PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Masaya Kubo (ranked 3001 p4p, 0 weight class) and Abdulmalek Al Saadoun (ranked 8070 p4p, 0 weight class). Al Saadoun has a niggling injury. He would have liked to come in 100% fit but that's not always possible. The key to victory for Masaya Kubo has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Kubo
vs
Al Saadoun

173 cm
25
156 lbs
5 - 4 - 0

176 cm
25
156 lbs
5 - 12 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Brawler
Knockout power

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 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Masaya Kubo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 12 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Abdulmalek Al Saadoun!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Franklin, Santiago Holmes and Michael Johnstone.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Kubo fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Al Saadoun, pushing him back against the cage.
Al Saadoun looks winded!
Kubo wants a takedown but no success here.
Kubo is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Kubo tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Kubo looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Kubo is looking to take this one to the mat.
Al Saadoun has Kubo pressed against the cage.

Kubo decides to pull guard.
Kubo is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Al Saadoun working his ground and pound in the gym. He isn't landing a great percentage of his ground strikes so far though.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Al Saadoun pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Kubo is keeping the position for now.
Al Saadoun must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Kubo is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kubo is trying to keep Al Saadoun in close.
Kubo will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Al Saadoun controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Kubo is on top in guard.

Al Saadoun looking for a sweep. Not yet Al Saadoun, not yet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Kubo trying to control the position from guard on top but Al Saadoun is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Kubo wants to stand but Al Saadoun is controlling his posture from full guard.
Kubo trying to control but Al Saadoun is working from the bottom.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Kubo fails to pull the fight into his guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Masaya Kubo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Al Saadoun has had enough of the clinch but Kubo keeps him there for the moment.
Kubo tries to pull guard but Al Saadoun won't allow it.
Al Saadoun misses with a body punch.
Al Saadoun keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Kubo's efforts to push away.
Kubo lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Al Saadoun looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Kubo is trying to maintain a safe position but Al Saadoun gets an underhook and turns Kubo into the cage.

Kubo pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kubo falls off balance throwing a combination

and Al Saadoun moves into the clinch.
Al Saadoun working hard to break the clinch.
Kubo wants to take the fight to the mat but Al Saadoun manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Al Saadoun is trying to break the clinch but Kubo has him pressed against the cage.
Kubo wants to break free but Al Saadoun has control.
Kubo drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Al Saadoun gets the underhooks and prevents it.

Kubo manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Kubo tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Al Saadoun postures up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Masaya Kubo dominated that round.
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.

Kubo shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Al Saadoun as he jumps to the side.

Al Saadoun gets the takedown into side control.
Kubo is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Kubo manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Kubo is looking to take a break and control but Al Saadoun is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Kubo is looking for a kimura but Al Saadoun is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Kubo to get the leverage.
Al Saadoun is breathing heavily.
Kubo is pressing down on Al Saadoun's thigh, looking to free his foot. Al Saadoun is holding on for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kubo thows a huge punch but Al Saadoun dodges it nicely.
Kubo seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Al Saadoun does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

Kubo seems to be working for a kimura but Al Saadoun defends the submission attempt.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Kubo is looking to take a break and control but Al Saadoun is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Kubo takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Kubo seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Al Saadoun does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

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.
Kubo tries to pass the half guard into mount. Al Saadoun knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Kubo tries to stand and escape but Al Saadoun is controlling the position.
Kubo wants to stand up but Al Saadoun manages to regain full guard.
Kubo scoring with some ground and pound.
Kubo trying to control but Al Saadoun is working from the bottom.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kubo throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.
Al Saadoun with a lazy takedown attempt
and Kubo counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Masaya Kubo is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Kubo's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Kubo duly obliges.
Kubo shoots in for a takedown but Al Saadoun shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Kubo throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Al Saadoun's waist but Al Saadoun gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Kubo off to one side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Masaya Kubo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Kubo shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Al Saadoun pinned against the cage. Al Saadoun gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Kubo is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Al Saadoun can do to turn this around?

Kubo moves into the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Al Saadoun is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Kubo can't fight it off and eventually Al Saadoun manages to take the fight to the floor. Kubo looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Kubo had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Al Saadoun defends it easily.
Al Saadoun preventing the sweep.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Masaya Kubo dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Kubo fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

Kubo closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Al Saadoun is trying to push Kubo away but Kubo has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Kubo trying to stall but Al Saadoun improves his position.
Kubo wants to stall.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Al Saadoun prevents Kubo from breaking the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kubo is trying to break the clinch but Al Saadoun has him pressed against the cage.
Al Saadoun is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Al Saadoun takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Kubo is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Al Saadoun blocks a body shot from Kubo.
Kubo has Al Saadoun pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Al Saadoun manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Al Saadoun jumps guard but Kubo turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Kubo looking to stall.
Kubo has a couple of punches blocked by Al Saadoun.
Kubo tries to pull guard but Al Saadoun won't allow it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Masaya Kubo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Kubo is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Kubo tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Al Saadoun smiles and moves away.

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.
Kubo dives in and grabs Al Saadoun's left leg, looking for a takedown. Al Saadoun pushes down on Kubo's head and hops out.
Al Saadoun changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.

Kubo drives through and clinches with Al Saadoun against the cage.

Kubo manages to pull guard.
Kubo looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Kubo keeping moving, preventing Al Saadoun from controlling successfully.
Al Saadoun won't allow Kubo to get back to his feet.
Kubo is trying to keep Al Saadoun in close.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kubo throws a couple of shots from the bottom but they don't land.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Kubo will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Kubo shoots for a takedown but Al Saadoun saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Al Saadoun.
Kubo defending against the ground and pound.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Kubo is trying to get back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Al Saadoun is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Kubo manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.

Al Saadoun is working for a submission of some sort.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Kubo moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.

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 Masaya Kubo.
Well Kubo has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Daniel Franklin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Santiago Holmes scores the fight 30:27
Judge Michael Johnstone scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Masaya Kubo!