PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Taromaru Momoji (ranked 2904 p4p, 2083 weight class) and Neil Nucombe (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Momoji
vs
Nucombe

178 cm
28
165
2 - 1 - 0

166 cm
52
166
38 - 21 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Determined

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 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Taromaru Momoji!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 38 - 21 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Neil Nucombe!
The judges for this bout are Alec Ball, Dillan Fox and Robert Douchet.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Momoji scores with a sloppy right hand. Nucombe should have avoided that one.
Momoji uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Nucombe.
Momoji throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Nucombe.
Nucombe misses with a straight right.
Nucombe takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Nucombe just misses with a punch to the body.
Nucombe lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Momoji lands a nice shot to the body.
Nucombe tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Momoji was well out of range. Poor timing from Nucombe.
Nucombe looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Taromaru Momoji seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Nucombe tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Momoji was well out of range. Poor timing from Nucombe.
Nucombe throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Momoji drops down looking for a counter takedown but Nucombe sprawls and moves away.
Momoji ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Nucombe drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Nucombe stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Momoji.
Momoji with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Momoji looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Momoji digs a good hook to Nucombe's body.
Momoji digs a good hook to Nucombe's body.
A swing and a miss from Nucombe.
Momoji attempts a counter takedown but Nucombe avoids it well and moves away.

Momoji closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Momoji landing a few strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nucombe seems a little lost for a moment, as Momoji dominates the positioning.
Momoji'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.
Momoji scoring with punches from side control.
Momoji has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Momoji remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
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.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Momoji lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Momoji slows the pace down.
Momoji misses with the ground and pound.
Momoji working the ground and pound from side control.
Momoji just content to control the position.
Momoji will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Momoji tries to advance to mount but can't.
Momoji takes a little break here. Nucombe wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nucombe prevents Momoji from improving position.
Momoji cracks Nucombe with a big right hand but Nucombe just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Momoji controls the position.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Further stalling from Momoji.

That's four 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.
Momoji throws an elbow but Nucombe slips to the side and avoids it well.
Momoji staying calm.
Momoji lands a few punches from side control.
Nucombe really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Momoji. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
A bit of a lull in the action. I'm sure it will pick up again soon... even if the ref has to physically pick them up and put them back on their feet.
Momoji seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Nucombe for as long as he can get away with.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Taromaru Momoji dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

A left and a right from Momoji both land. Nice combination.
Donk. Momoji catches Nucombe right on the button with a cross.
Momoji with the inside leg kick.
Momoji throws a quick inside leg kick.
Momoji cracks Nucombe with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Momoji scores with a nice head shot.
Nucombe looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Momoji throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Nucombe stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Momoji works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Momoji is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Momoji closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Nucombe quickly recovers to half guard.
Momoji is pressing down on Nucombe's thigh, looking to free his foot. Nucombe is holding on for now.
Nucombe is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Momoji is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Momoji moves nicely into side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Momoji staying calm.
Momoji has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for Nucombe!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
BOOM! Momoji connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Momoji takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Momoji landing punches.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Momoji takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Momoji lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Momoji looking to control and managing it successfully.
Momoji landing shots from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Momoji content just to control the position here.
The referee warns Nucombe that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Momoji lands a couple of good shots and Nucombe has given up his back, trying to escape the position!
Taromaru Momoji overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Momoji controls the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Momoji has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Momoji gets his hooks in and is throwing strikes.
Momoji biding his time, controlling Nucombe.
Momoji is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Nucombe can do to turn this around?
If it seems like I'm not saying a lot, it's just because Momoji is stinking the place up with his stalling.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Taromaru Momoji dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Nucombe misses with a wild body shot.
Momoji sizes up Nucombe with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Nucombe gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Nice cross by Momoji.

Momoji gets the takedown into side control.
Momoji working the ground and pound from side control.
Momoji working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Momoji working the head with strikes.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Momoji 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 Nucombe's shoulder. That is not cool.
Momoji working the ground and pound.
Momoji remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Momoji advances to full mount.
Momoji controlling from mount.
Momoji pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Momoji controlling the position easily from mount.
Momoji in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Momoji takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Nucombe wants to control but Momoji is having none of it.
Nucombe takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Momoji controlling from the full mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Momoji scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Momoji controlling the pace for now.
Momoji scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Momoji lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Momoji sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
This is a sustained period of stalling by Momoji.
Neil Nucombe has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Momoji lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Momoji lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Nucombe hang on?
Momoji landing shots from mount.

Nucombe is rocked!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Momoji working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Nucombe is still in real trouble! Can Momoji finish him?
Momoji content just to control the position here.
Taromaru Momoji is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

And that's the end of the fight!
Taromaru Momoji showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Momoji 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 Alec Ball scores the fight 30:25
Judge Dillan Fox scores the fight 30:25
Judge Robert Douchet scores the fight 30:25

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Taromaru Momoji!