PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Shim Changmin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mark Yoshida (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Changmin
vs
Yoshida

189 cm
22
190 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

175 cm
19
182 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
Very strong

Powerful takedowns
Counter striker
Powerful

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, Shim Changmin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Mark Yoshida!
The judges for this bout are Taro Takaoka, Ren Mimura and Tatsuya Matsuyama.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Changmin lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Some wild striking there from Changmin.
Yoshida avoids a punch combination nicely.
Changmin pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
No joy there for Changmin, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
A looping hook to the body misses from Yoshida. Changmin does a little dance to reset his feet.
Yoshida dodges the punch combination from Changmin.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Changmin throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Yoshida.
Changmin lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Changmin throws a right and a left that both miss.
Shim Changmin is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Yoshida throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Changmin tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Yoshida is in Changmin's guard.
Yoshida stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Changmin swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Yoshida passes into half guard.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Yoshida missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Yoshida has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Yoshida thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.

Yoshida is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Changmin has managed to free his arm - good work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Yoshida thows a huge punch but Changmin dodges it nicely.
Yoshida looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.

Yoshida wants to work for an arm triangle but Changmin is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Yoshida wants to free his trapped foot but Changmin is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Yoshida thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Changmin's head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Yoshida throwing shots but Changmin is blocking nicely.
Changmin blocking the ground and pound attempt from Yoshida.
Yoshida sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Yoshida not landing any meaningful shots this time.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Yoshida throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Yoshida moves nicely into side control.
Changmin parries the strikes from Yoshida easily there. Yoshida is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Changmin to escape.

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.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Yoshida lands a decent elbow from side control.
Sloppy strikes there by Yoshida.
Yoshida throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Yoshida lands a decent elbow from side control.
Yoshida looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Changmin is avoiding damage well.
Yoshida remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Yoshida working the ground and pound from side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mark Yoshida 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.

Changmin misses with a few strikes there.
Yoshida shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Changmin as he jumps to the side.
Changmin lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Changmin tries to bum rush Yoshida with a series of wild strikes but Yoshida uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
A combination from Changmin does no damage.
Changmin closes the distance and lands a one-two.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Changmin looks to land a combination but Yoshida avoids it well.
Changmin throws a right and a left that both miss.
Shim Changmin seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Yoshida fails to land with a series of punches.
Changmin throws a series of punches but Yoshida moves out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Changmin misses with a double jab.
Changmin swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Yoshida swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Changmin is using his reach advantage well here, landing the more effective single shots from range.
Changmin with a jab.
Changmin jabs away that one connects to the head of his opponent.
Changmin misses with a jab, cross combination.
Changmin ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Shim Changmin is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Changmin tries to bum rush Yoshida with a series of wild strikes but Yoshida uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Changmin with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Changmin scores with a jab. Yoshida acknowledges it with a nod of the head.

That's two 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.
Changmin swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Yoshida throws an overhand right that lands on Changmin's shoulder, as Changmin tries to avoid the shot.
Changmin wants to clinch.
Changmin throws a series of punches but Yoshida avoids them all with ease.
Changmin misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Yoshida throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Changmin lands with a nice combination. Yoshida backs away looking to recover.
Yoshida slips a jab and a cross from Changmin.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Yoshida misses the shot to the body.
Changmin misses with a double jab.
Yoshida misses the shot to the body.
Changmin lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Changmin misses with a wild combination.
Changmin stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Changmin wants it to stay on the feet.
Changmin is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Yoshida misses with a jab to the body
and Changmin counters with a left and a right that stings Yoshida.
Yoshida fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Shim Changmin has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mark Yoshida.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Changmin misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.

Changmin tries to sprawl but Yoshida drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Yoshida throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Yoshida thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.

Yoshida looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Changmin avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Yoshida.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shim Changmin dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Changmin misses with the combination.
Yoshida misses with a jab to the body
and Changmin counters with a left and a right that stings Yoshida.
Changmin misses with a two punch combination.
Changmin misses with a jab, cross combination.
Changmin throws a series of punches but Yoshida moves out of range.
Yoshida thows a body shot but no joy.
Changmin rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Yoshida moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Yoshida closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Changmin to the mat! Changmin manages to get full guard.
Yoshida with a flurry of punches that miss.

Yoshida is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Yoshida throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Changmin works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Yoshida wants to control from the top but Changmin keeps moving.
Changmin knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Yoshida on the ground.
Yoshida throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Changmin works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Yoshida missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Changmin utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Changmin keeping moving, preventing Yoshida from controlling successfully.
Yoshida thows a big elbow that misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Yoshida engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Changmin has momentary wrist control but Yoshida slips an elbow through the middle.
Yoshida pushing down on Changmin's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Yoshida uses his free foot to push down on Changmin's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Changmin.
Yoshida punching from mount but Changmin doing a good job of avoiding damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Yoshida content just to control the position here.
Yoshida lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Yoshida takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Changmin avoids a series of strikes thrown by Yoshida.
Poor strikes thrown by Yoshida there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Yoshida thowing shots but they're missing.
Yoshida lands a big elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Yoshida looking to control and managing it successfully.
Yoshida's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Yoshida trying to control but Changmin is having none of it.
Changmin on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Changmin tries to get out of the position.
Yoshida postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Changmin looks a forlorn figure.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mark Yoshida comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Yoshida 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 Taro Takaoka scores the fight 28:29
Judge Ren Mimura scores the fight 28:29
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mark Yoshida!