PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Daisuke Shiro (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Greg Birch (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Shiro comes to the cage accompanied by Disillusion - And The Mirror Cracked. Daisuke Shiro could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Greg Birch's chin.

Shiro
vs
Birch

190 cm
21
205 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

190 cm
20
205 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Daisuke Shiro!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Greg Birch!
The judges for this bout are Joseph Jones, John Roberts and Columbo Gatti.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Shiro pulls out of a head kick attempt.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Birch.
Birch throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Shiro prevents Birch from improving position.
Shiro struggling a bit here.
Birch wants to control but Shiro is keeping him busy.
Shiro is trying to escape the position but Birch is controlling the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shiro wants to control but Birch postures up.
Birch is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Shiro will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Shiro is breathing heavily.

Birch decides to take the fight back to the feet.
Shiro throws a head kick that looked like it stung.
Birch shoots in but Shiro avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Shiro moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Shiro fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Birch manages to avoid it.
Shiro keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Birch takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Shiro throws a quick inside leg kick.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Shiro lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Birch has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Birch and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shiro throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Birch fails to land the takedown.
Daisuke Shiro has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Greg Birch.
Shiro stuffs the takedown attempt from Birch. Birch gets slowly back to his feet.

Shiro gets a clinch.

Birch decides to pull guard.
Birch looking to control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Shiro trying to stand up but can't free himself from Birch's guard.
Birch has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Shiro tries to stand but Birch is controlling from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Birch is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

Shiro stands up and waves to Birch to follow him.
Birch works Shiro's body with a nice hook.
Birch shoots for a takedown but Shiro saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.

Shiro clinches.
Shiro lands a left hand.
Birch wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Shiro has him pressed against the cage.
Shiro missing with knees to the body.
Birch is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Shiro tries to land a knee to the head but Birch blocks with his arms.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Birch can't get the takedown.
Shiro lands a nice knee to the body.

Birch jumps guard and drags Shiro to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Shiro wanted to stand there but Birch had control of the position.

Shiro stands up from Birch's guard - Shiro perhaps looking for a knockout.
Shiro throws a leg kick but Birch sees it coming and moves out of range.
Birch throws a right and a left that both miss.

Shiro rushes Birch and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Shiro lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Birch backwards.
Birch wants to break free but Shiro has control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Daisuke Shiro dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Shiro wants to slow Birch down by chopping away at his legs.
Shiro misses with a leg kick.
Shiro tries to close the distance and clinch up but Birch swats him away and circles back towards the center.

Shiro has managed to clinch.
Birch drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Shiro gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Shiro pushes Birch back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Birch tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Shiro smiles and moves away.
Horrible takedown by Birch or perhaps it was just good defense by Shiro which made him look bad.
Daisuke Shiro has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Greg Birch.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Shiro, right into the meat.
Shiro misses with a leg kick.
A head kick misses from Birch.
Birch will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Birch on the wrong end of a kick to the body.
Shiro throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Shiro is looking to clinch but Birch is avoiding it.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Birch looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Shiro!
Birch landing strikes from the mount and Shiro is in trouble!
Shiro tries to improve his position but instead Birch has taken his back!
Birch is not going to allow Shiro to sit and survive in this position.
Birch looking to hold on to the position here but Shiro rolls and ends up regaining guard.
Shiro working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Birch.

Birch decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Shiro, up you get!
Daisuke Shiro is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Shiro clinches up with Birch and pushes him back against the cage.
Birch is looking to break free of the clinch but Shiro has double underhooks.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Birch tries to stall but Shiro uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Birch jumps guard but Shiro stands there with Birch around his waist. Birch gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Shiro gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Shiro landing knees to the body.
Birch takes an elbow to the temple.
Birch tries to score a body lock takedown but Shiro shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Birch is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Shiro gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.

Birch has dropped down and is working for a takedown. Shiro is trying to keep an underhook but Birch manages to get the takedown into half guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for leaving it all in the cage!
Birch content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.

Birch is trying to work for a kimura but Shiro is defending well.
Shiro avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Birch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Birch decides to stand and escape the position.
A head kick by Shiro misses
and Birch counters with a stiff right hand.
Daisuke Shiro seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Shiro looks to throw a body kick
and Birch counters with a three punch combo that has Shiro backing up. Shiro nods at Birch to acknowledge the strikes.
Shiro throws a left and a right that both miss
and Birch counters with a stiff right hand.
Shiro misses with a double jab
and Birch counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Shiro walks into a stiff left hand from Birch.

Shiro rushes Birch and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Birch fails to pull the fight into his guard.
with the fighters clinched against the cage, Shiro creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Shiro misses with a takedown attempt - Birch sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Shiro darts in trying to clinch
and Birch makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Birch shoots in but no luck this time.
Shiro lands a nice leg kick that just misses Birch's sensitive parts.
Shiro keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Birch moves in looking to clinch but Shiro pushes him off.

Birch shoots in and bounces Shiro off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Birch is looking to stand up but Shiro won't let him.
Birch is stalling in the full guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Birch wants to control from the top but Shiro keeps moving.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Greg Birch showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Shiro throws a sloppy body shot

and Birch holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Birch fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Birch is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Shiro misses with a knee strike.
Shiro misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Birch.

Birch ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Birch no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Shiro passes Birch's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Birch is looking to improve his position.

Shiro stands up out of the half guard.
Shiro misses with a double jab
and Birch counters with a solid body kick.
Birch throws a one two combo.
Shiro tries to clinch but Birch moves out of range.

Birch scores with a takedown into Shiro's guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shiro is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Birch is controlling him.

Birch decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Birch shoots and misses
and Shiro counters with an outside leg kick.
Daisuke Shiro has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Greg Birch.
Shiro tries to clinch up
and Birch counters with a three punch combo that has Shiro backing up. Shiro nods at Birch to acknowledge the strikes.
Birch throws a right hand that Shiro ducks under and follows up with a left that Shiro also avoids with ease.

Shiro has taken the fight to the clinch.

Birch has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Shiro uses from the top position.
Shiro trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but Birch manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!
Birch wanted to stand there but Shiro had control of the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Birch postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Birch controlling from the top position.

Shiro is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Birch looking to pass the guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Birch accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Shiro tries to clinch there but Birch circles away.
Shiro closes this distance looking for a takedown but Birch circles away.
Birch ducks under a wild hook from Shiro.
Birch chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Shiro can pounce on him.
Shiro does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Birch moves out of range of the leg kick from Shiro.
Shiro swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Shiro darts in trying to clinch
and Birch counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Birch looks to land a combination but Shiro avoids it well.

Birch closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Shiro is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Birch working away.

Birch stands up.
Shiro throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Birch counters with a big head kick but Shiro shrugs it off.
Shiro tries to clinch up
and Birch counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Birch closes the distance and clinches up with Shiro, looking for a takedown. Birch pushes Shiro against the cage but Shiro circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Birch with a lazy takedown attempt
and Shiro counters with a nice low kick that buckles Birch's knee momentarily.

And that's the end of the fight!
Greg Birch comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Birch has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Joseph Jones scores the fight for Greg Birch!
Judge John Roberts scores the fight for Greg Birch!
Judge Columbo Gatti scores the fight for Greg Birch!

Greg Birch wins by unanimous decision!