin

Freebok (85% Laundry)

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Steph Curry!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Hokuto Akira!
The judges for this bout are Skip Squint, Ron Honeybunn and Donatello Bradman.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Curry is looking to clinch but Akira is avoiding it.
A swing and a miss from Akira.
Curry is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Akira misses with a hook.
Akira misses with an uppercut. Curry saw that one coming.
Curry wants to clinch.
Curry uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Akira.
Curry is looking to counter the offense by Akira and move into the clinch.
Curry is looking to clinch but Akira is avoiding it.
Curry takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Akira lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Curry backs up against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Curry darts in and clinches Akira up against the cage.
Akira looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Curry lands a hook to the side of the head.
Curry throws a head punch that misses.
Akira is trying to break free.
Curry misses with a body punch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Curry lands on the inside with an uppercut.

Akira's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Akira misses with an uppercut.
Akira looking to land some kicks to the body here.
A jab from Curry does it's job there.
Akira darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Akira attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Curry is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Akira lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Curry tries to clinch up.
Akira tries a quick counter leg kick but Curry is wise to it.

Curry moves into the clinch.
Akira working hard to break the clinch.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Curry creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Curry tries a body shot but Akira blocks it.

Akira's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Curry instigates a 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!
Curry tries to throw a body punch but Akira avoids it by throwing Curry back against the cage.
Curry lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.

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

Curry gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Curry throws a head punch that misses.
Curry misses with a hook from the clinch.
Akira is looking to break free of the clinch but Curry has double underhooks.
Akira blocks a body shot from Curry.
Curry misses with the head strike.
Akira blocks an uppercut.
Our sources have told us that Curry has been working on his elbows in the gym.
Curry tries to land a knee to the head but Akira blocks with his arms.

Akira pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Akira keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Akira throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Sloppy strikes from Akira. Those never looked like landing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Curry tries to clinch but Akira is having none of it.
Curry tries to clinch there but Akira circles away.
Curry misses with a few strikes there.
Akira misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Akira swats away the attempt to clinch by Curry.
Curry misses with an uppercut. Akira saw that one coming.
Curry wants to clinch.
Curry swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Akira.
Curry is looking to clinch.
Curry tries to clinch but Akira is having none of it.
Curry tries to close the distance and clinch but Akira swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Curry wants to clinch but Akira slips to the side
and Akira counters with a left to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Akira avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Akira throws out a counter right but Curry avoids it with no problem.
Curry pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Akira scores with a crisp jab that stopped Curry in his tracks.
Curry fails with an attempt to clinch.
Akira throws a big shot that misses.
Curry wants to clinch up but Akira keeps it at a distance.
Akira moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Akira takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Akira cracks a nice hook into Curry's ribs.
Curry lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
Curry takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
A nice inside leg kick there by Akira. That's going to slow Curry down.
Akira steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Curry.
Curry moves in looking to clinch but Akira pushes him off.
Akira swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Curry moves away from the strike by Akira.
Nice straight punches there by Curry. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Curry.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Hokuto Akira will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Curry moves into the clinch.
Curry lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Curry misses with a hook from the clinch.

Akira's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Akira stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
A telegraphed right hand from Akira misses the target.
Akira fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Curry manages to avoid it.
Akira throws the left hand but Curry avoids the punch easily.
Curry avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Curry fails in his attempt to clinch.
Akira circles away from the clinch attempt.
Curry takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Hokuto Akira seems to be getting the better of the standup.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Curry tries to move into range but Akira moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Curry tries to clinch up but Akira circles away and keeps his distance.
Akira has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Curry walks into a straight right hand from Akira.
Akira thuds his right hand into Curry's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Curry wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Akira circles away from the clinch attempt.

Curry clinches up against the cage.
Akira looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Curry has Akira pressed against the cage, preventing Akira from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Curry lands a nice shot to the body.
Curry tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Akira's elbow.
We are yet to see a takedown attempt from Akira in the fight. On paper you would think he is the more dominant ground fighter so let's see if these unusual tactics pay off.
Akira is looking to break free of the clinch but Curry has double underhooks.
Steph Curry has scored more points in the clinch so far.

Akira breaks the clinch.
Curry wants to clinch up but Akira keeps it at a distance.

Curry clinches up against the cage.
Akira blocks an uppercut.
Curry swings wildly with an uppercut but Akira uses good head movement to avoid it.
Akira is looking to break free of the clinch but Curry has double underhooks.
Akira has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Curry misses with a punch on the inside.
Curry fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Curry tries a body shot but Akira blocks it.
Akira looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Curry working aggressively here.
Curry utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
A frustrated look appears on Akira's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Akira blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Akira is trying to force a seperation but Curry has the dominant position.
Curry comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Akira wants to break the clinch but can't.
Akira tries to circle away but Curry has him pinned against the cage.

