PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Rickson Zimmerman (ranked 3688 p4p, 0 weight class) and Izaiah Kane (ranked 2674 p4p, 0 weight class). Zimmerman comes to the cage accompanied by Cosmic Sand - 9h00. The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Zimmerman
vs
Kane

185 cm
29
171 lbs
10 - 8 - 0

180 cm
25
175 lbs
6 - 2 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Brawler
KO power

Olympic wrestler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Urban Fighter

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 10 - 8 - 0, fighting out of New York, Rickson Zimmerman!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Izaiah Kane!
The judges for this bout are Ren Mimura, Yasuomi Hirokawa and Tatsuya Matsuyama.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Zimmerman misses with a takedown
and Kane counters with a nice uppercut.
Izaiah Kane seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Kane throws a front kick that sends Zimmerman stumbling back into the cage.
Kane ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Kane lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Kane thumps Zimmerman with a low kick.
Zimmerman tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Kane lands a nice leg kick that just misses Zimmerman's sensitive parts.
Kane throws a nice inside leg kick.
Zimmerman throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Kane's waist but Kane gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Zimmerman off to one side.
Kane fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Zimmerman has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Kane fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Zimmerman has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Kane thumps Zimmerman with a low kick.
Zimmerman with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Kane to score with a decent uppercut.
Zimmerman takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Zimmerman takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Kane feints and then cracks Zimmerman's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Zimmerman down.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zimmerman takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Zimmerman chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Kane can pounce on him.
Zimmerman shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Kane counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Zimmerman!
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rickson Zimmerman. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Kane cracks Zimmerman with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Kane is working Zimmerman over with some ground and pound from side control.
Zimmerman taking punishment in the form of punches.

Zimmerman is rocked!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Kane is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zimmerman is trying to control Kane's posture but Kane avoids it.
Zimmerman is trying to escape the position but Kane is controlling the position.
Zimmerman is trying to improve his position.
Kane scores with punches from side control.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
A lull in the action here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Let's hope that Kane has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
We're seeing a lot of stalling here from Kane.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Kane scoring with punches and elbows.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Kane scores with a couple of short elbows.
Kane controls the position from side control.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Yet more stalling tactics from Kane.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Kane connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Zimmerman on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Kane. Kane obviously looking to wear him down.
Zimmerman tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Kane closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Zimmerman quickly recovers to half guard.
Kane content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Zimmerman wants to get back to full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kane lands with a punch from half guard.
Zimmerman is trying to control but can't.
Kane slows the pace down in half guard.
Kane has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zimmerman wants to get back to full guard.
Kane sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Kane lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Still in half guard, Kane seems content to control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Kane working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Kane winds up and cracks Zimmerman with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Kane looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Zimmerman tries to roll over but Kane keeps him under control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kane content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Izaiah Kane has got the better of the ground game so far.
Kane landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Zimmerman has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Kane is working away from the top position though.
Zimmerman tries to roll over but Kane keeps him under control.
Zimmerman taking some punishment here, with Kane in his half guard.
Kane is taking a breather. Zimmerman 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.

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.
Kane is continuing to stall.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Nice straight punches there by Kane. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Kane.
Zimmerman tries to clinch there but Kane circles away.
It seemed like Kane was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
A kick lands to the mid section there for Kane.
Kane turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Kane slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.

Kane scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Kane slows the pace down.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Izaiah Kane showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Kane throws a leg kick which misses Zimmerman's front leg but catches the back leg as Zimmerman tries to avoid it.
Kane with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Zimmerman tries to clinch but Kane moves out of range.
Kane throws a body kick that digs right into the meat.
Zimmerman takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Kane scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Kane throws a body kick that digs right into the meat.
Kane keeps Zimmerman at a distance using the push kick.
Zimmerman tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Kane lands a front kick.
Kane throws a nice outside leg kick.
Zimmerman takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Kane connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Zimmerman's hands.

Kane fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Zimmerman to the ground. Kane is now in Zimmerman's guard.
Kane postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Kane has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kane is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Kane connects with a couple of short punches.
Kane sitting in guard here, content to control.
Kane trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

That's two 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.
Zimmerman being controlled here, momentarily.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Kane lands a nice leg kick that just misses Zimmerman's sensitive parts.
Kane stuns Zimmerman with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Zimmerman misses with a takedown attempt
and Kane counters with a straight right hand.
A solid body kick from Kane.
Izaiah Kane is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kane slaps away a takedown attempt from Zimmerman, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Kane scoring well with a low kick there.
Zimmerman on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
No luck for Zimmerman with that takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rickson Zimmerman. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Kane bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Izaiah Kane seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Kane throws a nice inside leg kick.
Kane lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Kane lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
A solid leg kick lands there for Kane.
Zimmerman takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Kane lands with a thumping leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kane connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Kane moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Zimmerman shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Zimmerman takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Rickson Zimmerman is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Decent striking displayed by Kane there.
Kane connects with a solid leg kick.
Zimmerman is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
A head kick from Kane lands but Zimmerman takes it in his stride.
Zimmerman fails with a takedown attempt.
Kane lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Nice takedown defense from Kane. No joy for Zimmerman on that attempt.
Kane now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
This is turning into a torrid day at the office for Zimmerman. He's trying desperately to land a takedown but he's failing miserably and getting slapped silly on the feet to compound his misery.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Zimmerman on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Decent striking displayed by Kane there.
Rickson Zimmerman has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Kane cracks Zimmerman with an open hand slap.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Kane, as that shot connected.

And that's the end of the fight!
Izaiah Kane comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Kane has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Ren Mimura scores the fight 25:30
Judge Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 25:30
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 25:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Izaiah Kane!
An out of breath Izaiah Kane thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.