PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Hiroshi Papo (ranked 3926 p4p, 22919 weight class) and Rickson Time (ranked 181 p4p, 293 weight class). Rickson Time will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Papo
vs
Time

160 cm
30
140
3 - 5 - 1

170 cm
26
140
6 - 7 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Very strong

Good takedowns
Decent boxing
Heavy handed

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 3 - 5 - 1, fighting out of Tokyo, Hiroshi Papo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Rickson Time!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Sano, Taro Takaoka and Yukihiro Yamamoto.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Papo takes a jab right on the kisser.
Time darts in looking for a takedown but Papo gets double underhooks and turns Time into the cage.
Papo drops down looking for a counter takedown but Time sprawls and moves away.
Time fails with an attempt to clinch.

Papo gets the takedown into side control.
Time striking from the bottom but nothing landed.
Time is working to avoid the ground and pound but Papo connects with a decent elbow.
Check out the look on Papo's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Papo grinds an elbow into Time's temple.
Papo is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Time will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Papo tries to advance to mount but Time denies him.
Time tries to buck Papo off but Papo is having none of it.
Papo has improved his flexibility recently so we will have to see if he can use that to his advantage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Papo is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Time's shoulder. That is not cool.
Time is looking for a sweep.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Papo cracks Time with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Time struggling a bit here.
Papo happy to just control the position for now.
Time takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Time is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Papo off and has taken his back!

Papo fending off the submission attempt from Time.

Time working for a choke but Papo reverses nicely into Time 's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Papo engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.

Time escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Papo gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Papo content to stall in guard here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Time is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Papo defends well.
Time being controlled here, momentarily.
Time controls Papo momentarily but Papo frees himself.
Papo with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Time is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Papo controls from within his opponent's guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Hiroshi Papo dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Papo stuffs the takedown attempt from Time. Time gets slowly back to his feet.

Papo dives in and scores a takedown into Time's guard.

Time pushes Papo off and scrambles back to his feet.
Time shoots for a double leg takedown but Papo sprawls well. He's pushed Time's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Time tries to clinch but Papo moves out of range.
Time tries to close the distance and clinch but Papo swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Time dives in and scores a takedown into Papo's guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Time trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Time passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Time wants to stand but Papo has his arm trapped.

Time is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Papo has escaped the position, nice work there.
Rickson Time has got the better of the ground game so far.
Papo tries to buck Time off but Time is having none of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Time wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Papo, who protects the arm well.
Papo is looking for a sweep.

Time tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Time has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Papo prevents Time from moving into mount.
Papo is looking for a sweep.
Papo is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.

Time is looking for a kimura here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Papo is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.
Papo slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Papo tries to land a sweep but no joy.

Time drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Papo manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Time has Papo in his guard.

Papo is working Time over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Time escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Papo gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Papo is stalling in the full guard.
Papo stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Time swivels though and keeps the full guard.

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.
Papo slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Papo has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Papo looking to score a takedown here. Time is defending well but Papo drives through and ends up in Time's guard.

Time looks to be working for a triangle here. Oh, it looks like he might have it! Papo has picked Time up and slammed him! Time can't keep hold of the triangle and Papo manages to pass to side control!
Papo moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Hiroshi Papo will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Time shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Papo defends it nicely.
Time tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Papo swivels and escapes.
Time moves in looking to clinch but Papo pushes him off.
Time tries to close the distance and clinch but Papo swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Time fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Hiroshi Papo has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Rickson Time.

Papo gets a takedown into half guard.
Papo is figuring out what he wants to do next.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ground and pound from Papo.
Time is looking to improve his position.
Papo sitting and controlling from the half guard.

Time looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Papo is figuring out what he wants to do next.

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.
Papo seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Time for as long as he can get away with.
Papo working over Time with some ground and pound. Time looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Papo perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Time is trying to control but can't.
Papo keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Papo's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Time throws a chopping leg kick but Papo manages to avoid taking any serious damage.

Papo dives in and scores a takedown into Time's guard.
Papo stays in close to Time's body and controls the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Papo tries to free his leg and advance position but Time is retaining full guard.
Time looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Papo is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

Time is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Papo is aware though and is defending well.
Papo controls from within his opponent's guard.

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

Papo closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Time did well to prevent Papo getting side control.
Rickson Time has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Time wants to control the action here but instead Papo manages to pass to full mount!
Papo controlling his opponent.
Time keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Papo landing punches.
Papo pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Papo controlling from the full mount.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Time is mounted but he's throwing punches.

And that's the end of the fight!
Hiroshi Papo showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Papo 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 Shigeki Sano scores the fight 30:27
Judge Taro Takaoka scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Hiroshi Papo!