Akira escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Akira fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Curry manages to avoid it.
Curry wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.
Curry is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Akira keeps the fight on the outside.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Curry fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Akira on the side of the head.
Curry is looking to clinch but Akira is avoiding it.
Curry moves in looking to clinch but Akira pushes him off.

Curry closes the distance and clinches.
Curry misses with a short punch on the inside.
Curry throws a head punch that misses.

Akira breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Curry is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Akira misses with a straight left.
Curry seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Akira throws a leg kick but Curry checks it.
Curry tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Akira avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

Akira gets tackled into the cage by Curry. Curry maintains the clinch.

Akira breaks the clinch.
A big left from Akira misses.
As Akira tries to get set, Curry tries to push him back and clinch up but Akira manages to avoid the attempt.
Curry tries to close the distance and clinch but Akira swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Curry fails in his attempt to clinch.
Akira circles away from the clinch attempt.
Curry keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Akira.
A big left from Curry misses.
Akira pushes Curry away with a front kick.
A jab from Akira misses.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Curry tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
The fight stays on the outside here - Curry looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Curry is looking to clinch.
Curry misses with a wild body shot.
Curry doesn't manage to clinch there - Akira circles away.
Curry takes one to the side of the head.
Akira cracks Curry with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Curry looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Curry wants to clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hokuto Akira showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. And we move into the final round!

Akira connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
Curry ducks under a wild hook from Akira.
As Akira tries to get set, Curry tries to push him back and clinch up but Akira manages to avoid the attempt.
Curry uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Akira.
Curry ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Akira moves away.
Curry connects with the punch.
Curry stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Akira.
A looping hook to the body misses from Akira. Curry does a little dance to reset his feet.
Curry misses with the combination.
Akira looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Akira misses with a jab, cross combination.
Curry tries to move into range but Akira moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Akira fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Akira connects with a crisp jab.
Curry takes one to the chin there.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Akira throws a hard body shot but it just misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Akira looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Curry tries to counter by clinching up but Akira breaks away and moves out of range.

Curry closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Akira has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Curry swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Curry tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Curry has a couple of punches blocked by Akira.
Curry throws a punch but it's blocked by Akira.
Curry tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Curry misses with a punch to the body.

Akira breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
A big right from Curry misses.
Curry tries to clinch but Akira is having none of it.
Curry's corner calls for a 1-2. Curry obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Akira misses with a series of wild punches.
Akira looks to land a right hand but Curry moved out of range.
Steph Curry has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Akira throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Curry.
Curry ducks under a wild hook from Akira.
Akira scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Curry wants to clinch up but Akira keeps it at a distance.
Akira keeps the fight on the outside.
Curry wants to clinch up but Akira keeps it at a distance.
Curry tries to clinch but Akira moves out of range.
Curry takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Curry tries to close the distance and clinch but Akira swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
A little jabbing left from Akira on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Curry ducks under a wild hook from Akira.
Curry slips a jab and a cross from Akira.

Curry moves into the clinch.

Akira breaks the clinch.
Curry lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
The fighters circling - Akira throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Curry is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Curry misses with a wild body shot.
Curry tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Akira paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Akira throws a looping overhand right but Curry ducks down to avoid it.
Curry is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Akira takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Akira takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
Akira avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Akira lands a jab to the nose.
Akira throws a lazy right hand but Curry sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Curry tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Akira was well out of range. Poor timing from Curry.
Curry wants to clinch but Akira slips to the side
and Akira counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Akira dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Curry is looking to clinch but Akira is avoiding it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Akira uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Curry.
Akira fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Curry tries to clinch but Akira moves out of range.
Curry takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
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!
A jab from Akira misses.
Akira moves into range and connects with a jab.
Curry tries to clinch but Akira is having none of it.
Curry moves in looking to clinch but Akira pushes him off.
The fight stays on the outside here - Curry looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Akira swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Curry digs a good body shot into Akira's ribs.
Akira misses with a hook. Curry ducked under it nicely.
Akira goes for a high kick. It partially lands.
Hokuto Akira is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Curry uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Akira.

And that's the end of the fight!
Hokuto Akira comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Akira winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Skip Squint scores the fight 27:30
Judge Ron Honeybunn scores the fight 28:29
Judge Donatello Bradman scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Hokuto Akira!
Hokuto Akira 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.