PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Kazuma Kuwabara (ranked 1570 p4p, 244 weight class) and Steve Roach (ranked 2823 p4p, 400 weight class). Kuwabara comes into the arena with Kazuma Kuwabara Theme blaring out of the sound system. Kazuma Kuwabara had a look across the cage there at his opponent. He definitely means business

Kuwabara
vs
Roach

190 cm
20
210 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

195 cm
22
212 lbs
5 - 4 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Kazuma Kuwabara!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Steve Roach!
The judges for this bout are John Mangel, Skip Squint and Darius Henderson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Roach connects with a good right hand that stumbles Kuwabara. Kuwabara circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Kuwabara misses the jab.
Kuwabara tests Roach's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Roach keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

Kuwabara instigates a clinch.
Roach working aggressively here.
Roach misses with a hook to the ribs.
Roach lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Kuwabara working aggressively here.
Roach lands a right hand that snaps the head of Kuwabara backwards.
Kuwabara blocks an uppercut.
Roach tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
A nice right hand lands inside from Roach.
Roach digs a right hand underneath Kuwabara's ribcage. Kuwabara let out a lung full of air as it connected.

Kuwabara breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Kazuma Kuwabara seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Roach needs to keep his hands up - Kuwabara had a free shot at his head there.
Kuwabara throws a right hand that misses
and Roach counters with a straight right hand.
Roach misses the jab.
Kuwabara was looking to counter that last move with a shot to the body but he didn't commit.
Kuwabara slips a straight right by Roach.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Roach ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Roach looks to land a body kick but Kuwabara moved away.
Kuwabara is looking to counter with a shot to the body.
We've been hearing reports that Kuwabara has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.
Kuwabara throws a shot from downtown. Roach moves away and avoids it.

Kuwabara moves into range and clinches up with Roach.
Roach doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Kuwabara can't break the clinch.

Kuwabara manages to break the clinch.
Kuwabara throws a big shot that misses.
Roach dodges the punch combination from Kuwabara.
Kuwabara throws a combination that misses
letting Roach counter with a right hand.
Kuwabara throws an ugly left hook that misses
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Roach keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kuwabara misses with a jab to the body
enabling Roach to counter with a crisp jab.
Kuwabara fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Roach avoids it really well and circles away.
Kuwabara is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Roach.
Kuwabara shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Roach pinned against the cage. Roach gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Kuwabara avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
It looked like Kuwabara wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Roach ducks under a wild hook from Kuwabara.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Kuwabara misses with a takedown attempt - Roach sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Kazuma Kuwabara. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nice straight punches there by Roach. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Roach.
Kuwabara fails with an attempt to clinch.
Roach throws a leg kick which misses Kuwabara's front leg but catches the back leg as Kuwabara tries to avoid it.
Roach throws a hook but Kuwabara avoids it easily.
Kuwabara misses with an uppercut
and Roach cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
A bone on bone clash there as Kuwabara blocks the leg kick.
Kuwabara takes one to the side of the head.
Roach connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Kuwabara scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.

Kuwabara drives through and clinches with Roach against the cage.
A short right from Kuwabara on the inside.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Kuwabara tries a body shot but Roach blocks it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Roach throws a head punch that misses.
Kuwabara softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Roach tries a body shot but Kuwabara blocks it.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Roach as Kuwabara tries to tie him up.
Roach blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Kuwabara blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Roach.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Kuwabara.
A hook to the body from Roach.
Kuwabara works on Roach's body with a couple of short punches.
Roach has a couple of punches blocked by Kuwabara.
Kuwabara throws a head punch that misses.
Roach throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Kuwabara drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Roach as Kuwabara tries to tie him up.
A short uppercut from Roach.
Kuwabara is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Roach is defending well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Steve Roach dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Roach waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Kuwabara.
Kuwabara misses with a jab to the body
letting Roach counter with a right hand.
Roach throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Kuwabara on the side of the head.
Kuwabara moves out of range of the body kick.
It looked like Kuwabara wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Kuwabara misses with a looping right.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Roach! But no joy.

