PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Ishida Kento (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Yori Sanders (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Kento
vs
Sanders

180 cm
19
155 lbs
0 - 5 - 0

178 cm
18
150 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Enjoys gardening

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Ishida Kento!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Yori Sanders!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Yamamoto, Shigeki Fujiwara and Sosuke Kotani.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kento swinging wildly here.
Kento shoots in for a takedown but Sanders shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Kento closes this distance looking for a takedown but Sanders circles away.

Sanders closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.

Sanders decides to return to a standing position.
Sanders looks for the body kick but Kento saw that one coming.

Sanders has taken the fight to the clinch.
Kento wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Sanders prevents Kento from breaking the clinch.
Kento tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Sanders just stands there and leans against the cage.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ishida Kento. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Sanders gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Kento regains guard.
Sanders controlling from the top position.
Kento keeping full guard, as Sanders tries to pass.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kento looking to hit a scissor sweep but Sanders is one step ahead there.
Sanders is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Kento is trying to control the position but Sanders postures up.

Yori Sanders has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Kento clinches but Sanders breaks the clinch

and Sanders decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Kento's guard.
Sanders prevents Kento from getting back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kento working a defensive guard here.
Kento wants to sweep but no luck.
Kento trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.
Sanders is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Sanders wants to control from the top but Kento keeps moving.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Yori Sanders was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Kento with a nice cross.

Sanders closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

Sanders gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Kento regains guard.
Kento is trying to control the position but Sanders postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sanders stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Kento swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Sanders looks gassed!
Sanders connects with a couple of short punches.
Kento manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Sanders manages to get himself to full guard.
Kento trying to control the position from guard on top but Sanders is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Sanders utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

Sanders has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Kento off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Sanders throws a combination that misses
and Kento counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Kento wants to clinch up but Sanders keeps it at a distance.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kento tries for a takedown but Sanders circles away easily

and Sanders counters with a single leg into guard. Kento didn't expect that.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Kento trying to control the position here.
Kento is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Sanders tries to stand but Kento is controlling from the bottom.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Kento is trying to keep Sanders in close.
Sanders must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Yori Sanders dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Kento has his takedown stuffed

and Sanders counters with a nice double leg into side control. Kento won't be happy with that.
Sanders trying to control the action but Kento is working from the bottom.
Kento tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Sanders happy to just control the position for now.
Kento regains half guard.
Sanders is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sanders lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Kento is not content to let Sanders control the position.
Kento trying to control here.
Sanders trying to control the action but Kento is working from the bottom.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

Kento is defending against the submission attempts here by Sanders.

Kento makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Sanders moves in looking to clinch but Kento pushes him off.
Sanders tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Kento manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Kento looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Kento closes the distance and clinches up with Sanders, looking for a takedown. Kento pushes Sanders against the cage but Sanders circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.

Kento gets tackled into the cage by Sanders. Sanders maintains the clinch.
Kento is looking to break free of the clinch but Sanders has double underhooks.

Sanders manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Kento stands and throws Sanders's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Kento looking to control but instead Sanders has slipped a leg in, to regain half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kento wants to control but Sanders is keeping him busy.
Sanders wants to improve his position but Kento is controlling well.
Yori Sanders has got the better of the ground game so far.
Kento missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Sanders avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Kento.
Sanders is refusing to be controlled, as Kento sits in half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Kento frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Kento prevents Sanders from getting the reversal.
Kento punching from mount but Sanders doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Kento punching from mount but Sanders doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Kento prevents Sanders from getting the reversal.
Sanders is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Kento sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Yori Sanders showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Kento gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Sanders counters with a shoot takedown. Kento fights it but they end up in guard.
Kento bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Sanders's guard.
Kento wants to control from the top but Sanders keeps moving.
Kento missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Sanders keeping full guard, as Kento tries to pass.
Sanders preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Sanders takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Sanders pushes Kento off and gets back to his feet.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Kento is defended easily by Sanders.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kento stalks Sanders and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Sanders's face. Sanders staggers backwards, shaken.

Sanders shoots in and bounces Kento off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Sanders stopping the sweep attempt from Kento.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sanders stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Kento swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Sanders wants to stand and escape but instead Kento has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
Kento passes into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Kento works his way into side control.
Kento misses with the ground and pound.
Sanders is not content to let Kento control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kento tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.
Sanders stops Kento from passing to mount.
Kento is looking to take a break and control but Sanders is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

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.
Sanders regains half guard.
Sanders is trying to get back to full guard.
Sanders is not content to let Kento control the position.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Ishida Kento wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Kento misses with a head kick.
Ishida Kento has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Yori Sanders is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Kento gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Sanders moves into the clinch.

And that's the end of the fight!
Yori Sanders comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Sanders 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 Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 27:30
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 27:30
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Yori Sanders!