PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Evgeni Lomachenko (ranked 871 p4p, 44 weight class) and Santosh Nagasaki (ranked 390 p4p, 20 weight class). Nagasaki has chosen Execute Plan: Zombie Butlerian Jihad as his entrance music. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Lomachenko
vs
Nagasaki

168 cm
32
144 lbs
17 - 16 - 1

170 cm
27
139 lbs
14 - 9 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

Olympic wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Urban Fighter
Blue Moon

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 17 - 16 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Evgeni Lomachenko!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Santosh Nagasaki!
The judges for this bout are Chad Campbell, Jorge Garcia and Steve Montenegro.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Lomachenko misses with a hook.

Lomachenko closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Nagasaki to the mat! Nagasaki manages to get full guard.
Lomachenko stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Nagasaki swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Nagasaki tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Nagasaki has his hands on Lomachenko's head, controlling the position.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Lomachenko accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Lomachenko wants to pass the guard but Nagasaki is keeping the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Nagasaki tries to land a sweep but no joy.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nagasaki controlling the position.
Lomachenko trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Nagasaki looking to control.
Nagasaki bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Lomachenko's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lomachenko looking for a sweep. Not yet Lomachenko, not yet.
Nagasaki wants to control from the top but Lomachenko keeps moving.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Nagasaki chips away with some ground and pound.
Lomachenko wants to sweep here but Nagasaki controlling him for the moment.
Nagasaki throwing strikes but missing.
Nagasaki has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Nagasaki distracts Lomachenko with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Lomachenko keeping moving, preventing Nagasaki from controlling successfully.
Nagasaki won't allow Lomachenko to sweep him here.

That's two 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.

Lomachenko looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Lomachenko wants to sweep but no luck.
Lomachenko manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Nagasaki manages to get himself to full guard.

Nagasaki has Lomachenko pulled in close to control his posture.
Lomachenko preventing the sweep.
Lomachenko throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Lomachenko postures up.
Nagasaki pulls Lomachenko in close to prevent any damage.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Lomachenko accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nagasaki working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Lomachenko.
Nagasaki is trying to keep Lomachenko in close.
Nagasaki bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Lomachenko's guard.

Nagasaki stopping the sweep attempt from Lomachenko.

Lomachenko escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Nagasaki gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Nagasaki tries to free his leg and advance position but Lomachenko is retaining full guard.
Nagasaki with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Nagasaki trying to control the position from guard on top but Lomachenko is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Lomachenko seems to have improved his submission grappling technique since last time we saw him. Let's see if he can pull off a submission.
Nagasaki lands a couple of elbows.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nagasaki lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Nagasaki stands up over Lomachenko, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Lomachenko will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Lomachenko looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Nagasaki wants to control from the top but Lomachenko keeps moving.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Lomachenko looking for a guillotine here but Nagasaki defends easily.
Nagasaki wants to pass the guard but Lomachenko is keeping the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Evgeni Lomachenko will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Lomachenko missing with a left hand there. Nagasaki was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Nice sprawl there from Nagasaki as Lomachenko shoots in.
The fighters circling - Lomachenko throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Nice body punch from Nagasaki.
Lomachenko misses with a looping left.
Nagasaki defending well as Lomachenko loads up on a big left hand.
Nagasaki wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Lomachenko shoots in but no luck this time.
Nagasaki scores with a three punch combo!
Lomachenko has a takedown stuffed.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Evgeni Lomachenko. That's going to take a lot out of him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lomachenko swings away with a body shot that misses
and Nagasaki counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Lomachenko shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Lomachenko fails miserably with a takedown attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Lomachenko feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Nagasaki 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.
Lomachenko loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Nagasaki manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Lomachenko manages to get himself to full guard.

