PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Kenjiro Tanaka (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Victor Mr (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The key to victory for Kenjiro Tanaka has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Tanaka
vs
Mr

185 cm
18
195 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

212 cm
19
185 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Kenjiro Tanaka!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Victor Mr!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Sano, Hirohito Nitta and Taro Takaoka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Tanaka showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Mr.
Tanaka avoids the head kick by Mr.
Tanaka fails with an attempt to clinch.

Mr decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Mr not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Mr is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Mr lands strikes from half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Tanaka avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Mr.
Mr passes the guard and advances to mount!
Mr sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mr landing punches.
Tanaka taking shots to the head.
Mr looking to control but Tanaka is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Mr lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Mr punishing his opponent with strikes.
Mr thowing shots but they're missing.
Mr throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Mr wants to finish this one by submission but Tanaka is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Mr.
Mr has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Mr working Tanaka over with strikes here.
Mr throws some wild stikes that Tanaka manages to avoid easily.

Mr moves into side control, trying to work for a kimura. That looks painful! Will he finish!!?? No, Tanaka has worked his arm free - good work by Tanaka!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Mr looks gassed!
An elbow from Mr crashes against the mat.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mr works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
The strikes coming from Mr are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
A lull in the action here as Mr stalls from top position.
Mr postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Tanaka is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Mr is controlling him well.

Mr stands up.

Mr moves into the clinch.
Tanaka trying to land knees to the body.
Tanaka is pressed up against the cage. Mr has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Tanaka down to the mat. Tanaka avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.

Mr scores with a takedown into Tanaka's guard.
Mr trying to control but Tanaka is working from the bottom.
Mr trying to stand up but can't free himself from Tanaka's guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Victor Mr dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Tanaka tries to clinch but fails miserably

so Mr counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.

Mr gets to his feet - Tanaka follows without any prompting.
Mr keeps the fight on the outside.

Mr shoots in and bounces Tanaka off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Mr loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Tanaka wants to stand but Mr is controlling the position.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Mr drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Mr jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Tanaka knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Mr on the ground.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tanaka keeping moving, preventing Mr from controlling successfully.
Victor Mr has got the better of the ground game so far.
Mr throws a big right hand that misses.
Mr loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Mr throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Tanaka works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Mr wants to control from the top but Tanaka keeps moving.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Mr shoots in and drives through. Tanaka sprawls well.
Tanaka wants to clinch.
Tanaka tries to clinch but Mr moves out of range.

Mr gets the takedown into side control.

Mr is trying to get an arm triangle but Tanaka is defending well.
Tanaka is not content to let Mr control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mr tries to advance to mount but Tanaka denies him.
The ground and pound from Mr seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Mr tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Mr tries to score with some ground and pound. Tanaka controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Tanaka is working to avoid the ground and pound but Mr connects with a decent elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Mr working the ground and pound but Tanaka is defending the strikes.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Mr keeps the fight on the outside.
Mr shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Tanaka defends it nicely.

Mr rushes Tanaka and presses him up against the cage.
Tanaka using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Mr missing with knees to the body.
Tanaka looking for a takedown.
Mr is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.

Mr decides to pull guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Victor Mr showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Tanaka closes the distance looking to clinch

and Mr counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Tanaka preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

Mr gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Tanaka looks to clinch

and Mr counters with a shoot takedown. Tanaka fights it but they end up in guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Mr decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.

Mr moves into the clinch.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Mr drops down looking for an ankle pick but Tanaka pulls his leg out and moves away.
Mr will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Mr scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Mr is stalling here. Tanaka is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Mr seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Tanaka has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.
Mr struggling a bit here.
Mr is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Tanaka off and has taken his back!

Mr is working really hard to secure the rear naked choke. Tanaka defends successfully for a significant amount of time. Both fighters are looking very determined.
Mr lands shots from the back.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mr wants to control but Tanaka manages to buck him off and is now in Mr's guard! Nice work there by Tanaka!
Mr is pulling down on Tanaka's head. It's preventing any offense from Tanaka, at least for the moment.
Mr is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Mr working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Tanaka.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tanaka throwing strikes but missing.
Mr controlling the position.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Mr is on top in guard.
Mr has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Mr trying to control the position from guard on top but Tanaka is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Tanaka working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Mr.
Tanaka wants to stand and escape but Mr is having none of it.

That's four 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.
Mr content to stall in guard here.
Mr trying to control but Tanaka is working from the bottom.

Despite being in the dominant position, Victor Mr just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Mr rushes Tanaka and presses him up against the cage.
Mr stalls.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Tanaka trying to land knees to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
Victor Mr comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Mr 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 Shigeki Sano scores the fight 27:30
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 27:30
Judge Taro Takaoka scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Victor Mr!