Kuwabara decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.

Kuwabara is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Roach defends it well.

Kuwabara looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Kuwabara seems to be looking for submissions.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Roach pushes Kuwabara off looking to stand but Kuwabara dives back in and keeps control.

Kuwabara is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Roach has managed to free his arm - good work.
Roach makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Roach.

Kuwabara drops back looking for a leg! Roach is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Roach manages to kick Kuwabara off! Kuwabara jumps back into Roach's guard.
Kuwabara prevents Roach from getting back to his feet.

Kuwabara thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Roach is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Kuwabara is controlling him.
Roach is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.

Kuwabara drops back, looking for a kneebar! Roach looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Roach looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Roach!

Kuwabara trying to remain calm as Roach controls from the top position.
Kuwabara tries to bench press Roach off him but Roach keeps the position.
Roach wants to stand but Kuwabara has his arm trapped.
Roach is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Roach is staying tight to Kuwabara's torso, preventing him from escaping.
Roach tries to stand but Kuwabara is controlling his head.
Kuwabara is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Kuwabara gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.

Kuwabara looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Roach controlling the action here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Kuwabara is not content to let Roach control the position.

Kuwabara looking for submissions off his back.

Kuwabara looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
It looks like Roach is going to stand back up.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

Kuwabara actively working from the bottom here.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Kuwabara actively working from the bottom here.
Roach wants to stand up but Kuwabara is controlling the position.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Steve Roach showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

A jab lands there for Roach.
Nice cross by Kuwabara.
Roach throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Kuwabara is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Kuwabara looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Kuwabara swings away with a body shot that misses
and Kuwabara takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Roach steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Kuwabara.
Roach misses with a jab, cross combination.
Kuwabara swung with a counter punch to the body but it didn't connect.
Kuwabara comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Kuwabara tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Roach was well out of range. Poor timing from Kuwabara.
Roach has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kuwabara misses with a body shot.
Roach throws out a counter right but Kuwabara avoids it with no problem.
Steve Roach is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Kuwabara looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.

Kuwabara is looking for a kimura here.
Roach tries to kick Kuwabara off but Kuwabara keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

Kuwabara is looking for a kimura but Roach is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Kuwabara to get the leverage.
Roach wants to control but Kuwabara is keeping busy and won't allow it.

Kuwabara looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Kuwabara is pressing down on Roach's thigh, looking to free his foot. Roach is holding on for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Roach wants to get back to his feet.

Kuwabara is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Roach controlling the position for now.
Kuwabara is pressing down on Roach's thigh, looking to free his foot. Roach is holding on for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Roach wants to control but Kuwabara is keeping busy.

Kuwabara is working for a submission of some sort.

Kuwabara is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Kazuma Kuwabara has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Roach trying to control here.
Roach wants to get back to his feet.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Kuwabara misses with a two punch combination.
Roach throws a hook but Kuwabara avoids it easily.

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.
Kuwabara takes a swing at Roach's ribcage but misses.
Kuwabara jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Kuwabara ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Roach moves away.
Kuwabara takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Roach thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on Kuwabara if he has to take too many more of those.
Kuwabara takes one on the button.
Steve Roach seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Nice shot lands for Roach.
Kuwabara throws a right hand that misses
and Kuwabara takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Roach throws a quick inside leg kick.
Kuwabara just misses with a punch to the body.
Kuwabara takes a body punch but keeps moving.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Steve Roach.
I've got Roach 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 John Mangel scores the fight 27:30
Judge Skip Squint scores the fight 27:30
Judge Darius Henderson scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Steve Roach!
During a confident post fight interview, Steve Roach thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.
Kazuma Kuwabara spoke after the fight, saying 'We all have to die when our time comes, but if we do our duty we don't got regrets'.