PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Endo Hosei (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Marcus Houston (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Hosei
vs
Houston

177 cm
19
160 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

182 cm
18
168 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Cuts easily

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Good gas tank

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Endo Hosei!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Marcus Houston!
The judges for this bout are Yuuki Gou, Shigeki Fujiwara and Taro Takaoka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hosei misses with a series of wild punches.
Hosei lands a head kick. Houston smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
Hosei looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Hosei looks to land a combination. Houston sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Hosei throws a right hand that Houston ducks under and follows up with a left that Houston also avoids with ease.
Hosei ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Hosei throws a series of punches but Houston moves out of range.
Hosei throws a leg kick which misses Houston's front leg but catches the back leg as Houston tries to avoid it.
A nice combination there by Hosei.
Hosei rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Houston moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Hosei throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Houston.
Hosei throws a leg kick which misses Houston's front leg but catches the back leg as Houston tries to avoid it.
Hosei lands a two punch combo.
Hosei throws a one two combo.

Houston pushes Hosei up against the cage in a clinch.

Houston has moved round to his opponent's back and is looking for a suplex! Oh snap! He's tossed Hosei clear over his head and slammed him to the mat!
Houston thows a huge left but connects with the canvas and not his opponent.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hosei holding both Houston 's hands and preventing any damage.
Houston somehow managing to miss with a strike from the back.
Hosei has his hands over his head blocking the strikes from Houston.
Houston is throwing strikes from the back here. Oh that last one was to the back of the head. Houston gets a warning from the referee. He throws another strike to the back of the head straight away though and the referee has seen enough. He breaks up the two fighters and stands them back up. Houston gets a real talking to here and is lucky not to get a point deducted. Houston apologises and we restart here on the feet.

Houston shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Hosei is trying to defend but Houston finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Hosei is breathing heavily.
Houston throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Houston has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Houston looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Hosei with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Houston winds up and cracks Hosei with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Houston scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Well, if Houston is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Houston throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Hosei knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Houston on the ground.
Houston content to control rather than advance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Houston missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Houston keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Hosei is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Houston scores with a couple of nice shots.
Hosei keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Houston performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Houston looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Hosei with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hosei is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Houston scores with a couple of nice shots.
Houston working over Hosei with some ground and pound. Hosei looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Houston looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Houston controlling the action here.
Ground and pound from Houston.
Ground and pound from Houston.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Houston clinches.
Houston with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Houston drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Hosei gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Houston tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Hosei's elbow.
Houston has Hosei pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Hosei manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Houston goes for a takedown attempt but Hosei pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Endo Hosei has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Marcus Houston.
Houston tries to move into range but Hosei moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Houston moves into the clinch.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Hosei gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Houston.
Hosei is pressed up against the cage. Houston has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Hosei down to the mat. Hosei avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Houston has a takedown stuffed.
No luck for Houston with that takedown attempt.
Hosei throws a one two combo.
The fight stays on the outside here - Houston looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Hosei stuffs the takedown attempt from Houston. Houston gets slowly back to his feet.
Endo Hosei is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Hosei misses with a jab, cross combination.

Houston 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.
Houston trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Houston is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hosei avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Hosei working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Houston.
Houston thows a big elbow that misses.
Houston lands a couple of elbows.
Houston missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Houston content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Houston's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Houston accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Houston controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Hosei avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

Houston gets to his feet - Hosei follows without any prompting.

Houston looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Houston is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hosei utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Houston connects with a couple of short punches.
Houston landing some decent shots from guard.
Hosei preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Houston postures up in Hosei's guard and throws a big left but Hosei blocks it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marcus Houston showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Houston misses with a takedown attempt - Hosei sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Hosei displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Houston.

Houston scores a takedown into full mount!
Houston raining down shots from the mount!
A nice elbow there by Houston.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
A nice elbow there by Houston.
Houston is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Hosei can't stay in a position like this for much longer.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Houston cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Houston landing punches.
Houston working the ground and pound effectively.
Houston working Hosei over with strikes here.
Houston is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Hosei can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Houston tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Houston in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Houston with shots to the head and body - Hosei looks very uncomfortable down there.
Houston sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Houston connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Houston working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Houston looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Houston with the ground and pound from mount.
Houston landing shots from mount.
Hosei taking shots to the head.
Houston looking to control and managing it successfully.
Houston scoring with strikes but Hosei is staying in there.
Houston lands a big shot there that rocks Hosei but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Houston with shots to the head and body - Hosei looks very uncomfortable down there.
Houston fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
A nice elbow there by Houston.

Hosei is rocked!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Houston is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Hosei can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Houston lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Oh Hosei is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Houston pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
BOOM! Houston connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Hosei seems to have got his legs back now.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Houston cracks Hosei with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Endo Hosei has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Marcus Houston is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Houston tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Marcus Houston comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Houston 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 Yuuki Gou scores the fight 26:30
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 26:30
Judge Taro Takaoka scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Marcus Houston!