Nagasaki postures up and lands a big shot to Lomachenko's brow.
Nagasaki wants to control from the top but Lomachenko keeps moving.
Nagasaki with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

Lomachenko escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Nagasaki gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Nagasaki preventing the sweep.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nagasaki distracts Lomachenko with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Lomachenko tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Nagasaki works over Lomachenko with some ground and pound from guard.
Nagasaki scoring with some ground and pound.
Nagasaki working some strikes from top position.
Nagasaki passes Lomachenko's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Nagasaki takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Nagasaki is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Lomachenko gets full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nagasaki lands a couple of digs.
Nagasaki wants to control from the top but Lomachenko keeps moving.
Nagasaki is in close to Lomachenko's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Nagasaki landing some decent shots from guard.
Nagasaki connects with a couple of short punches.
Nagasaki trying to control but Lomachenko is working from the bottom.
Nagasaki preventing the sweep.
Nagasaki pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Lomachenko is keeping the position for now.
Lomachenko can't keep his opponent in guard - Nagasaki advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nagasaki drops an elbow to the side of Lomachenko's head.
Lomachenko works his way to full guard. Good work.
Nagasaki working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Lomachenko's head.
Lomachenko wants to sweep here but Nagasaki controlling him for the moment.
Nagasaki wants to pass the guard but Lomachenko is keeping the position.
Nagasaki passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Lomachenko tries to buck Nagasaki off but Nagasaki is having none of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Santosh Nagasaki showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Lomachenko throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Nagasaki counters with a stiff right hand.
Lomachenko misses with a straight right.
Nagasaki looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Lomachenko throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
A countering left hand to the body from Nagasaki misses.
Nagasaki connects with a nice looking jab.
Nagasaki lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.

Lomachenko is rocked!
Lomachenko ducks under a wild hook from Nagasaki.
Oh Lomachenko is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Nagasaki misses the jab.
Lomachenko takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Lomachenko seems to have got his legs back now.
Lomachenko misses with a wild body shot.
Nagasaki has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lomachenko takes a swing at Nagasaki's ribcage but misses.
Lomachenko takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Lomachenko misses with a takedown
and Nagasaki counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Lomachenko looks for a takedown but Nagasaki sprawls well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lomachenko takes one to the chin there.
Santosh Nagasaki seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Lomachenko shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Nagasaki pinned against the cage. Nagasaki gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Evgeni Lomachenko. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Nagasaki lands with a thumping leg kick.
Lomachenko throws a poor cross that misses
and Nagasaki counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Nagasaki moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Nagasaki lands a slapping body shot.
Nagasaki uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Lomachenko.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A jab lands there for Lomachenko.
Lomachenko misses with a straight right.
Nagasaki misses with a hook.
Nagasaki scores with a nice head shot.

Lomachenko looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Lomachenko distracts Nagasaki with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Lomachenko postures up and lands a big shot to Nagasaki's brow.
Nagasaki tries to land a sweep but no joy.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Lomachenko accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Lomachenko preventing the sweep.
Nagasaki is adopting a defensive guard.
Nagasaki manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Lomachenko manages to get himself to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lomachenko keeping full guard, as Nagasaki tries to pass.
Nagasaki preventing the sweep.
Nagasaki with a nice head shot there.
Lomachenko wants to sweep here but Nagasaki controlling him for the moment.
Nagasaki lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Nagasaki scoring with some ground and pound.
Nagasaki stands up over Lomachenko, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.

Lomachenko is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Nagasaki defends well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nagasaki landing with the ground and pound.
Nagasaki is in close to Lomachenko's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Nagasaki postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Nagasaki lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Lomachenko is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Nagasaki tries to roll over but Lomachenko keeps him under control.
Lomachenko sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Nagasaki defending well though.
Lomachenko throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Santosh Nagasaki comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Nagasaki 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 Chad Campbell scores the fight 28:29
Judge Jorge Garcia scores the fight 28:29
Judge Steve Montenegro scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Santosh Nagasaki!
Our winner, Santosh Nagasaki, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.