PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Mabishiro Sakamoto (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Alex Price (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Price has chosen O Fortuna by Carl Orff as his entrance music. Sakamoto has a slight injury, which hopefully won't affect the fight too much. Mabishiro Sakamoto had a look across the cage there at his opponent. He definitely means business

Sakamoto
vs
Price

175 cm
18
160 lbs
0 - 5 - 0

183 cm
22
170 lbs
0 - 4 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
KO power

Decent wrestler
Decent boxing
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 5 - 0, fighting out of New York, Mabishiro Sakamoto!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Alex Price!
The judges for this bout are Lou da Vinci, John Roberts and Reed Andrews.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Price looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Sakamoto looks exhausted already! Oh dear, he should have come in in better shape than this!

Price seems to be working for a kimura but Sakamoto defends the submission attempt.
Price wants to free his trapped foot but Sakamoto is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Price controlling the action here.

Price is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Sakamoto tries to get to full guard but Price has control of the leg.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Price is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Sakamoto has managed to free his arm - good work.
Price controlling the pace.

Price seems to be looking for submissions.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Sakamoto throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

Price shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Sakamoto is trying to defend but Price finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Price is pressing down on Sakamoto's thigh, looking to free his foot. Sakamoto is holding on for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Price is trying to control. Sakamoto wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Sakamoto pushes Price off looking to stand but Price dives back in and keeps control.

Price is trying to work for a kimura but Sakamoto is defending well.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Sakamoto trying to control from the bottom.
Price trying to control the pace.
Sakamoto trying to control but Price postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Price seems to be working for a kimura but Sakamoto defends the submission attempt.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.

Sakamoto closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
A frustrated look appears on Sakamoto's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Sakamoto blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Price trying to land knees to the body.
Sakamoto tries to pull guard but Price holds him up against the cage and eventually Sakamoto drops back down to his feet.
Sakamoto takes a knee to the side of the body.

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.
Price tries to land knees in the clinch but Sakamoto avoids the damage to the body.
Sakamoto managing to block the knees to the body from Price.
Price is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Sakamoto is defending well for now.
Price taking a break, stalling in the clinch.

Price drags the fight down to the ground.
Sakamoto trying to control the position from guard on top but Price is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Sakamoto's corner is telling him to maintain position.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Price tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Sakamoto trying to control but Price is working from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alex Price dominated that round.
That's time! Sakamoto's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Price gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Price trying to land knees to the body.
Price misses with a knee to the head.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Sakamoto trying to stall but Price improves his position.

Price drags the fight down to the ground.
Price really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Sakamoto. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Sakamoto throws a big right hand that misses.
Price keeping moving, preventing Sakamoto from controlling successfully.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sakamoto is looking to work some ground and pound but Price has wrist control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sakamoto working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Price keeping moving, preventing Sakamoto from controlling successfully.
Sakamoto is looking to stand up but Price won't let him.
Price pulls Sakamoto in close to prevent any damage.

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.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Price rushes Sakamoto and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.

Price has picked Sakamoto up - he's going for a ride! Price dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.

Price is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Sakamoto is just riding it out for now. Price eventually gives up the hold.
Price tries to pass the half guard into mount. Sakamoto knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

Price is working for a kimura but Sakamoto is defending it quite comfortably.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Still in half guard, Price seems content to control.

Sakamoto looking for submissions off his back.
Sakamoto wants to improve his position but Price is controlling well.
Price is controlling the pace.

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.
Price wants to free his trapped foot but Sakamoto is holding on for dear life with his legs.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.

Price gets the takedown into side control.
Sakamoto struggling a bit here.
Price lands some shots froms side control.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Sakamoto sneaks back into half guard.
Price is pressing down on Sakamoto's thigh, looking to free his foot. Sakamoto is holding on for now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alex Price 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. This is the final round!

Sakamoto throws a hard body shot but it just misses.

Sakamoto gets caught flat footed, as Price shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Price seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Price trying to control the position from guard on top but Sakamoto is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Price is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Sakamoto looking for a sweep. Not yet Sakamoto, not yet.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sakamoto manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Sakamoto can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Price is looking to escape.
Price blocking the ground and pound.
Price tries to reverse the position but Sakamoto maintains control.

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.
Sakamoto trying to control but Price is having none of it.
Sakamoto throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Price because Sakamoto loaded up on that one.
Sakamoto throws some wild stikes that Price manages to avoid easily.
Sakamoto looking to ground and pound but Price is blocking nicely.
Sakamoto tries to control but Price wriggling away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Alex Price is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Price tries to hold on but Sakamoto pushes him away.

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.
Price is trying desperately to improve position.
Price holds on to Sakamoto as tight as he can, avoiding damage.
Sakamoto throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Price because Sakamoto loaded up on that one.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Sakamoto stands up from mount. Strange move.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Alex Price.
Well Price 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 Lou da Vinci scores the fight 27:30
Judge John Roberts scores the fight 27:30
Judge Reed Andrews scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Alex Price!